SPI Insights

Nevada’s higher education institutions are set to receive a significant financial boost, with a $75 million injection to help restore funding that was cut during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the Legislature is looking to provide tens of millions of dollars to address a shortage of doctors, nurses, and teachers. The state’s colleges and universities are also seeking additional funding for capital improvements, including the construction of new buildings and campuses.

Photo: Life Science Building rendering. Courtesy of the University of Nevada, Reno.

At the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), university leaders are seeking $14 million in funding to cover planning for a new 80,000-square-foot life sciences building. The facility would include 18 research labs with associated support space and offices, four undergraduate teaching labs, 12 conference/collaboration spaces and a 300-seat auditorium for use by the entire university. The funds would assist with total project funding of more than $137.5 million, according to estimates from the Division of Public Works. UNR is also looking at a privately-funded business college and hotel construction project.

Meanwhile, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is seeking $13.3 million from the state for a science and technology building and another $5.1 million for a new fine arts building. UNLV President Keith Whitfield has cited the state’s budget surplus as a prime funding source for one-shot spending.

The College of Southern Nevada (CSN) is requesting $5.2 million in new planning dollars for an additional campus. The college has been attempting to open a new campus in the northwestern Las Vegas Valley for several years, but the project has faced several delays. The community college wants to build an approximately 40-acre campus at Elkhorn Road and Grand Montecito Parkway. The college already has land.