PREP-aring is worth it: Success of the Case Western Reserve University post-baccalaureate research education program...

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Post-baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) was a research-intense, one-year training program for recent college graduates from experiential backgrounds uncommon in science who intended to matriculate with a PhD program in preparation for a career in biomedical research. Case Western Reserve University had an NIGMS-supported PREP (CasePREP) from 2007 until 2025, the year NIGMS terminated the program and early expired the PREP funding mechanism. We report here the extent that CasePREP, with its 108 Scholars, met program goals as well as the economic and scientific impact NIGMS-supported PREP has had for a variety of stakeholders. CasePREP was a great success as measured by its major outcomes: matriculation into a PhD or MD/PhD program (83%) and completion of degree (51 Scholars to date). CasePREP Scholars have persisted in science and have made substantial contributions to the scientific workforce and enterprise. PREPs in general provided a crucial bridge for research talents who had little prior research opportunities to realize their potential and career goals. NIGMS termination of PREP support has negative economic consequences and endangers an important pathway to a career in science for Americans who would not otherwise have similar opportunities.