Smittcamp Family Honors College - President's Honors Scholarship Application

Scholarship Announcement
The Smittcamp Family Honors College (SFHC) at California State University, Fresno, which is recognized as one of the top programs of its kind in the Western United States, provides a rigorous, yet friendly setting for scholars to engage in courses that match those offered at a small liberal arts college while also having access to the breadth of resources and extracurricular activities offered at a high quality, comprehensive university. That’s quite an achievement, especially when one considers that some of the most prestigious universities in the country are located in California. No other institution in the region can match the benefits of the Smittcamp Family Honors College.

The admission to SFHC is highly competitive. Each admitted applicant becomes a “President’s Honors Scholar” and will receive a President’s Honors Scholarship (PHS) up to a maximum of eight semesters of undergraduate studies. The dollar value of PHS award may vary in a progressive fashion from one academic year to the next and will be determined by the Honors Council (the governing body of SFHC). In addition, SFHC will award a Housing Stipend to any Scholar who chooses to live on-campus in order to offset the related cost. For the 2023-2024 academic year, the PHS is set at $6,000 ($3,000 per semester) and the Housing Stipend at $5,764 ($2,882 per semester), making the total value of SFHC’s offer equal to $11,764. (Note: the room assignment is at the discretion of the University Housing Office). All PHS recipients are expected to keep full-time status (a minimum of 12 undergraduate units) and maintain a minimum cumulative GPA each semester as follows: 3.25 for Semesters 1 – 2, 3.35 for Semesters 3 – 4, and 3.50 for Semesters 5 – 8. Note: A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50 is required in order to graduate with University Honors through SFHC.

Admission Requirements
You must be a first-time freshman who has not been matriculated as a full-time student at any institution of higher learning (i.e., community college or any four-year university). Applicants must meet at least one of the following criteria in order to be eligible to apply to SFHC:

• Have a minimum 3.8 high school GPA (weighted or unweighted; grades 9-11)
• Ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class.

Please read all the instructions to make sure you understand the requirements for this scholarship.

Be prepared to list the name and email address of your high school counselor or school official who will receive an e-mail from Fresno State requesting that they upload a copy of your high school transcript. You will also need to provide the name and email address for two people who can each submit a recommendation on your behalf. At least one of the recommenders has to be a teacher, and the other can be either a teacher or an academic counselor. Please note that your official transcript is the only document that has to be uploaded by your counselor or another school official. Each of your two (or three) recommenders will provide their recommendation by filling a Q/A box. It is highly recommended that you monitor the status of your application to verify that your counselor and teachers have uploaded their paperwork and/or submitted their recommendations. This can be done by clicking on the “References” section on this site. From this page, you can see the status of all your reference requests.

Application Period
The scholarship application period begins October 1, 2023 and closes on December 14, 2023 at 11:59 pm (PST).

Award Notification
Applicants will receive notification of their status by March 1, 2024. If you have not received your status notification, please check your Fresno State Email. Notifications are sent (by the SFHC Director and/or staff) to Fresno State email addresses ONLY.

If you have any questions, please contact the Smittcamp Family Honors College by email (honors@csufresno.edu) or by phone (559.278.8160). You may also visit their website at: https://academics.fresnostate.edu/honors/index.html