Grants and Writing Resources for Western Kentucky University
In April 2026 a WKU junior studying political science, legal studies and strategic communications was named a 2026 Truman Scholar, one of 55 rising seniors picked from 198 finalists and the second Truman Scholar in WKU history. He is set to serve as Student Regent on the Board of Regents in 2026-27. Seven students in the Chinese Flagship Program received $25,000 Boren Scholarships for a 2026-27 Capstone Year in Taiwan, with courses at a host university in the first semester and a professional internship in the second.
National Scholarship Applications
The Office of Scholar Development mentors students in every major who apply for nationally competitive awards. Its staff work with applicants from first drafts to final submissions, with several revisions in between, and help them shape the stories they tell in essays and interviews. The office supports applications for the Gilman, Critical Language, Fulbright, Goldwater and Udall scholarships and for NSF Graduate Research Fellowships, among others. In 2025-26, 153 Hilltoppers sent in 185 applications.
Undergraduate Research and the Showcase
The Office of Research & Creative Activity funds undergraduate projects through FUSE, the Faculty Undergraduate Student Engagement grant. Students in good academic standing who will reach sophomore status by the award start date can apply, and the program suits sophomores and juniors best.
Finished work goes to the WKU Student Scholar Showcase, open to undergraduate and graduate students. Presenters give posters, talks, videos or pre-recorded performances, and every abstract needs a faculty mentor's approval. The 2027 event is the 57th.
Honors Theses and Their Grants
Mahurin Honors College scholars on the thesis track finish with the Capstone Experience/Thesis (CE/T), an independent research or creative project tied to the student's major or minor and built with faculty mentors. The college posts a formatting template and its final evaluation rubric for the project.
The college's grants and awards include the Honors Development Grant, up to $500 for research, conference travel and materials. The CE/T Excellence Award pays $1,500 to a limited number of projects and is the most competitive grant the college offers. It covers equipment, materials, research travel and outside contractors such as artists or interpreters, and recipients must defend the finished CE/T.
Graduate Funding and Thesis Submission
A Graduate Student Research Grant pays up to $2,000 for participant payments, data coding, special materials, research travel and supplies. Students may hold two research grants and two travel grants per degree, up to $2,500 in all. The Graduate Council Research Committee reviews proposals. First-generation graduate students can apply for the two-year Distinguished First-Generation Research Fellowship, which pairs each fellow with a faculty mentor and pays at least $15,000 a year for a 20-hour research assistantship, plus tuition.
Theses, specialist projects and dissertations follow the Graduate School's formatting guidelines. Students complete a copyright permission form and email the final PDF to Graduate Studies, and the library writes when the work is published. It appears in TopSCHOLAR, the repository WKU Libraries maintains.
The Writing Center
The Writing Center is free to every WKU student. Its tutors, English majors and graduate students, meet writers in Grise Hall 435, at the Cravens Library reference desk or on Zoom, and they return written feedback on papers sent by email. Sessions cover brainstorming, organization, logic and support, and citing sources. Tutors teach students to revise and proofread, so the editing stays with the writer.
A separate page for thesis writers recommends frequent appointments to keep a draft on schedule.
Before a CE/T, thesis or scholarship essay goes out, our editors can give it a final check for grammar, consistency and format. See our Western Kentucky University dissertation and thesis editing and Western Kentucky University 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 Western Kentucky University, and your faculty may endorse our services individually. We look forward to helping you bring your WKU writing to its strongest, submission-ready form.