Accessibility

EGD supports casual gaming communities, as well as aspiring and early-career games professionals by providing free events, educational programming, and support systems to help students navigate through academic, financial, and emotional crises. ensuring students can complete their education and are prepared to establish healthy workplace boundaries in whichever field they choose. EGD is dedicated to supporting students to make the industry and higher education accessible to all, and the first step is ensuring all students have a quality support system while in college - because unexpected bill, one too-expensive textbook, or one pay cut could be the difference between staying enrolled and dropping out.

Millions of students leave college without degrees because their basic needs for food, affordable housing, transportation, childcare, and their mental health are central conditions for learning. 1 in 3 college students have been "too depressed to function", 86% of students with a psychiatric disability left school, and only 13% of community colleges have mental health services on campus. 89% of low-income first-generation students leave college without a degree. 1 in 5 are parenting a child.

EGD's Support Service Coordinators work virtually with our students and student leaders in non-clinical support capacities where they take on caseloads of individual students, helping them with a range of needs - such as applying for FAFSA, SNAP benefits, Unemployment, or other assistance programs, contacting campus offices (i.e. Financial Aid, disability accommodations, counseling, campus security, academic advising), and locating food pantries, emergency housing, or mental health services.

Although we support students attending any form of higher education, we pay special attention to public higher education institutions, because students at community colleges and state universities have unique problems that need unique solutions. We provide a separate section of our fellowship programs for students studying within the City University of New York system, the public university system of NYC, where 80% of students are people of color, and 61% of students experience food insecurity, housing insecurity, or homelessness. By providing educational opportunities and support systems for these students, we can ensure that entering the games industry is truly equally accessible to all people regardless of circumstance.