Best College Value in Nevada: Top ROI Schools (2026)

Nevada's college market is small enough to hold in your head. We score five four-year institutions in the state. Three are public, two are for-profit. For most Nevada families the choice comes down to Reno or Las Vegas.

But there is a number on this list that deserves more attention than it usually gets, and it is a good lesson in how to read an ROI table.

The Top Value Schools in Nevada

1. University of Nevada-Reno - ROI 75. Net price $15,927, median earnings $60,614, 61% completion, 74% admit rate. The state's best all-around outcome: highest earnings among the publics, highest completion rate in the state, reasonable price.

1. Chamberlain University-Nevada - ROI 74. Net price $27,073, median earnings $92,405, and a 20% completion rate. A for-profit nursing school. See the section below, because this row is not what it looks like.

1. University of Nevada-Las Vegas - ROI 67. Net price $10,359, median earnings $55,037, 51% completion, 96% admit rate. The cheapest four-year education in Nevada, in the state's largest city, admitting nearly everyone who applies. For a Las Vegas student living at home it is very hard to beat on price.

1. Nevada State University - ROI 58. Net price $14,068, median earnings $53,166, 34% completion. In Henderson: smaller and newer, serving many first-generation and working students, with a completion rate that reflects the difficulty of that mission.

1. Arizona College of Nursing-Las Vegas - ROI 35. Net price $30,921, median earnings $34,657, 82% completion. The most expensive school in the state producing the lowest earnings of the five: a for-profit nursing school whose graduates earn less than every public option's.

The Chamberlain Number

This is the row worth studying, because it is exactly the trap an ROI score can set if you read only the headline.

Chamberlain University's Nevada campus posts a median income of $92,405 ten years out. That is by far the highest figure in the state, more than $31,000 above the University of Nevada-Reno, and it lifts the school's overall score to 74, second in Nevada.

Its completion rate is 20%.

One student in five who enrolls at Chamberlain-Nevada graduates from Chamberlain-Nevada. The $92,405 figure describes that one. It says nothing about the four who left, except that they left a for-profit school charging $27,073 a year, and many of them will have borrowed to be there.

Nursing pays well. That part is completely real, and a Chamberlain graduate genuinely does earn strong money. But the honest way to read this row is as a bet: an expensive one, at one-in-five odds, in a field where the University of Nevada-Reno will also train you as a nurse for $15,927 a year with a 61% chance of finishing.

If you want to be a nurse in Nevada, in our view you should look at UNR and UNLV first, and treat Chamberlain as the fallback it is priced to be, not the shortcut its earnings figure implies.

Reno vs Las Vegas

For most Nevada families this is the whole decision.

UNR earns more and finishes more of its students. UNLV is cheaper by about $5,568 a year and sits in the city where most of the state's population, and most of its jobs, actually are.

The financial math is closer than it looks. UNR's earnings premium of about $5,577 a year repays its four-year cost premium of roughly $22,272 in about four years of working life, which is a good return. But that assumes your student finishes, and UNR's completion rate, while the best in the state, is still only 61%.

The practical tiebreakers are usually not financial at all: where your student's support system is, whether they can live at home, and whether they want to spend four years in Reno or Las Vegas. Both are legitimate outcomes. Neither is a mistake.

One thing to weigh honestly: UNLV admits 96% of applicants. That is not a knock on the school, but it does mean admission tells you nothing about whether your student is prepared to finish, and about half of the students who enroll do not.

The For-Profit Question

Two of Nevada's five scored schools are for-profit institutions, an unusually high share worth naming.

Arizona College of Nursing-Las Vegas charges $30,921 a year net, the most in the state, and its graduates earn a median of $34,657, the least. That combination scores 35. It graduates 82% of its students, which is genuinely good, but into earnings below what a UNLV graduate makes at a third of the price.

Chamberlain, covered above, is the higher-earning and far riskier bet.

For-profit does not automatically mean bad. But in Nevada specifically, the public universities are inexpensive, accessible (UNLV admits 96%), and produce better financial outcomes than either for-profit option on our numbers. It is difficult to construct a case where the for-profit choice is the right financial one here.

Cost vs Earnings by Major

Nevada's economy is dominated by hospitality, gaming and tourism, healthcare, logistics and warehousing (the Reno corridor), mining, and a growing tech presence around Reno-Sparks.

• Nursing and health professions - The reliable earnings path in the state. UNR and UNLV both have strong programs at a fraction of the for-profit cost.
• Hospitality and gaming management - UNLV's program is nationally known and genuinely one of the best in the country for this industry. The earnings ceiling is set by the industry, not the school.
• Engineering and computer science - UNR, with the manufacturing corridor east of Reno as the employment draw.
• Mining and geological engineering - UNR has the state's serious program, and the industry pays well.
• Business - Both flagships. UNLV's location is a real advantage for anyone entering hospitality, real estate, or entertainment.

The Bottom Line

If your student will finish and can go north: University of Nevada-Reno. Best earnings, best completion, and the price is fair.

If cost is the binding constraint or your family is in Las Vegas: UNLV at $10,359 a year is one of the better public bargains in the West, and its hospitality program is genuinely world-class.

If your student wants nursing: get it at UNR or UNLV, not at a for-profit charging double with a 20% completion rate.

Whatever you choose, note that both flagships admit the overwhelming majority of applicants (74% and 96%). Getting in is not the hard part in Nevada. Finishing is, and that is where the money is won or lost.

For neighboring-state comparisons, see our best college value in Arizona and best college value in California breakdowns.

Data sources: College Scorecard, IPEDS, as of 2024. Net price is the average across aided students; your number will differ. Median earnings are measured ten years after entry.