Grants and Writing Resources for California State University, Fresno
In February 2026 a Fresno State senior majoring in political science and communications was named a Schwarzman Scholar, the first from the university and the third from any CSU campus. The fellowship pays for a one-year master's degree in Chinese and global affairs at Schwarzman College, on the Tsinghua University campus in Beijing. The incoming class of 150 was chosen from more than 5,800 applicants.
Research Week
Research and Sponsored Programs hosts the annual Central California Research Symposium. Undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and residents from any field can submit abstracts. A student entering the competition needs a faculty sponsor, and the online submission goes to that mentor for approval.
The 47th symposium was held in the Resnick Student Union on April 22, 2026, as part of Research Week, with 12-minute talks and poster sessions and more than 250 presenters expected. Up to 10 Fresno State students are selected for the systemwide CSU Student Research Competition.
Money for Projects
The Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Studies and the Provost's office fund the Undergraduate Research Grant, worth up to $1,500. It covers research, field studies, discipline-based projects and creative work. Students can design a project or join a professor's, but the mentor has to hold a tenure or tenure-track appointment. No more than $750 of the grant can be paid to the student as a student assistant.
Graduate students look to the Division of Graduate Studies funding opportunities. Graduate Student Research and Creative Activities Support (GRACAS) awards, run with the Provost's office, fund research or creative work tied to a thesis, dissertation or project; the division listed awards of up to $2,000 for the spring 2025 round. Robert & Norma Craig Graduate Scholarships recognize research in a student's field and go to a student only once. The Graduate Equity Fellowship Program helps students from historically underrepresented backgrounds pay for a graduate degree and can run two years, with a new application each year. In the 2024-25 cycle the California Pre-Doctoral Program offered scholars $5,000 to visit doctoral institutions and attend national conferences.
Thesis Honors and a Student Journal
Each year the Division of Graduate Studies lists its Outstanding Theses and Projects. Categories include Outstanding Thesis, Outstanding Project, Outstanding Doctoral Project and Outstanding Dissertation. Program coordinators also nominate one student each for Outstanding Graduate Student.
Undergraduates in the English Department started a magazine called Backwash in 1963. Today it is The San Joaquin Review, a student-run journal of poetry, fiction, nonfiction and visual art for writers tied to Fresno State and the Central Valley. A new group of student editors shapes it every year.
Writing Studios and the Thesis Office
The Writing Center offers one-on-one tutoring and small writing groups that meet for a full semester. Help ranges from brainstorming and writer's block to MLA, APA and Chicago style.
Graduate students have a separate space. The Graduate Writing Studio, in Library Room 2119, holds consultations in person and on Zoom for course papers, theses and application letters. Bring one section of a long document, since consultants can't review a full thesis at once. Thesis construction groups meet weekly to work through drafts, the template and submission steps. There is also a Virtual Writing Café with 50-minute silent writing sessions, and a free five-session Grammar for Grad Students series.
Finished work goes to the Dissertation/Thesis Office. Every thesis or dissertation has to be built in the designated template and approved by the full committee before the office will review it. Approved documents are uploaded to ProQuest and to ScholarWorks, the CSU repository that the Madden Library administers for Fresno State.
Before a paper goes to a professor, or a thesis goes to the Dissertation/Thesis Office, our editors can give it a final edit for grammar, consistency and format. See our Fresno State dissertation and thesis editing and Fresno State essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.
From Our Writing Guides
Compiled by James Peterson Brown, PhD, Managing Editor of Editors For Students. Links checked October 2026.
Editors For Students is an independent editorial service and is not affiliated with California State University, Fresno, and your faculty may endorse our services individually. We look forward to helping you bring your Fresno State writing to its strongest, submission-ready form.