Donna Friel graduated from the UA in the fall of 2003 and is now studying chemistry in a graduate program at Boston College, but she said there was a point in her college career where she was ready to throw in the towel.

"I was at a point where I was ready to drop out of school," Friel said.

Friel said that, luckily, she received a flier about the McNair Achievement Program at the UA which gave her faculty mentoring and the support to finish her undergraduate career. From this encouragement, Friel said she was motivated to continue on to graduate school.

"I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for McNair," Friel said. "They turned my life around."

The McNair program offers low-income, first-generation or minority undergraduates the opportunity to prepare for graduate school. The students perform summer research, are paired with a faculty mentor in their field and receive access to tutoring, workshops and information to help them on the road to higher education, according to the UA McNair Program Web site.

"What we do is provide support to students who lack the backgrounds that provide support," said Andrew Huerta, assistant program director for McNair. "Students who are first generation (college students) are dealing with families who don't understand what they're going through."

Huerta said the program is not geared toward students in one particular field and the diversity of majors in the program changes every year when new students join.

The program is open to students wishing to pursue graduate studies, Huerta said. Students interested in receiving professional degrees, such as those awarded in medical and law school, are not eligible for the program.

Clint Carroll, UA McNair Program graduate and a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley, said as a minority and first-generation college student the thought of graduate school was daunting because it is well beyond where anyone in his family has gone.

Carroll encouraged other students to get involved in the chance to perform research and receive mentoring, but also for the support offered by other students in the program.

One of the program's advantages is the opportunity for students to perform summer research in their chosen field, either at the UA or at other universities around the nation, Huerta said.

Last semester, McNair students who worked on summer research projects in Africa, Australia and across the United States, presented their work at an undergraduate research forum.

Huerta said some McNair students have had their research published in peer review journals in their field.

There are about 30 students in the UA McNair cohort, Huerta said, and about 50 students have graduated from the program since it first began in 2000. About 80 percent of the graduates are currently in master's or Ph.D. programs, he said.

The McNair Program is one of six federally funded TRIO Programs, which are designed to provide opportunities to disadvantaged students from middle school to the post baccalaureate level.

The program is named for Ronald E. McNair, one of seven astronauts who were killed when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986.

The McNair application process involves a personal statement, one letter of recommendation from a faculty member, the application form, as well as proof of low income, such as tax forms, Huerta said.

Applications can be picked up at the Graduate Diversity Office, 1031 N. Mountain Ave., or downloaded from the McNair Program Web site, http://grad.arizona.edu/mcnair/mcnair.html.

Students wanting to join McNair's summer 2005 cohort must turn their applications in by March 4.