Chantile McAllister, Logandale site coordinator for the College of Southern Nevada, is accepting enrollment for the fall semester.

By Mike Donahue

Moapa Valley Progress

The College of Southern Nevada (CSN) Moapa Valley campus at Moapa Valley High School (MVHS) will remain open and functioning for at least another year, very possibly two, according to site coordinator Chantile McAllister.

The local campus was one of several facing possible closure when Gov. Brian Sandoval proposed cutting $162 million from the state’s higher education budget earlier this year. CSN’s share of the cut was to be about $26 million.

Fortunately, in a last minute compromise with the Nevada Legislature that included extending several tax programs that were set to expire, Sandoval added $80 million to the state’s higher education budget. Those additional funds, along with a tuition increase, probably saved the Moapa Valley campus.

“We’ve kind of been on the edge of our seats since January,” McAllister said. “First we were going to close (the Moapa Valley campus), then we were going to stay open, then we were going to close. It went back and forth for almost six months.

“We only found out for sure we were going to remain open in the middle of June. We were left guessing until then.”

In addition to a tuition increase of nearly $3 a semester credit, McAllister said she was forced to let her full time assistant go in order to stay open.

CSN’s local campus has about 200 students enrolled in 17 different classes. Additionally, CSN offers several classes to MVHS students in its “Post Secondary Pirates” program that allows them to earn higher education credits while still in high school.

“If a student enters the Pirates program as a junior and attends all the available classes, they will be just one semester shy of an associates degree when they graduate from Moapa Valley,” McAllister said.

CSN, currently the third largest community college in the nation, is accepting enrollment until classes start at the end of August.