Grants and Writing Resources for Cal State Long Beach

In September 2026 a CSULB moot court team won the Falcon Classic at the U.S. Air Force Academy on a 2-1 decision. It was the team's third straight title in the competition, and three of its members took first, second and sixth place in the top speaker awards. That month two CSULB films, one animated and one documentary, were named finalists in PBS Fine Cut, a showcase of college filmmaking, with broadcasts set for October.

The Student Research Competition

Any enrolled undergraduate or graduate student can enter CSULB's Student Research Competition. Each entry has two parts, a written summary of one to two pages and an oral presentation followed by five minutes of questions from faculty jurors, and the jurors score both against a published rubric. There are ten categories, among them Humanities and Letters, Creative Arts and Design, and Behavioral and Social Sciences. First place in each category pays $100, and up to ten first-place winners go on to the CSU Statewide Student Research Competition.

Students who want to start research early can look to the Office of Undergraduate Research Services. It runs the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, which the campus student research listing describes as a program for first- and second-year students, along with the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. The office also handles the Summer Student Research Assistantship, which in its 2024 cycle supported full-time summer research with a faculty mentor. Each mentor could nominate up to two students that year.

Funds for Research, Travel and Publication

The ASI Student Research Fund supports undergraduate and graduate research, scholarship and creative activity done with a faculty sponsor or mentor. It can pay for research costs, research-related professional development and the cost of publishing.

Two campus grants help with conference costs. The Graduate Travel Fellowship gives up to $1,000 to master's, doctoral, credential and graduate certificate students presenting at an academic or professional conference, once per academic year. Students who attend without presenting can receive registration costs only. The Student Life and Development Travel Grant pays up to $400 to presenters and co-presenters and up to $300 for poster presentations or competitions, toward registration, transportation, lodging and required memberships.

Graduate Fellowships and Thesis Prizes

Juniors, seniors and master's students aiming for a doctorate can apply to the Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Scholars Program. A scholar works with a tenured or tenure-track CSULB faculty mentor and receives a $5,000 stipend for visits to doctoral institutions, professional meetings and graduate application fees. Scholars still outside a PhD program by the following summer may apply for a fully funded summer research experience at a University of California campus or another major research university.

Faculty nominate master's and doctoral students for the CSULB Graduate Fellowship, which goes to students who contribute to diversity, equity or the public good. Doctoral students who plan to teach in the CSU can join the Chancellor's Doctoral Incentive Program, which offers mini-grants of up to $2,500, travel grants of up to $1,500 and a dissertation fellowship of up to $5,000 for the final year.

Each college may nominate one thesis, one project and one dissertation for the Graduate Dean's Distinguished Thesis, Project and Dissertation Awards, which judge clarity, rigor, originality, creativity, significance and impact. Winners receive $100. The Graduate Dean's List of University Scholars and Artists is limited to one percent of graduate enrollment, and honorees receive a plaque from the dean.

Where Student Writing Appears

CSULB students, MFA students and undergraduates among them, design and produce RipRap, a literary journal that comes out each May. It began in 1951 as Hornspoon, ran for a time as Gambit, and took the name RipRap in 1979. It publishes short fiction and nonfiction, poetry and art, including photography and comics. The spring 2026 issue was No. 48.

Writing Help and the Thesis Office

The University Writing Center serves every enrolled CSULB student, including graduate, credential and certificate students. Tutoring sessions last an hour, one-on-one or in groups, in person or on Zoom, and tutors take on thesis and dissertation projects as well as course papers. The center also holds weekly workshops on Zoom. Graduate and other post-baccalaureate students can book a 45- to 55-minute session with the Graduate Center's Graduate Writing Specialist, held on Zoom unless the student asks to meet in person or by phone, for help at any stage from brainstorming to final revisions.

After a committee approves the content, the Thesis and Dissertation Office in the University Library reviews each thesis and dissertation against the CSULB Format Manual and the appropriate citation format. The office offers templates, citation guides, workshops and consultations. Manuscripts are reviewed in the order they are uploaded to the ProQuest ETD site. CSULB theses can be found in ProQuest's Dissertations and Theses database, with full text from 1997 on for the campus community, and full text from 2009 on is open to anyone through PQDT Open, subject to author embargoes.

A thesis close to its ProQuest upload, or a paper close to its due date, can still get a final edit from our editors for grammar, consistency and format. See our Cal State Long Beach thesis and dissertation editing and Cal State Long Beach essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• How to Write an Analytical Essay: Analysis vs. Interpretation
• ProQuest Readiness: The Final Mechanical Audit
• Methodology Chapter Secrets: Building the Architecture of Your Argument