ACR takes a deep dive into Georgia Southern University's esports program
Georgia Southern University launched its esports program in 2016 and gained National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) membership in 2017. When the program launched, it became one of only two schools in Georgia with a university-sponsored esports program. Georgia State University is the other. The school says that the program, Eagle Esports, is built around casual and competitive PC gaming at Georgia Southern.
What Esports Teams Does Georgia Southern University Field? Are Scholarships Available?
Georgia Southern University has teams in League of Legends, Overwatch, Rocket League, SMITE, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Call of Duty, PUBG and more. The school says that it is always open to create new teams with enough demand.
Georgia Southern University has an array of scholarships for many majors, degrees, and class levels. The school has a strong reputation for catering to veterans and has spent $5,476,227 on men's teams and received $5,476,227 in revenue. On average, Georgia Southern University has awarded male athletes $8,572 in sports related student aid. Scholarships for esports players range from $500 to $2,000.
What Degree Programs Does Georgia Southern University Offer Aspiring Game Designers?
While collegiate esports participants come from a wide spectrum of majors, many students who participate in competitive esports plan to pursue careers in the games industry. Georgia Southern University has an excellent computer science program accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission (CAC) of ABET. Part of the state-of-the-art College of Engineering and Computing, the program offers BS and MS degrees with active research areas in game programming, software engineering, robotics and more.
Computer Science students may also earn a number of games related certificates such as Game Programming or Software Engineering. Game Programming students choose three courses from the following to complete the program:
- Animation
- Computer Graphics
- Game Programming
- Human Computer Interaction
Software Engineering students will take Distributed Web System Design, Human Computer Interaction, and Software Testing and Quality Assurance. All students have access to the Gaming Lab at Georgia Southern, where game development projects come to life.
How Do I Join the Georgia Southern University Esports Team?
Georgia Southern University typically announces team tryouts on twitter (@GS_EagleEsports; twitter.com/gs_eagleesports). Interested students can also email [email protected] call 770-710-2028.