In order to apply for the McNair Program, you must meet the following eligibility criteria, set by the Department of Education. Because this is a federally funded program, these are strict requirements.

To be eligible, you:

• Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident;
• Must be a low-income student who is also a first-generation college student; or must be a member of a group that is underrepresented in higher education (African American, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Hispanic/Latino, or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander) regardless of parents' education or family income;
• Must be currently enrolled as an undergraduate in a degree program at CWU¹;
• Must have completed 90 quarter credits by the time you begin the Research Fellowship,
• Must have at least one year remaining before graduation;
• Must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.9, and a major GPA of at least 3.1;
• Must express a desire to attain a Ph.D.²

¹Post-baccalaureate students and students who already have one bachelor's degree are not eligible for the program.

²Students whose career goals include a medical (MD) or other professional degrees (JD, MBA, PharmD, etc.) are not eligible for the program unless they are paired with a Ph.D. (i.e. MD -Ph.D. or JD-Ph.D.).  You can see a list of alternate degrees that satisfy the McNair requirements (after clicking, scroll to the bottom of the page).