Education

Education is compulsory between the ages of 7 and 17, and free between the ages of 5 and 17. The superintendent of public instruction is the chief education officer of the state. The superintendent is appointed by the state board of education, whose members are elected.

The state-supported University of Nevada, a land-grant institution, has campuses in Reno and Las Vegas. It was chartered in 1864, and opened at Elko in 1874. In 1885 it was moved to Reno; college-level instruction began in 1887. The Las Vegas campus was opened in 1951. The Reno campus houses the colleges of agriculture, arts and sciences, business administration, education, and engineering; the Mackay school of mines; and schools of nursing, medicine, and home economics. The Las Vegas branch offers degrees in business administration and economics, education, engineering, liberal arts, science and mathematics, hotel administration, and health professions.