Anthropology students conducting research work at Valley of Fire

Enjoying the Journey

Experiential Learning

Experiential learning is all about taking students on an educational joyride — one that both sparks their intellectual curiosity and demonstrates how to apply theoretical knowledge to everyday issues. The hands-on opportunities unlock their natural creativity, connect them to their community, and build skills they’ll immediately apply as they become the professionals moving forward.

7,009

Students who took at least one of UNLV'S 94 official service-learning courses overseen by the Division of Student Affairs

A student directing with a large camera wearing a headset while the professors stands nearby.

It's all "Action!" for students in the media production class of the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies. They learn to direct live multicamera productions and immediately get to produce big live-streaming events such as the annual State of the University Address and news programs like University Speaks. By the time they're through, the students have rotated through directing, producing, reporting, and anchoring and have amassed a career-building portfolio in multimedia storytelling.

Three students putting books into a box.

Through the service-learning course Books for the Unhoused, students first took a dive deep into studying housing insecurity issues. Then they spent six weeks working in the community to organize book drives and reading fairs at shelters like The Shade Tree for women and children in crisis. Professor Maria Jerinic got the idea for the class when she realized her own book donations were popular with the people local shelters serve.

Student Troy Petite presents during a UNLV Innovation Lab session at a past G2E Global Gaming Expo at the Sands Convention Center.

Students in the UNLV Gaming Innovation course are taking their ideas from the drawing room to the casino floor. The course pulls together students from hospitality, engineering, art, law, and more to develop novel concepts into marketable games. UNLV students can now lay claim to more than two dozen patents, as well as licensing agreements and job offers, as a direct result of their classwork.

First-place winning team LutumPotentia at UNLV's second annual President’s Innovation Challenge.

Food waste and flies may sound like garbage, but for a team of UNLV students, that combo turned into a $25,000 startup treasure. A team of students took first place in the second annual UNLV President’s Innovation Challenge with a proposal to use black soldier fly larvae to better produce compost. The competition is aimed at spurring entrepreneurial activity among students.

UNLV Super Bowl interns discussing at a table around the Super Bowl Host Committee Helmet.

From organizing events for the Las Vegas Super Bowl Host Committee to covering the action as Rebel Report journalists on the sidelines, experiences lined up by UNLV are making sure Rebels are part of our city’s pro sports evolution. The programs give students access to the business behind the sports and builds their resumes for jobs after college.

A group of hikers hiking across Nevada.

The UNLV Honors College offers a unique summer field trip throughout the state to immerse students in issues that are both wide-ranging and interconnected. The goal is to build knowledge of the Silver State beyond Las Vegas so these future leaders better understand the industries and environments — from urban to rural, from industry to ranching — that make Nevada exceptional.