Ohio University is First to Recruit Top Fortnite Players for Scholarships
Ohio’s Ashland University is expanding its esports scholarship program to include Fornite, offering top players thousands of dollars off of the school’s undergraduate program. The school hopes to foster high-level gaming within its program, while providing its gamers with a solid education to backup their professional gaming futures. Ashland is the first university to offer scholarships to Fortnite players.
Traditional sports, such as football and baseball, have been awarding scholarships to college students for a long, long time. Esports scholarships, however, are more like the new kids on the block, though they continue to become more common. Ashland opened up its esports program earlier this year with plans for a more complete launch this fall. The college’s program focuses on games like League of Legends, Overwatch, CS:GO and Rocket League. Now, the program is opening up to the battle royale realm via Fortnite.
“Fortnite appeals to both the core and casual gaming audience,” Ashland’s esports head coach Josh Buchanan said in a press release. “We’re excited to provide this platform for gamers who want to showcase their skills in a more competitive space. Fortnite facilitates an environment that allows players to get creative, innovate, and show off their mastery of their skills.”
Buchannan is certainly no stranger to the world of competitive esports, as he is one of the top Starcraft II players in the country. He also manages the Sloth E-Sports Club and is a commentator at various competitive events. Buchannan coaches the Ashland esports teams and is also involved with interviewing new applicants and judging their eligibility for the school’s scholarship program.
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Ashland is at the forefront in adding Fortnite to its scholarship offerings, and eventually Buchanan hopes collegiate leagues will be set up for official Fortnite competitions.
“The growth of Fortnite has been astounding to witness and getting players into structured practices ahead of the launch of a collegiate league will be extremely beneficial to our program,” Buchanan said.
Ashland’s scholarship offer for top Fortnite players is the same as any other scholarship the school offers: a discount on tuition fees, plus room and board. For esports, this means prospective players are looking at earning up to $4 thousand off the top-line $31 thousand tuition charge for the 2018-19 academic year for full-time students.
If you think you’ve got what it takes to craft protective forts and bring down 99 other players in order to get that sweet victory royale at the college competitive esports level, check out the Ashland Eagles website. There, you’ll be asked for general contact information, as well as details about your past academic and sports experience.
So far, this sounds pretty typical of a college sports scholarship application. But this form also has a spot for the applicant to talk about their gaming repertoire, including what they play, what they’re good at, what tournament’s they’ve competed in, and whether they have any professional team experience.
What do you think of competitive esports entering the college sports sphere?