While scholarships for esports athletes are slowly becoming the norm in American institutions, Becker College is taking it to the next level by offering the country’s first degree in Esports Management.
The Worcester, Massachusetts college is set to offer a Bachelor of Science in Esports Management through the college of business beginning in the fall of 2019. The announcement states the program will focus on the business side of esports, giving students hands-on learning as well as assisting with paths to achieve careers in esports in fields like community management, game development, legal and accounting.
Alan Ritacco, Dean of the School of Design and Technology said: “The rapid growth of esports brings with it new jobs and demands from the industry. That translates to tremendous career opportunities for our students. With a spirited college community that gets video games, adding esports management is a perfect fit.”
Courses in the Esports Management degree include “Applied Business Statistics”, “Esports Planning and Strategy”, “Introduction to Psychology”, and Esports Game Technology”.
Becker certainly isn’t the first to add esports to its curriculum as we’ve seen from institutions like Syracuse University, Oxford University and even Staffordshire University offering the first esports degree in the United Kingdom. While others have invested in their esports athletics programs, Becker will look to focus more from an educational standpoint, grooming the next generation of esports professionals.
Esports Insider says: Collegiate-aged students are the general demographic for esports potential but many of those students aren’t given a clear path to success as an esports professional outside of playing competitively. With Becker College investing in esports education, earning a degree such as this will certainly open new doors for the future set of esports professionals. As fellow institutions continue to add esports-focused courses it won’t be too long before they follow suit and offer full-fledged degrees as well.
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