The USC Interactive Entertainment Summer Camp is a 4-week program designed to help students pursue their dream of working in the video game industry. The single scholarship in the 2005 summer seasons will represent the first female registered student in the program, as the 2004 inaugural year featured an exclusively male student body. The scholarship includes free admission to the camp, room and board at USC, and three college credits for successfully completing the program.

The USC Interactive Entertainment Summer Camp runs from July 3rd to July 30th. Deadline to apply for the scholarship is May 15th. It is open to any female high school junior or senior with a GPA of at least 3.5 and who submits both a written recommendation from a teacher and a 250-word essay on “Why I want to grow up and make games.” Applications should be sent to: ea-usc-scholarship@ea.com.

“We hope this scholarship not only provides an exciting opportunity for an inspired girl, but sends a broader message.  EA wants to encourage girls to aspire for a career building games…and we hope the best and brightest continue their studies and find a future home in the industry,” said Steve Seabolt, Vice President at EA.  

According to the Entertainment Software Association, women players represent 39% of the gaming population and are a growing force within the gaming community. EA is responding to this demand by encouraging and empowering young women to take the industry seriously and consider it for a future career. This scholarship is the first step in a larger program designed to encourage women to pursue their passion for gaming and enter the industry as professionals.

EA and USC have been working together in a number of different ways to ensure students are ready to enter the games industry with the knowledge and power to make a difference.  “EA continues to support our engineering program at USC,” said Anthony Borquez, currently associate director of education at the Viterbi School's Integrated Media Systems Center and formerly the director of the Information Technology Program, which offers numerous courses on gaming.  “Not only does EA provide us with game resources and guest speakers for our classes, but we also staff animators and engineers from EALA who teach classes in my program.”