Urban Arts’ Class of 2026 Achieves 100% College Acceptance Rate, Bringing Cumulative Scholarship Total to $71 Million Since 2020
A group of teenagers from low-income communities across New York City has earned $25 million in college scholarships this year, not through a traditional academic pipeline, but through video games.
These students are not outliers. Urban Arts, the national nonprofit that teaches video game design as a pathway to college and career, announced that its Class of 2026 has achieved a 100% college acceptance rate. This year’s results bring Urban Arts’ cumulative scholarship total to more than $71 million. All instruction and college access services are provided free of charge to students and their families.
At the Urban Arts Game Academy, students build original games, creating narrative, music, animation; pitch their work to industry professionals for real-world feedback, learning entrepreneurship, iteration, teamwork; and graduate with portfolios, credentials, and career networks that most of their peers, at any income level, don’t have.
The 2025 Yearbook is Here!
Get impressed! Packed with innovative programming, stories of impact, and intrepid youth.
Impact Report: College Access 2025
Here! And below ⬇️
Joelle Blackstock Named 40 Under 40 to Watch
Urban Arts is celebrating our Director of Post-secondary Success Joelle Blackstock being included in Crain’s New York Business 40 Under 40. Per Crain’s: “New York is a city powered by ambition, and this year’s 40 Under 40 honorees are a driving force behind its momentum. These rising stars are tackling some of the city’s most […]
Philip Courtney, CEO, Named Notable Leader in Philanthropy 2025
Philip Courtney Named a Notable Leader in Philanthropy in New York City
Urban Arts CEO Recognized for Visionary Leadership and Transformative Impact on Local Students
New York, NY — June 2025 — Urban Arts proudly announces that its Chief Executive Officer, Philip Courtney, has been named a Notable Leader in Philanthropy by Crain’s New York Business, a prestigious recognition honoring individuals who are driving meaningful change and championing social good across New York City.
Under Philip’s leadership, Urban Arts has emerged as a powerful force for equity and opportunity, particularly among underserved communities. Since stepping into the role in 2003, Philip has overseen explosive growth, producing profound mobility and personal success for students, including:
• Winning a 3rd highly competitive $4M Education Innovation & Research (EIR) grant from the U.S. DoE (totaling $12M),
• Stewarding the #CreativeCoders partnership with Minecraft Education serving middle schools nationwide,
• Gaining the @collegeboard endorsement of Urban Arts’ #STEAM curriculum that’s shared freely with all Title 1 schools,
• Crafting a college access program that has 100% of seniors matriculating to college, earning $46M in scholarships,
• Challenging the organization to a new goal—$100M in scholarships by 2030.
CEO Philip Courtney X Spark ⚡️ Talk
Urban Arts CEO Philip Courtney delivered the energized Spark Talk “Video Gaming: An Equitable On-Ramp to Workforce Development” at the Infosys Foundation conference in Indianapolis May 8, 2025—and coined the phrase “digital DaVincis.”
How many times would you have raised your hand?
Read the speech below to catch the spark.
Let’s play a game…..
COLLEGE ACCESS 2025 A New Generation of Game-Changers Takes the Next Step
Urban Arts is thrilled to celebrate our seniors as they commit to colleges across the country, armed with scholarships and dreams that are no longer just possibilities, but realities. These students — predominantly from low-income communities and first-generation applicants—are not just getting in. They’re thriving, rewriting the narrative of who belongs in the world of higher education, technology and game design. Urban Arts students have earned $45+ millions in scholarships since 2017.
2ND ANNUAL UNRELEASED GAMES 🔥
March 16, 2024 We had our 2nd annual Unreleased Games Arcade at CCNY, in partnership with the Gaming Pathways initiative. At UGA, high school game design students playtested games in various stages of development presented by local college and indie game developers. Students then vote on their favorite games to win one of four awards: Best Visual […]