History of Nevada State College
As the only four-year, comprehensive public college in the state of Nevada, Nevada State College places a special emphasis on the advancement of a diverse and largely underserved student population. In this role, the college emphasizes high-quality instruction, exemplary service, engaging learning experiences, and innovation as a means to more efficient, effective outcomes in all corners of the campus.
NSC has achieved remarkable success in furthering its mission and core-values.
Milestones
Enrollment Growth. Since its inception, NSC’s enrollment has grown from 177 students in 2002 to nearly 5,300 students today making it the fastest growing college within the Nevada System of Higher Education.
Degree Programs. The college has grown to offer more than 30 majors and minors including predominant areas of study such as business, biology, psychology, education, and nursing. In addition, Nevada State College has developed a Master of Education program in Speech-Language Pathology, which started in fall 2019 with 53 full and part-time cohorts.
Alumni. May of 2004 marked a momentous occasion for NSC, as the college celebrated its first commencement ceremony with a class of 13 graduates. Since 2004, Nevada State College has graduated over 4,600 students. Over half of NSC’s alumni have graduated with degrees in teaching and nursing.
Campus Growth. NSC’s developing 509-acre campus is located in the southeast corner of the City of Henderson, on the sloping foothills of McCullough mountain range. Opening in 2008, the Liberal Arts & Sciences building was the first structure built on the campus and houses labs, classrooms, the writing center, the Nepantla program, along with other academic programs. In 2015, two new buildings, a combined nursing and education facility (now the Kasner Academic Building), and a student center and administrative building (the Rogers Student Center) opened its doors. Together, the buildings added approximately 110,000 square-feet of new space to the campus. The newly dedicated Kasner Academic building houses several anatomy labs, over a dozen classrooms, a large auditorium, faculty and staff offices, and a cutting-edge media center. The Rogers Student Center features the Marydean Martin library, food services, career services, and the new student lounge. The addition of the Raker Student Success Center in 2018 houses essential student support services in a convenient, one-stop location. The Dawson building is the temporary home for the School of Education, classrooms, and other academic programs. Looking ahead, NSC will be opening the Christenson School of Education Building and the Engelstad Health Sciences building (shared at CSN, Henderson), both of which will be completed fall 2021, as well as student housing scheduled to open fall 2020. The 65,000 square foot Christenson Education building undergoing construction will change the face of teaching education in Nevada. It will not only allow us to create new programs, but it will enable us to accept more students into our program. The building will include a Speech-Language Pathology Lab and an Early Childhood Education Center, both offering our students hands on learning while we also serve the community.
NSC’s Campus Master Plan, which was approved in 2010 by the NSHE Board of Regents and the City of Henderson, provides an innovative framework for the campus. The plan calls for the seamless, sustainable integration of academic and academic-support uses with its surrounding environment. The full campus build-out will accommodate 25,000 – 30,000 students with roughly six million square feet of academic, residential, industry, retail and cultural space.
Diversity. Nevada State College’s campus community – the students, faculty, and staff – is one of the most diverse populations in Nevada. Over 60% of NSC’s students and over 40% of its full-time faculty and staff belong to an ethnic or racial minority group. In the fall of 2015, Nevada State became the second four-year Hispanic Serving Institution in Nevada and in the fall of 2017 the College received a $2.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education as part of the Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (DHSI) Title V Program.