Scholarships for Game Design Degree Programs
Scholarships for Game Design Degree Programs
Looking for a way to pay for college that won't add to your debt? Not sure if you qualify for the millions of dollars that are currently available? Well, the first step is to discover what's out there!
Scholarships are usually awarded on various criteria reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award, and requirements to win scholarships vary as widely as the purposes of the award -- whether it honors your ancestry or your desired career path.
Along with state funds, millions of dollars worth of private scholarships can be found on Fastweb.com. Simply register for Fastweb, complete your profile, and be matched with scholarships unique to your situation.
Scholarships and internships available through Fastweb include:
Cisco Scholarship
Fields of Study: Health Sciences, Engineering and Information Sciences, Media Arts and Technology
Award Description: The Cisco Scholarship is available to students at DeVry University. You must be enrolled in the College of Health Sciences, Engineering and Information Sciences, or Media Arts and Technology to be considered for this award. You must also be entering DeVry within one year of graduating high school or receiving your GED.
Imagine Cup Game Development Contest
The Imagine Cup Game Development Contest is available to students with an interest in video game design. To enter the contest you, or your team, must submit a game design based on the theme "Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems." Your game must be made in Microsoft XNA Game Studio 3.1 or later, Visual Studio, or Silverlight. Games must also be in English and have a ESRB rating of at most T to be eligible entries.
John and Flora Olsen Scholarship
The John and Flora Olsen Scholarship is open to full-time continuing undergraduate students at California State University, Fullerton, who are majoring in ceramics and glass, crafts, animation arts and graphic design. Selection is based on creative achievement, as demonstrated by current work.
Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship
The Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship is available to undergraduate and graduate students at accredited colleges and universities who demonstrate a commitment, through coursework or experience, to any combination of at least two of the following fields: early childhood education, child development/child psychology, film/television production, music, or animation. You must have the ultimate goal of working in the field of children's media to be considered for this award. This award will support research on the relationship between children's use of media and learning, development of program concepts or extended development, and a professional internship in an organization that is relevant to your goal. Two letters of recommendation are required.
Independent video game studio 
Miles: It always starts with Rich and I comparing sketches and ideas. From that we develop a loose structure for the game and dive right into the coding and artwork creation. Rich or one of our other contractors will work on the graphics in tandem with a prototype of the actual gameplay, coded by myself or one of our programming contractors. 
Rich: Yeah, nothing has gone wrong necessarily, or horribly, but we certainly had to learn a lot of things the hard way, like how to properly budget time and resources for a project, particularly the for-hire ones. We consistently wound up going over time & budget for our first many for-hire games, and this messes with our plans & budget for our own games. 
Rich: While nothing I say will apply to how everyone should go about it, I'll suggest starting with prototypes/games you don't expect anyone will see, just to get the learning process of making games under way. Trial and error is very useful. Don't get too detail oriented before the essentials to making a fun/compelling experience are nailed.
Miles: A very important skill would be the ability to imagine (and play) the game fully in your mind before you take any steps to create it. It’s almost like a meditation. 
