"Recognizing Mastery Wherever It Occurs" — University Gives Students Up to $15K for Rare Gaming Achievements

The University of Silicon Valley is turning heads for its unique scholarship program, which awards thousands of dollars to students who can prove their leet gaming skills. Some colleges have esports programs, while others offer game development courses. The University of Silicon Valley has a few of those, too — but they also have a ‘Max Achievement Scholarship,’ which is turning heads across the internet due to its unusual requirements. More specifically, USV is awarding scholarship money to students who are really good at games. A wide variety of titles are on offer, including MMORPGs like Final Fantasy XIV and Old School Runescape, Roguelikes like Hades and Risk of Rain 2, Sandbox games like Minecraft, and many more. To earn the scholarship cash, students must prove they’ve earned specific in-game achievements across two separate tiers: Mastery and Legendary. Mastery earns students up to $2,500 per term, while Legendary nets them up to $5,000 per term, with each year consisting of three terms. For example, they can submit their achievement for Old School RuneScape by getting Max Cape (earned after getting all 24 skills to level 99). In Final Fantasy XIV, players can submit for Le

Jul 13, 2026 → Jul 13, 2026