The Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program at San Jose State University (SJSU) is an exciting effort designed to encourage low income individuals who are first generation college students and / or underrepresented in graduate education to pursue doctoral study. The McNair Program, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, proposes to motivate and prepare promising undergraduate students for graduate study. Named for the Challenger space shuttle crew member, the Ronald E. McNair Program serves as a living memorial to a man who overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to be awarded his Ph.D. in physics and later, to realize his dream of becoming an astronaut for NASA.