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The public school system is controlled by an elected Board of Education, which delegates administrative responsibilities to an appointed superintendent of public instruction. Local school districts, coextensive with the counties, receive supplementary funding from the state. School attendance is compulsory for those between the ages of 7 and 18.
The University of Nevada originally was established at Elko in 1874 as a land-grant college; 11 years later it was moved to Reno. In 1951 an extension branch was established in Las Vegas, which since has become the autonomous University of Nevada, Las Vegas. There are two-year colleges in Elko, Carson City, Reno, Douglas, Fallon, and North Las Vegas. The University of Southern Nevada (established in 2000), in Henderson, provides graduate and undergraduate education in pharmacy, business administration, and nursing. Great Basin College (1967) grants two- and four-year degrees; it has its main campus in Elko and provides higher education to rural Nevadans through distance learning, branch campuses, and satellite centres. To supplement campus instruction the Desert Research Institute and the Nevada Agricultural Experiment Stations provide statewide research services.
Health and welfare
Nevada’s welfare programs and its custodial institutions are administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. Retirement and welfare allotments are given on the basis of need, and public assistance is available for residents with visual and other disabilities. Support payments are provided for dependent children. The state mental health facilities include both in-patient psychiatric hospitals and community mental health clinics across the state. Penal and rehabilitation institutions include maximum- and medium-security state prisons and correctional centres as well as minimum-security “conservation camps,” at which inmates do primarily conservation work, such as firefighting. Health care, housing, and public safety are responsibilities of local government or private enterprise.