In 2007 and 2010, the National Research Council reported that the United States was not producing enough graduates in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields to meet the demands of an increasingly competitive global economy. Despite recent challenges to these findings, one thing remains clear: Underrepresented Minorities (URMs) continue to be the most underrepresented populations in the STEM disciplines. (The term "Underrepresented Minorities," or URMs, is used to describe racial/ethnic groups that are not represented in the pool of STEM professionals commensurate with their representation in the general U.S. Population--namely, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and American Indians [Clewell et al. 2006]). Further, the lack of appropriate institutional supports may make it difficult for STEM disciplines to attract and retain a diverse pool of students. One program that has been identified in the research literature as effectively preparing URMs for doctoral studies is the Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program. Programmatic features, including faculty mentoring and academic preparation, have been shown to mitigate many of the obstacles that URMs typically encounter. In this paper, we demonstrate the contributions of faculty mentoring and academic preparation in helping students transition from Baccalaureate to Graduate Programs in the STEM disciplines at one Research I university in the Southeastern United States.