Scholarships

The Best Gaming Scholarships: Esports Scholarships

Find the top scholarships for gamers and Esports scholarships for college students.

Shawna Newman

January 18, 2023

The Best Gaming Scholarships: Esports Scholarships
Gaming is more than just fun & games.
It is a tale as old as time: parents struggling with the amount of time their child is spending on the video game console. Caregivers, parents and even students are asking, “Can you get a scholarship for gaming?” Gaming can provide valuable life lessons, too. There is teamwork, perseverance, dedication, time management, and playing video games for a mental break...just to name a few. JUMP TO GAMING SCHOLARSHIPS

Can you get a scholarship for playing video games?

Well, if you love to play Overwatch, MOBA, LoL, StarCraft II, Hearthstone, Rocket League (just to name a few), or even mobile gaming apps, you are in luck. Your late-night gaming tournaments can pay off—quite literally--in the form of scholarship money. Competitive gamers can use their strategy skills to help them get a college degree with little to no student loan debt.
As high schools are beginning to add Esports teams, colleges are also hopping on this trend. College Esports teams are recruiting students to join their team with gaming scholarships! But not all the best gaming scholarships are college Esports scholarships.

Top Gaming Scholarships for Gamers

Imagine Cup Games Competition

Deadline: 1/27/23
Award Amount: $100,000 The Imagine Cup Games Competition is available to students around the world who are at least 16 years of age. To enter, you or your team of two to four must create an innovative, accessible, groundbreaking, and appealing software program built with Microsoft tools and technology.

Esports Scholarship

Deadline: 5/1/23
Award Amount: $2,000 The Esports Scholarship is open to students at Maryville University. You must plan to participate in esports to be considered for this award.

The Amie Dansby Women in Technology Award

Deadline: 6/1/23
Award Amount: $1,500 The Amie Dansby Women in Technology Award is available to female high school seniors who are planning to pursue a career in a videogame or technology-based field. You must have a minimum 3.0 GPA to be eligible for this award.

Minecraft Scholarship

Deadline: 7/31/23
Award Amount: $2,000 The Minecraft Scholarship is open to high school and college students. You must be a U.S. citizen, have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and submit an essay of at least 500 words that details your opinion on how Minecraft can be a positive influence on education and career development in order to be considered for this award.

Play! Pokemon Scholarship Program

Deadline: Varies
Award Amount: $1,000 The Play! Pokemon Scholarship Program is open to high school and college students. You must be a top finisher in a Play! Pokemon event to be eligible for this award.

Esports Scholarship

Deadline: Varies
Award Amount: Varies The Esports Scholarship is open to students who participate in the esports program at Juniata College. You must demonstrate academic ability and contribute to your school and community and your academic excellence and aspirations must be balanced with your competitive ability in order to be considered for this award.

UCI Esports Scholarship

Deadline: Varies
Award Amount: $6,000 The UCI Esports Scholarship is available to full - time entering freshmen at the University of California, Irvine. You must have peaked at least Grandmaster on League of Legends or Radiant on Valorant to be eligible for this award.

How to Get Recruited for Esports?

If you are a female student gamer, you have an advantage in many gaming aspects, including gaming careers, gaming scholarships, gaming internships and Esports teams. College Esports recruiters are looking for the top female gamers working toward their college degree to diversify their Esports college teams. According to Statista.com females in gaming still make up for less than half of the total gamers in the United States. Next College Student Athlete (NCSA) reports Esports recruitment is similar to traditional collegiate sports recruiting. Many gamers must submit recruiting forms, play in big, national gaming tournaments, and sometimes even participate in a live tryout. Game ranking differs from game to game, and recruiting coaches have their own gaming benchmarks created.

What Degree Do I Need to Be a Video Game Designer?

According to ComputerScience.org, to have a career in video game design you’ll need to major in one of the following degrees: Computer Science Computer Graphics Software Engineering Game Design This is a competitive job field, so you will want to get a few gaming internships in while you are in college.

How to Get a Job in Game Design?

Students that are active Esports team players, and those that have game design, programmer, or gaming-related internship experience on their resumes will get ahead in the video game design career fields. It is also important to network with current professionals in the video game industry. Having an internship will help you build these professional connections. Consider following some of the big video game companies to stay on top of what is happening in the gaming world. According to a blog post from All Top Everything, the below gaming companies are some of the biggest in the world:
  • Sony Group Corporation
  • Microsoft
  • Nintendo
  • Tencent
  • Activision Blizzard
  • Electronic Arts
  • Epic Games
  • Take-Two Interactive
  • Ubisoft
  • Bandai Namco
  • To find more scholarships that fit your likes and interests, create a free Fastweb profile. You will be matched to scholarships that you should apply for—helping you lower the cost of college.

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    Shawna Newman

    Managing Editor, Contributing Writer

    Shawna Newman is the Managing Editor and a writer at Fastweb. She has over 10 years of experience in higher education. Her direct work with college admissions teams, financial aid officers, college deans, ...

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