Affordable Education

EGD members value learning and understand the benefits of a college degree. We have a firm belief that college should be for everyone, and work to make that a reality. We recognize the various circumstances that prevent individuals from pursuing higher education, and support those pursuing non-traditional educational paths.

College should be for everyone. Our current reality does not make this true (1 in 2 high school students in NYC public schools are not prepared for college), but we work hard to make it so.

College and universities must change. Colleges need to become more affordable, flexible, relevant and inclusive. In particular, they must create programs that are relevant and affordable to the populations they are supposed to serve. It is elitist to suggest that some students are not destined for learning beyond high school, particularly when the students who are most often dismissed as “not college material” are students of color, students with disabilities, and students from rural and impoverished areas. Instead, we should work to afford every person the same educational opportunities. College should be a choice, but it should be a choice everyone is able to fully make.

For starters, it literally still pays to go to college, especially for diverse population groups. Overall, for adults ages 25 to 34 years old, bachelor’s degrees lead to median earnings that are 57% more than adults from this age group with just a high school degree. The value of a college degree means so much more for diverse subgroups. African Americans with bachelor’s degrees earn 65% more than those with a high school degree, women earn 61% more, and Asians earn 105% more. College is an important part of the upward mobility of the working class.

It's not just bachelor's degrees that are important: projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that six of the top ten fastest-growing occupations require education or training below the bachelor's degree level—degrees largely conferred by community colleges.

College degrees should include traditional liberal arts programs to more applied technical subject areas that vocational schools currently fill. But in order to effectively prepare students for a rapidly changing labor market, post-secondary learning needs to offer more than narrow vocational training in a technical craft, especially with automation on the rise. Thinking critically is important to learning. Being able to learn, and continue to learn throughout your entire life, is and will always be important.

EGD works to create affordable games degrees in public colleges and universities. Our first step towards this was to integrate the CUNY section of our fellowship programs into the CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies. Through CUNY BA, students are able to focus their study in a highly individualized program that allows them to take courses at any of the CUNY colleges. Not only is CUNY the most affordable university in New York, with so many flexible options for earning credit through CUNY BA, it's the most cost-effective - up to 68 community college credits can be accepted. Students can take advantage of independent study, internships, honors courses, study abroad, graduate-level courses and credit-by-exam, and they can go to school part- or full-time; day, night, weekend or online. Our first fellows to receive these degrees will be graduating in Spring 2022 with majors such as Game Narrative, Game Programming, Game Art & Animation, Game Design & Entrepreneurship, Esports Marketing, Games Studies, Technical Event Production, and more.