Mentorships for Undergraduate Research in Agriculture, Letters, and Science (MURALS) is a pre-graduate opportunity program designed to enrich the research experience of students situationally disadvantaged in their access to graduate school. Initiated in the spring of 1988, under the sponsorship of the Office of Student Affairs and the academic leadership of the College of Letters and Science, MURALS was initially established to address the needs of students who were majoring in programs within the humanities and the social sciences. Now MURALS includes students from all academic disciplines, including mathematics, the biological and physical sciences.

The McNair Scholars Program is a federal TRIO program funded across the United States and Puerto Rico by the U.S. Department of Education. It is designed to prepare undergraduate students for doctoral studies through involvement in research and other scholarly activities. McNair participants are either first-generation college students with financial need or members of a group that is traditionally underrepresented in graduate education and have demonstrated strong academic potential. The goal of the McNair Scholars Program is to increase graduate degree awards for students from underrepresented segments of society. The McNair Scholars Program is research-focused and therefore not intended for students who wish to pursue professional degrees like medicine, law, or business management.