The U.S. Department of Education moved to eliminate race‑based eligibility for the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program and will replace it with racially neutral criteria through rulemaking, prompting conservative plaintiffs to withdraw a pending lawsuit. The McNair program, which channels roughly $60 million a year to colleges to prepare low‑income and first‑generation scholars for Ph.D. programs, had faced constitutional challenges from critics who argued its race‑based rules were unlawful. Department officials said the change aligns with a Justice Department opinion that race‑based selection in some federal higher‑education grants must be retooled, but that the broader mission of the McNair program—to expand doctoral representation among disadvantaged students—will continue under new, race‑neutral measures. Advocates for the program warned that narrowing race‑conscious criteria risks narrowing access for historically underrepresented groups even as the department says low‑income and first‑generation students will remain eligible. The announcement closes a high‑profile legal episode while spotlighting the Education Department’s broader effort to rework targeted outreach programs. Colleges that run McNair sites now face a period of regulatory uncertainty as the department prepares formal rule changes and institutions weigh how to preserve program aims within new eligibility rules.