Ranked, compared, and filtered by real data: costs, outcomes, and admissions
UNLV has grown considerably beyond its early identity as a hospitality and gaming management school. Its new medical school and expanding research programs reflect Las Vegas's evolution from a resort economy into a genuine metropolitan area that needs doctors, engineers, and scientists.
The University of Nevada-Reno has deep roots in mining and agricultural engineering that go back to the state's frontier era, while the Nevada System of Higher Education has worked to expand community college access across an enormous and thinly populated state.
By Ownership
By Type
See how Nevada's colleges compare to the national average on the four measures most students and families weigh when deciding where to go: cost, acceptance rates, graduate earnings, and graduation rates.
The colleges in Nevada that rank highest by UCD Score, and those that deliver above-national graduate earnings at a below-average net price, two of the strongest signals when choosing a school.
Not every student is looking for the same thing. These six panels rank Nevada's colleges by the data that matters most for each path.
Ranked by annual graduates
Ranked by annual graduates
Ranked by annual graduates
Ranked by net price
Ranked by enrollment
Ranked by grad earnings
Which colleges give you the most for what you spend? These eight schools rank highest in Nevada by the ratio of 10-year graduate earnings to annual net price.
| # | College | Net Price / yr | Earnings (10yr) | Ratio | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | College of Southern Nevada Las Vegas | $6,615 | $38,087 | 5.8× | Excellent |
| 2 | Truckee Meadows Community College Reno | $8,312 | $44,573 | 5.4× | Excellent |
| 3 | University of Nevada-Las Vegas Las Vegas | $10,359 | $55,037 | 5.3× | Excellent |
| 4 | Great Basin College Elko | $8,471 | $39,289 | 4.6× | Excellent |
| 5 | University of Nevada-Reno Reno | $15,927 | $60,614 | 3.8× | Strong |
| 6 | Nevada State University Henderson | $14,068 | $53,166 | 3.8× | Strong |
| 7 | Chamberlain University-Nevada Las Vegas | $27,073 | $92,405 | 3.4× | Strong |
| 8 | Western Nevada College Carson City | $12,732 | $41,987 | 3.3× | Strong |
ROI Ratio = median earnings 10 years after enrollment ÷ annual net price. Higher is better.
The six fields of study with the most annual graduates across all colleges in Nevada, based on IPEDS completion data.
The specific degree programs producing the most graduates across Nevada's colleges. A more granular view than the Popular Majors above, useful when you already know roughly what you want to study and want to see where the volume is.
Careers with a strong employment footprint in Nevada. What graduates from local colleges actually go on to do. State-level employment is shown where the BLS publishes it; national wage + growth shown alongside.
The cities in Nevada with the most colleges, ranked by number of institutions.
Utah crowds 14,137 students into each of its colleges, four times the national norm. These are the states where college options are scarcest per student.
There are 170 colleges that operate a medical school, and they cluster hard. Texas leads with 14, three states hold a fifth of them, and four states have none.
Northeast college graduates earn about $12,700 more a decade out than Southern ones, but they also pay thousands more to get there. The regional split, by the numbers.
Browse our full directory: every college, major, program, and career we track, all built from verified government data.
Scout uses AI and can make mistakes. Verify important numbers on the page.
