The Best Universities To Study Esports in Worldwide

Study the play, study to play. It might come as a shock, but more and more educational institutions are opening their doors for esports programs. This paved the way for a discussion of esports as a career path for hobbyists and aspiring players. As higher education is turning to the development of esports programs, let’s see which are the best universities to study esports. 

University of California, Irvine (UCI)

They are the first-ever to establish esports program at a public institution, which sets the gold standard for 2016. University of California, Irvine became a pioneering public university for esports education. With this, they featured a state-of-the-art esports arena and included the prestigious Pokimane Scholarship program to help students pursue esports studies.  

Further, they expanded their research facilities dedicated to gaming and cognitive science to broaden the scope of esports learning. As time passed, they developed comprehensive academic programs in esports management. 

Illinois Wesleyan University

This University serves as an emerging standout for their exceptional competitive program for esports. Illinois Wesleyan University, or IWU, provided programs across multiple game titles like League of Legends, Overwatch, Rocket League, and many more. Throughout the years, they have supported 20+ competitive teams, which shows their commitment to supporting the esports scene. 

They have been known for their strong recruitment programs involving talented gamers across the states. Indeed, nothing is better than being able to complete your studies as you pursue your talents in gaming. With this, their teams rank nationally across the varying game titles. 

Maryville University

Competitive excellence has been the face of Maryville University for their esports program. The university also boasts their teams for being in the national ranking for several game leagues. Besides, they are also three-time national champions in League of Legends in years 2016, 2017, and 2019. This achievement gives confidence to their students who are in their esports program.  

Besides, Maryville also provides comprehensive esports management courses for those who intend to pursue a non-competitive playing career. They definitely open discussion on the wide organization involving recognized esports teams across the world.  

Yonsei University

South Korea is certainly among the countries with the best esports program to offer, given the talent pool they have for multiple game titles. Yonsei University is one of the prestigious universities in South Korea that acts as the forefront of esports education in Asia. They had partnership programs with global professional esports organizations like Gen.G Esports. 

Other than that, they also developed a course that helps aspiring student-players understand the esports team business. This extends the discourse of esports into the management of teams toward sustainable structure. They also have Yonsei Esports Lab (YES Lab) and research facilities where students can use to improve and boost performance technologies. 

Chung-Ang University

Chung-Ang University was among the higher educational institutions to recognize esports as a legitimate sport. With this, they started to integrate gaming into their athletic roster, which provided the students an opportunity to compete. Plus, they also recognize gaming as an individual sport right off from the admissions. It respects the fact that not all games are intended for teamplay.

With this acknowledgement, they added specialized programs for the Department of Sport Science to tackle esports. With time passing, Chung-Ang built a commendable reputation and strong connections with Korea’s professional gaming scene. 

Staffordshire University

The United Kingdom is not being left behind with the spread of esports influence over the European region. Staffordshire University took lead in the formation of European esports education with their programs and scholarships. They offered BA (Hons) Esports program and Master’s level esports degrees to those who wish to academically pursue gaming.  

Staffordshire also provided students with competitive esports scholarships that eased their worries about their pursuit. Yet, they have an industry-focused curriculum to discuss the bits of business aspects in esports.  

University of Roehampton

University of Roehampton also stands out among the universities across the world to have a solid support for the esports scene. They have dedicated esports scholarships alongside impressive facilities for gaming and content creation. Roehampton managed to develop a comprehensive esports curriculum, attending to the needs of students in pursuit of an esports career.  

Over the years, they focused on providing the students with practical experience, hence their exposure to multiple tournaments. With this, they were able to strengthen their industry partnerships in anticipation of more esports enrollees. 

Informatics Academy

Singapore’s Informatics Academy represents Southeast Asian education in regards to esports across the world. They balanced learning of concepts and application to make students a well-rounded esports professional. Informatics Academy provides an eight month full-time diploma for enrolling in esports and game design. 

Besides, they offer practical training in gaming and event management for esports related activities like tournaments. Their curriculum centers on industry-relevant aspects such as personnel management, etc. In addition, they have strong ties with the Asian esports market, which depicts the growing presence of esports in the region.

Conclusion

The evolution of esports in educational institutions is the highlight of this article. While esports is generally known through gameplay, universities expanded its coverage in their curriculum. They started including team management and businesses in their programs, which opened up possibilities for another esports career path. Listed above are just some of the best universities to study esports across regions.