First week of school for College of Southern Nevada students

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — It’s the largest community college in the state, offering 2 to even 4-year degrees. With more than 30,000 students in attendance every semester, the College of Southern Nevada just keeps growing.

Students 8 News Now spoke with said the College of Southern Nevada is their top choice to kick start their college journey before switching to a 4-year university. Josh Ortiz said he has a busy schedule and enrolling at CSN is a much cheaper option.

“I am saving a lot of money, so hopefully I’ll be able to take UNLV classes after I do everything here,” Ortiz remarked. “I really want to be in the music industry and just make music and perform.”

With classes available during the morning, nights and weekends, Dan Corsi, associate VP for Academic Affairs said there’s an option for everyone.

“Our cost for credit hour including fees is a third of the cost than other universities which is great for individuals looking to take a couple of classes while they’re working part-time or full-time,” Corsi said.

This year, CSN is rolling out 10 new certificate programs which speaks to their booming student population and their needs.

“We’re about 6% up from where we were at from last year in terms of our enrollment, so we’re excited about that. That includes all of our campuses, Henderson, North Las Vegas and here in West Charleston,” Corsi said.

Austin Wirig, Olivia Cyrus and Leilani Chung are all college freshmen this year. They’ll finish with a high school diploma and an associate’s degree upon graduation.

“It makes it more flexible so if I have plans I can coordinate it with my college schedule, versus high school where you go every single day,” Cyrus said.

“I can’t do the day-to-day high school, it was horrible for me so hopefully this will be slightly better with how I learn and my learning style,” Leilani Chung added.

While it’ll take a lot of hard work, they know it’ll be worth it in the end.

“It’s very stressful, I don’t think I can say that enough. It’s really hard to figure out but once you figure it out, it’s definitely a game changer going to college,” Austin Wirig said.

Corsi said CSN is continuing to develop new programs within highly sought industries to ensure our graduates are employed and to stabilize our economy.

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