Grants and Writing Resources for California State University, Stanislaus

Graduate students in social work took all three prizes at Stanislaus State's 2026 Grad Slam, including first place and the audience-chosen People's Choice award. Each presenter gets three minutes and one slide. The champion receives $500, along with a place in the systemwide round.

Research Competitions

The campus Student Research Competition, held for the 40th time in 2026, is open to currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students in every discipline who have a faculty sponsor. Competitors get 10 minutes to present before a jury and three more for questions, in undergraduate and graduate categories. Top presenters in each category win monetary awards. As many as 10 presentations are nominated for the CSU statewide competition.

Grad Slam is open to master's and doctoral students, and a finished project isn't required. The champion receives $500, the runner-up $400 and the People's Choice winner $300. Winners of the campus final go on to the systemwide round.

Grants for Student Research

The SERSCA Program, short for Student Engagement in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity, funds undergraduate and graduate students across all disciplines. Its paid assistantships are worth $2,000. Students in them work with a faculty mentor on a research or creative project. SERSCA also offers mini-grants for equipment and supplies, along with travel grants of up to $1,200 for presenting work and up to $800 for attending a meeting.

Graduate students have one more option. The Provost's Office Graduate Student Mini-Grant, listed on the same page, gives $250 to each approved applicant.

Graduate Fellowships

California residents in a Stan State graduate program can apply for the Graduate Equity Fellowship, generally $500 to $2,000 a year toward tuition and books, split between fall and spring. Applicants need at least $1,000 in financial need and a 3.0 GPA. It also encourages master's students to continue to a doctorate and provides faculty mentoring.

Upper-division undergraduates and master's students planning on a research doctorate can apply to the California Pre-Doctoral Program. Each applicant needs a CSU faculty mentor. Those selected become Sally Casanova Scholars and receive $5,000 that can pay for visits to doctoral-granting universities and development costs such as test fees. Some also receive a fully funded summer research experience at a UC campus or another major research university.

Student Publications

Penumbra is Stanislaus State's literary and art journal, housed in the English Department. Students run it. Its staff also produce Penumbra Press chapbooks and the Penumbra Media podcast and blog, and the journal puts out a fall online edition. The student newspaper is the Signal, whose reporters and editors joined professional journalists at the 2026 JAMEN summit on campus to report stories on health and the environment.

Writing Help and Thesis Submission

The Writing Center in Vasché Library works with undergraduate and graduate students in 50-minute scheduled sessions or 25-minute same-day sessions, online or in person. Graduate students can bring theses and doctoral letters of intent to peer tutors or faculty coaches. A monthly Graduate Research and Writing Workshop on Zoom covers topics such as literature reviews and synthesis. In the library, research workshops pair a librarian with writing tutors.

Graduate theses and dissertations follow the university's guidelines and templates, which are posted on the Office of Graduate Studies' thesis, project and dissertation page along with a Canvas submission portal. The office's reviewers check each submission. After approval, students publish through ProQuest, which doesn't stop them from publishing the work elsewhere.

For a final edit before submission, our PhD-level editors work with Stanislaus State students at every level. See our California State University, Stanislaus dissertation and thesis editing and California State University, Stanislaus essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.