The Middle Tennessee State University Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Program is a Federal TRiO Program that is funded by the U.S. Department of Education under a $220,427 annual TRiO grant.

The program is designed to prepare low-income, first-generation college students and students from underrepresented groups in graduate education for doctoral level study. The MTSU McNair Program will maintain a cohort of twenty McNair scholars. Selected students will participate in both academic and cultural activities. This program was named in honor of Dr. Ronald E. McNair, an astronaut, who died in the 1986 space-shuttle explosion.