Grants and Writing Resources for Franciscan University of Steubenville
On December 14, 2025, in Houston, Franciscan's men's rugby team won the NCR Division III national championship, beating Slippery Rock 29–17 in the third meeting between the two teams that season. It was the first national title in the program's 25 years. The Barons finished 12–2 and unbeaten at home, and in the postseason they upset top-ranked Virginia Military Institute 29–19.
Summer Research in the Sciences
Nearly 70 percent of Franciscan's undergraduate science and engineering students take part in mentored research, according to the Franciscan Institute for Science and Health. Students have attended the annual meeting of the Ohio Academy of Sciences and the university's Gallery of Research, Artistry, and Community Engagement (GRACE).
The institute's Summer Undergraduate Research Experience in Science and Ethics took up to 20 students in 2026, with ten scholarships covering three credit hours of tuition, campus housing and a $750 stipend. Applicants choose a faculty member whose research interests them and work out a project with that professor before applying. The summer also includes weekly lectures on scientific ethics and the responsibilities of a Catholic scientist.
Prizes, Honor Societies and Student Writing
Freshman, sophomore and junior class awards are presented at the Fall Opening Convocation. Seniors are honored at the spring Academic Awards Dinner, and the academic catalog names two top prizes: the Fr. Dan Egan Award for the leading B.S. graduate and the John M. Welsh Award for the leading B.A. graduate. For B.A. graduates the highest academic award is membership in the Baconian Society, the campus equivalent of Phi Beta Kappa.
Students in the English program can join the Omicron Iota chapter of Sigma Tau Delta and write for its literary magazine. In their final year they develop and present a senior thesis. Poetry, philosophical essays and theological exegesis also appear in the Holy Fools Journal, which runs as a student club.
Graduate Theses and the Doctorate
The PhD in Sacred Theology is fully funded and includes a stipend for living expenses. Doctoral students complete at least 55 credit hours beyond the master's, including a teaching assistant internship. Under the program requirements, a candidate picks a dissertation director with the area chair's approval and defends within five years of admission to candidacy. The dissertation is expected to show technical mastery of the subject and reach conclusions that matter to the academic theological community.
In the MA in Philosophy, faculty run a mentoring program that helps graduate students turn their papers into conference presentations and journal articles. The thesis carries six hours of credit. The Hildebrand Scholarship goes to up to two students a year, and Accelerated Program students pursuing the Personalism and Phenomenology specialization are eligible. The department also sponsors Quaestiones Disputatae, a philosophy journal modeled on the medieval disputed question.
The Writing Center
The Writing Center in Egan Hall, Room 105, offers free 45-minute sessions with peer writing consultants, in person or by video. Students book through The Port, up to two sessions a day or four a week, and can keep working with the same consultant. Consultants help with thesis statements, research and MLA or Chicago citations, and they show writers how to find and fix errors in a draft.
Bring the professor's instructions to the session. For study skills, test preparation and organization, Student Success takes appointments and walk-in visits, with advisors on the Ohio campus and online.
Before a thesis or dissertation goes to the committee, our editors can give it a final edit for grammar, consistency and format. See our Franciscan University of Steubenville dissertation and thesis editing and Franciscan University of Steubenville 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 Franciscan University of Steubenville, and your faculty may endorse our services individually. We look forward to helping you bring your Franciscan writing to its strongest, submission-ready form.