Yes, there is now a scholarship for Apex Legends

We’re right around that time in the year where high school-aged teens are looking long and hard at where they might want to attend college. And they’ll go through the whole rigmarole involved with that process. They’ll take standardized tests. They’ll do university visits. And they’ll apply for scholarships.

Scholarships — you know, the kind that often require essays, which are those large documents we’ve all stressed over at one point or another? If you’re writing an essay on your own and not outsourcing it to a service like PapersOwl, a well-written essay might be your only path to lessening your college bill.

That is, unless you’re good at Apex Legends.

Becker College apparently has some fans of the new battle royale shooter from Respawn Entertainment. The college is now offering the United States’ first scholarship for players of the game, promising $5,000 to whoever competes in an amateur Apex Legends tournament being held in April.

To qualify, you must be a high school junior or senior, and you’ll also have to head over to the Team Genji website and register for potential recruitment. From there, you’ll need to attend a tournament run by Helix Esports in New Jersey. Representatives from both Team Genji and Becker College staff will check out those taking part in the tournament, and those deemed worthy will be invited to apply to Becker College. Oh yeah, and then there’s the $5,000 you’ll get, too.

“Our goal is to give top Apex Legends players a unique chance to combine their talents with an education,” said Timothy Loew, who serves as the esports general manager at Becker College.

Who said you couldn’t get anywhere playing video games?

This isn’t the first gaming-related scholarship by a longshot. The esports market is only getting bigger, and schools have already been offering scholarships to those who could potentially play for their teams. But it’s still pretty remarkable that Becker College was able to piece this together a little more than a month after Apex Legends released. It speaks highly of the way Apex Legends has come in and become an instant hit, and it shows that schools and esports teams are always keeping an eye out for the next big thing.

We’ll be here eagerly awaiting our scholarships for Words with Friends.