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Esports is becoming increasingly present in colleges through specialized courses, collegiate esports teams and scholarships. Here’s what’s on offer and what is driving this new interest.
Colleges in North America are offering an increasing amount of esports career development opportunities and courses. We take a look at why that is, and also what’s currently on offer.
Both the gaming and esports industries have grown tremendously over the past years. The overall number of video gamers in the world has already surpassed3 billionwith the revenue of only online games projected to reach$32.56 billion by 2027.
As for esports, this market (in the world) is expected to generate an impressive revenue of$4.3 billion in 2024. Moreover, it’s projected to grow at a rather rapid annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.59% until 2029.
Given the exponential growth of these fields and the fact that the largest share of active and ambitious gamers arebetween 18 and 34 years old, colleges decided to step in. Educational facilities are using different opportunities to attract gamers and encourage students to actually pursue careers in Gaming and esports. Let’s see how they are doing it.
Esports education: Specialized Degrees and Programs Designed for Gamers
To get into the world of gaming sports and also meet the growing demand for skilled professionals in the gaming fields, many schools have jumped in, offering accredited esports education.
The first example and trend-setter has become the University of California, Irvine. UCI opened its doors to gamers back in 2016 and offered the first-ever esports program available at a public educational facility. A little further down the road, UCI presented its esports Arena, which became the first public esports facility on a college campus.
After the innovation from UCI, more and more schools decided to follow suit. At this moment, the number of colleges and universities that have combined esports and education is fairly high, and it keeps growing.
Namely, some of the most well-known schools with such majors include:
So, if you’re a video games fan or a pro gamer, the degree options are fairly extensive. But don’t think that it’s all fun and games. Although they appeared not so long ago, esports and gaming programs are no less competitive than, let’s say, business ones. They can be hard to get in and have the same high academic standards.
The programs themselves are also not easy. They cover many topics, including esports competitions and leagues, esports management, event management, game design and development, advertising and marketing, and others. The academic load is rather intense, too with some students looking toassignment writing servicesto help them.
College Esports Teams: Driving Skilled Gamers to Compete on a Varsity Level
After years of development and growth, today, esports is treated like other traditional sports, including baseball, football, basketball, and others. For years, esports athletes have been encouraged to participate in local, nationwide, and international tournaments and win awards. Starting from 2025, there will be a separate Olympic event called theOlympic Esports Games. And, of course, colleges and universities had to jump in to join the growing competition.
To get represented in the national and global esports arenas, educational facilities had to create their own on-campus esports college teams and attract more students to join. Once again, the University of California Irvine was the first to get into the game. Besides creating a degree program and building a full-fledged esports facility on its campus, of course, UCI introduced its varsity team.
Apart from UCI, here are some other schools that let you join their esports student club and compete against other schools in various tournaments:
While these are some of the best places for gamers to study and continue their careers in esports, it’s worth noting that the competition in varsity esports is no less rigorous than in other sports. Respectively, you need to overcome a meticulous vetting and recruitment process in order to join the team.
At the same time, you should want to demonstrate solid social and extracurricular activities and, of course, above-average academic performance to get enrolled in one of these schools. So don’t hesitate to spend your junior and senior years of high school preparing for admission as thoroughly as possible, as you would do for any other college program. Some students even consider hiringessay writing servicesto support them if things to come down to the wire.
200 young gamers (8 to 15 year-olds) take part in fully-blown esports LAN inside Full Sail University’s “Fortress”
Full Sail University boasts a “game-heavy” culture and a brand new esports degree. Esports.gg spoke to their faculty about their mission.
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Esports College Scholarships: Funding for Varsity Athletes
Lastly, while exploring how colleges and universities encourage students to pursue gaming-related careers, it’s impossible not to mention esports college scholarships. While eSport education costs are less affordable than more conventional fields of study, schools are actively encouraging talented youth to enroll by supporting them financially.
As the number of esports athletes keeps growing and more universities join national leagues for various games, more schools are competing to recruit the most talented gamers. To lure in talents, colleges and universities provide differently-sized financial support to their athletes. At this time, over 170 schools in the US have esports teams and offer various funding opportunities.
If you’re wondering which colleges and universities will be happy to help you fund your studies, here are a few options to consider:
Basically, all schools mentioned earlier offer some kind of financial aid to their esports athletes. The rest of US colleges and universities participating in varsity esports also offer funding options. And even that’s not all!
Now, when the interest in college esports is growing, there are additional funding opportunities offered by independent organizations. The available opportunities are broad and can provide you with aid from $200 to $1,000+. Some options to try include:
The Bottom Line
Now that the gaming world has expanded far beyond at-home amateur championships and reached the Olympics level, the demand for esports and gaming specialists is growing rapidly. This encourages colleges and universities to do their best to attract ambitious gamers and help them pursue careers in these evolving fields.
As you now know, US schools take three main steps to make this real:
Additionally, colleges and universities help students explore career paths beyond professional Gaming, including those in esports event management, esports coaching, game development, and others. They also build fascinating esports facilities to create better experiences for their athletes and partner with major gaming companies to get students interested in the gaming world. And we believe that schools will continue their efforts!
