Craig School of Business Scholars Program

The Craig Business Scholars Program for incoming first year and G.E.certified transfer students is a multi-year scholarship competitively awarded based on academic excellence, proven capability for academic success, leadership and service. Craig Business Scholars serve as ambassadors for the Craig School through service activities, business engagement opportunities and other prestigious events. The Craig Business Scholars organization provides leadership roles to students in the program that plan and execute community service and social events.

Incoming first year students receive $25,200 over four years. Scholarship award allocation is $6,300 per year. Incoming G.E. certified transfer students receive $6,300 per year for two years for a total of $12,600. Students in the program also receive class level priority registration for courses and multiple business and faculty engagement opportunities as ambassadors for the Craig School of Business. A 3.0 minimum GPA must be maintained each semester while in the program or funding may be revoked.

The Craig Business Scholars program is funded from several donor sources, including:

• Craig Scholarships from the endowment established by the Sid and Jenny Craig Foundation established when the school was named in 1992;
• Fresno Merchants Scholarships from the scholarship endowment established from a $1.7 million gift in 1998 from the Fresno Merchants Association;
• Clemmensen Scholarships established from contributions from alumnus Larry Clemmensen;
• The Matoian Scholarships from an endowment by Matty Matoian;
• Joseph Presuitti Scholarship established from the Ella Fitzgerald Foundation;
• Easterly Scholarships from contributions by alumnus Josh Easterly;
• Contributions form John Salmonson.

The Craig Business Scholars Program is administered by the Dean’s Office within the Craig School of Business. All completed applications are reviewed by a team of faculty from the business program. A pool of finalists will be invited to interview with faculty on campus for the scholarship program and meet with current scholars to answer any questions the finalists might have. New scholarship recipients will be selected from the finalist pool and will be notified after all interviews are conducted. Acceptance of the scholarship and attending Fresno State must be completed by May 1st or an alternate will be selected.

Minimum requirements for consideration of admission to the Craig School of Business Scholars Program include all of the following criteria:

First Year Students

• 3.5 or higher unweighted GPA (out of a possible 4.0)
• SAT composite score of 1100 or higher or an ACT composite score of 22 or better (If taken)
• Record of leadership and service in high school and community activities
• Stated intention to major in business administration, economics or fashion merchandising

G. E. Certified Transfer Students

• Will have junior or senior status in Fall 2024
• 3.8 or better cumulative GPA over college courses
• Record of leadership and service in college and community activities
• Required courses completed to major in business administration, economics or fashion merchandising

Application Requirements
In addition to completing the general scholarship application on this site, you must also download and complete the additional Craig Business Scholars Program Application listed below by the March 2nd deadline.

First Year Students

• Download the application and instructions for entering FIRST YEAR STUDENTS (File size 1.81 MB PDF)
• Download the COUNSELOR CERTIFICATION FORM (File size 148 KB PDF)

G. E. Certified Transfer Students

• Download the application and instructions for entering G.E. CERTIFIED TRANSFER STUDENTS (File size 1.47 MB PDF)

Please read through the qualifications to ensure you understand the requirements for the scholarship program. You will need to upload your completed application with the required documents outlined on the checklist by March 2, 2024 to be considered. Please upload all of your documents into ONE PDF file saved as “Your Name Craig Business Scholar and either First Year or Transfer” by the deadline. The uploaded file must be formatted as a PDF (not a JPEG,TIFF, or ZIP file of compressed documents) and the file size cannot be larger than 10 MB.

If you have any questions, or need additional information, please contact Micheala Bojorquez Ford, Director of Student Experiences for the Craig School of Business at (559) 278-7843 or email micheala@mail.fresnostate.edu.