Grants and Writing Resources for Capital University

The Chimes, the student newspaper Capital students have produced since 1926, won four Pinnacle Awards from the College Media Association in 2025, among them second place for a front page and third place for periodic newspaper of the year. In April 2026 a history and criminology major from the Class of 2027 was named to the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge's 2026 Student Voting Honor Roll, one of 168 students in the country recognized for voter engagement.

Symposium Day and Its Awards

On April 15, 2026, Capital held the 30th annual Symposium on Undergraduate Scholarship and the 10th annual Graduate Research Forum. Posters went up in the Capital Center Field House, and oral presentations ran in Battelle Hall, Blackmore Library and the Ruff Learning Center. Students in any major can submit. Creative writing, literature reviews, case studies and scholarly critiques qualify along with lab and field research.

Two awards come out of the symposium. The James L. and E. Marlene Bruning Undergraduate Research Award, endowed in 2007, pays for conference registration, travel and research materials for students who present at academic conferences. The Diversity and Inclusion Research Award recognizes scholarship that advances understanding of diversity and inclusion. For both, the planning committee draws candidates from the spring abstracts and faculty mentors make the formal nomination. Nominees then give a 15-minute talk to the committee, and the winners are announced at the spring Honors Convocation.

Summer Research Stipends

The Summer Scholars Program gives undergraduates in good academic standing a $3,500 stipend and a campus housing allowance for ten weeks of full-time research with a faculty mentor. Sophomores and juniors get preference. Scholars who need supplies, software or equipment can apply to the Boyd Fund for up to $1,000. Each scholar presents at the end of the summer and again at the next year's symposium.

One 2026 Summer Scholar, a biology student, studied salamanders from Central Ohio for patterns of antibiotic resistance in wild populations.

Law School Scholarships and Writing Requirements

Every applicant admitted to the JD program at Capital University Law School is considered for an institutional scholarship, with no separate application. Decisions rest mainly on undergraduate grades and LSAT scores. The award is paid in equal fall and spring disbursements, cannot exceed tuition, and stays available to students who keep satisfactory academic progress. Continuing students can also apply for the school's 63 endowed scholarships, each awarded on its donor's criteria. The Law Review Scholarship, the Law Review Executive Board Scholarship and the Brian A. Freeman Memorial Scholarship for Excellence in Constitutional Law are on that list. Many endowed funds weigh financial need, so applicants file a FAFSA every year, and students with need can earn wages as faculty research assistants through Federal Work-Study. For Capital's other graduate programs, the Financial Aid Office keeps a list of outside scholarships, and the MBA page notes that employers often offer tuition reimbursement for graduate study.

Law students write from the first semester. Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing is a two-semester first-year course taught in small sections by full-time writing faculty, moving from research and predictive writing to persuasive writing. Every student must also meet an upper-level writing requirement through Appellate Advocacy, a law review note or a seminar, and seminars generally call for a scholarly article of publishable quality or several shorter papers. Under the academic regulations, only full-time or emeriti law faculty may direct a project that counts toward it, and a paper counts only once the Academic Affairs Committee approves it. The school calls its final-year Legal Drafting course, taught in sections of 25, the capstone writing experience at Capital.

Where Student Writing Appears

The Chimes started as a weekly in 1926 and now publishes in print and online. Students who want to join the staff can write to chimes@capital.edu. Literary work by Capital students can appear in ReCap magazine, which the undergraduate research program lists as an outlet for student writing. A 2020 Capital Stories piece by the editor-in-chief of that year's issue, an English literature and Spanish major, calls ReCap Capital's literary arts magazine. The 2020 issue was put together with guidance from the magazine's advisor and took creative bravery as its theme.

Law students put out the Capital University Law Review four times a year. Founded in 1972, it publishes articles by scholars, judges, public officials and practicing attorneys. Every staff member writes an article on a legal topic and submits it for possible publication, and the Review sponsors symposia that include the Sullivan Lecture. Membership comes by invitation or competition.

Writing Center and Library Help

Writing Consultants at the Academic Success Writing Center, on the second floor of Blackmore Library, take any assignment from any class. They work through brainstorming, thesis development, organization, drafting and revision, and they help with APA, MLA and Chicago formatting and source documentation. Students book sessions in TutorTrac or by calling 614-236-6327.

For a research project, a student or a small group can request a personalized appointment with a librarian. At the Law School, the Academic Success Program offers individualized support, and the Bar Success Program begins on the first day of law school.

Our editors give Capital papers, symposium abstracts and theses a final edit for grammar, consistency and format. See our Capital University dissertation and thesis editing and Capital University essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• Writing the Abstract and Title: First Impressions Matter
• How to Write an Analytical Essay: Analysis vs. Interpretation
• How to Avoid Academic Dishonesty: Citing and Quoting Sources