Fifteen undergraduate students at West Virginia University will receive faculty mentoring, research opportunities and financial assistance as part of WVU s Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program .

The scholars will be given a $2,500 annual stipend, graduate school placement assistance and professional development opportunities to help them gain admission into masters and doctoral degree programs.

The 2009 McNair Scholars are Alexandra Castillo , an English and international studies major from Morgantown; Vanessa DeCesare , a speech pathology and audiology major from Toronto, Ohio; Rosalinda Desrochers , a pre-secondary education and biology major from Masontown; Andrea Ebner , speech pathology and audiology major from Morgantown; Tenesha Hill , an international studies major from Hagerstown, Md.; Ryan Lewis , a management information systems major from Rockville, Md.; Joretta Livengood , an accounting major from Westover; Leah Lowe , a social work major from Beckley; Taylor Mikalik , a history and religion major from Morgantown; Honietia Morgan , a psychology major from Martinsburg; Marlenea Morgan , a pre-sociology and anthropology major from Wilsondale; Jeannette Sanchez , a pre-criminology and investigations major from North Bergen, N.J.; Catessa Simon , a human nutrition and foods major from Romney; Christopher Waugh , a history, sociology and anthropology major from Weirton; and Tomorrow Wilson , a psychology major from Morgantown.

The McNair Scholars Program is a life-changing program,said Betty Mei, assistant director of the WVU McNair Scholars Program .Look at where our alumni are todaytwo have obtained doctorates, and 17 are currently enrolled in doctoral programs.

We give our thanks to the McNair family who helped to establish this scholarship,Mei said.They would be glad to know the kind of impact this program has on underrepresented students. I am looking forward to working with the 10th group of WVU McNair Scholars this summer.

The McNair Scholars Program is funded by the U.S. Department of Education in honor of engineer, scientist and NASA astronaut Ronald E. McNair, who died in the 1986 Challenger explosion.

The program is designed to help low-income, first-generation or underrepresented college students earn doctoral degrees. Students enrolled in the program have the opportunity to travel to graduate schools across the nation, where they meet with a variety of faculty members.

To be eligible for the McNair Scholars Program, students must have completed their sophomore year of study, be enrolled in an undergraduate degree program full-time, have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 and be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.

For more information on the WVU McNair Scholars Program, visit http://www.wvu.edu/~mcnair/ .