It was a very mixed picture for state programs designed to help poor and minority students with college. In one program on the federal funding chopping block ? Ronald E. McNair Scholars program for undergraduates hoping to head to grad school ? the state did remarkably well. In another program ? Upward Bound for high schoolers hoping to head to college ? the state?s programs took a big hit. Of 13 state universities that currently had funding for the McNair Scholars program, 12 of them will keep their federal funding despite steep cuts to other programs nationally, it was announced recently.