The U.S. Department of Education moved to remove race-based eligibility from the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, prompting conservative plaintiffs to drop a pending lawsuit. The Department announced the change via rulemaking after a court challenge argued the program’s race‑conscious criteria were unconstitutional. The McNair program, which channels federal grants to institutions to expand Ph.D. pathways for low‑income or underrepresented students, distributed more than $60 million in fiscal 2024. The Education Department framed the change as a shift to racially neutral criteria that still target low‑income and first‑generation students, and the decision follows separate Justice Department guidance and litigation pressuring race‑conscious federal grants. Colleges that run McNair programs will need to monitor forthcoming regulatory text and adjust outreach and selection processes to retain funds. For higher‑education leaders, the event is an operational inflection point: institutions and program directors should review eligibility, documentation processes, and grant compliance to ensure continuity of graduate‑school access services once the new rule is finalized.