Nevada State College has gone from 177 students when it opened in 2002 to more than 3,500 today. And it’s still growing.
The college is embarking on a $12 million fundraising effort to construct a building for its school of education and to endow scholarships for those looking to become teachers.
“We know we need to substantially grow our education program,” said college President Bart Patterson, “and to do that, we need more students to choose education, and we need the facilities and programs so they can do that.”
Nevada State College, which is on the Boulder City side of Henderson, is expanding in other directions as well.
It’s creating its first master’s program, in speech pathology, and the college recently partnered with the city of Henderson to develop an aerial drone testing facility, which it plans to demonstrate during next month’s Consumer Electronics Show.
“We have a reputation already in the valley and growing nationally that we’re a very innovative place,” said Patterson, who recently marked his fifth year in office. “If you have an idea of how this might work from an industry standpoint, we can work it into our academic programs. We are listening to that.”
Bart Patterson, president, Nevada State College