# UofSC Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program

> **NIH NIH R25** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA · 2022 · $348,034

## Abstract

Many URM students are hesitant to apply to PhD programs. However, when they do apply to doctoral programs at
the UofSC, we find that URM students usually do as well as their non-URM counterparts even though their
credentials may be less competitive.
 Reasons for the low number of URM students who apply to and enter doctoral programs include:
 • Perceived poor qualifications, particularly as a result of poverty and resulting poor education (2) and the
 perception, often accurate, that the student’s qualifications such as GPA or GRE score are inadequate.
 • Little research experience, especially when the student has attended a small undergraduate school rather
 than a major research university.
 • Little information about biomedical research careers and the financial support available to pursue a doctorate.
 • Family financial considerations, something that is a major problem in regions with a high URM population.
UofSC PREP addresses these issues. Each year we will admit eight Scholars from under-represented backgrounds
who will be hired as full-time temporary research employees. The Scholars will work full time in a research laboratory
and will take one graduate course per semester. After completing a summer and a fall graduate course, the PREP
Scholars will have a graduate transcript with a good GPA so that they can gain acceptance into graduate PhD
programs even though they might have a marginal undergraduate GPA. In addition, they will have had the
opportunity to show that they can do research at a level that is typical of a beginning graduate student. Our previous
success indicates that more than 75% of the UofSC PREP Scholars will gain acceptance and matriculate into PhD
programs in the biomedical sciences.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10333450
- **Project number:** 2R25GM066526-15A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Alissa Richmond Armstrong
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $348,034
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2004-09-05 → 2027-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10333450

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10333450, UofSC Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (2R25GM066526-15A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10333450. Licensed CC0.

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