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University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public, coeducational university located in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada, USA. The 337-acre (136 ha) campus is located approximately 1.5 mi  east of the Las Vegas Strip. Groundbreaking on the original 60 acres (24 ha) site was in April 1956, and the university purchased a 640 acres (260 ha) site in North Las Vegas for future expansion. The institution includes a Shadow Lane Campus, located just east of the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada. The university has been deemed a "research-intensive university" by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

The first college classes which would eventually become the classes of UNLV were offered as the southern regional extension division of the University of Nevada, in 1951 in a classroom at Las Vegas High School. UNLV was officially founded by the Nevada Board of Regents as the Southern Division of the University of Nevada in 1957. The first classes were held on the current campus on the now historic post and beam Mid Century Modern Maude Frazier Hall designed by the award winning local architectural firm, Zick and Sharp. Thirty students graduated in the first commencement ceremonies in 1964.

In 1965, the Nevada Legislature named the school Nevada Southern University, and the Board of Regents hired the campus's first president, William Carlson.

In 1968, Nevada Southern was given equal status with its parent institution in Reno, and the present name was approved by the Regents in January 1969, during a winter session and without input by representatives from the University of Nevada. During this time Nevada Southern University also adopted the southern "Rebel" athletics moniker and a mascot dressed in a southern Confederate uniform named Beauregard. The popular reasoning behind such a controversial moniker and mascot is that they did it to oppose the northern Union traditions and symbols of their northern rival, the University of Nevada. It was not long, however, before protests from NSU/UNLV students forced a slight change to their Confederate mascot, but the "Rebels" moniker remains to this day. Since its founding, the university has grown rapidly, expanding both its academic programs and campus facilities.

In 1969, the Board of Regents approved the school's name change to University of Nevada at Las Vegas and gave it the UNLV abbreviation. In protest of higher-education budget cuts, students created Education City — a scrap board shantytown on campus, where professors taught classes for a week. Students effectively communicate their unhappiness to the regents

In 1971, in a special–initiative election, students voted to retain the Rebel name, rejecting suggested alternatives such as Big Horn Rams, Nuggets, A-Bombs, and Sand Burners. Five years later, though, they voted to replace the Confederate wolf mascot with a human Revolutionary War soldier, which eventually evolves into a more geographically appropriate pioneer figure.

In 1973, complaining that UNLV's campus is too flat, Regent Helen Thompson donated $9,000 to build a 3-foot (0.91 m) hill west of the humanities building. (Part of this hill is now embedded in the back of the alumni amphitheater.) Also, Jerry Tarkanian is hired as the men's basketball coach. In his 19-year career, he will post a 509-105 record, including taking four teams to the NCAA Final Four. In honor of Tarkanian's achievements as UNLV's "winningest" coach, the basketball court at the Thomas & Mack Center is dedicated to him in 2005.

In 1981, a dedication ceremony for Claes Oldenburg's Flashlight sculpture on the plaza of the performing arts center was covered on the "Evening News with Walter Cronkite," and the artwork became an instant landmark. It symbolizes UNLV as a "Beacon of Knowledge" in Southern Nevada.

In 1983, The opening of the 18,500-seat Thomas & Mack Center gave the Runnin' Rebels basketball team an impressive home. Kicked off with fundraiser with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Diana Ross. Sinatra is no stranger to UNLV — he, along with Wayne Newton, served on the foundation board in the 1980s. The Hey Reb mascot made his debut, embodying UNLV's rebel spirit. After a makeover in 1997, he is named one of 12 All-American Mascots and places second in the 2004 Capital One Mascot of the year competition.

In 1997, The Paul B. Sogg Architecture Building opened, featuring a library, classrooms, faculty offices, 20,000 square feet (1,900 m²) of studio space, and laboratories, allowing students, who were previously meeting in trailers, to interact at all levels. Paradise Elementary School moved into a new building on campus, giving education majors direct training with real teachers and economically disadvantaged students.

In 2001, The 301,000-square-foot), $58 million Lied Library opened, named for real estate entrepreneur Ernst W. Lied, with a robotic book-retrieval system, hundreds of computer workstations, and the latest in electronic data processing. It is also in this year that the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching places UNLV in the category of Doctoral/Research Universities-Intensive.

In 2004, UNLV opened its first regional campus in the medical district on Shadow Lane, with a new facility for School of Dental Medicine and the Forensics and Biotechnology Center. The School of Nursing begins a doctoral program to train much-needed nursing professors. To address the critical nursing shortage, the school overhauled its curriculum to enable undergraduate students to complete faster.

UNLV offers over 200 programs of study in varying fields leading to bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees, which are taught by approximately 850 faculty members. Notable departments include the School of Architecture, School of Dental Medicine, College of Education, Graduate College, William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, William S. Boyd School of Law, and Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering

The Atlantic Monthly recognized UNLV's English Department as having one of the nation's most innovative Master of Fine Arts programs and one of the top five doctoral programs in creative writing.

Down Beat Magazine, the internationally-recognized industry standard trade publication for jazz music, recognized the work of the 2010 UNLV Jazz Ensemble as "Outstanding Large Jazz Ensemble Performance" among graduate college-level jazz bands in their annual Student Music Award issue of that year.

The Nevada Policy Research Institute has criticized the UNLV for low graduation rates claiming "A mere 41 percent of students attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas graduate within six years. UNLV spent $16,537 per pupil in the 2006 academic year.

UNLV also offers Distance Education which extends educational outreach and access of University courses, degree programs, and research opportunities to the local and global communities in an effort to serve a diverse population of students who prefer or need alternative methods of delivery. DE is committed to learner needs and interests by providing exemplary services to the University academic community. As an entrepreneurial and innovative learning technology field, DE is committed to collaborating on research initiatives, faculty development, active learning, measurable outcomes, and using empirically proven pedagogies with emerging technologies to increase the opportunity for successful learning outcomes of UNLV students.

The main campus of UNLV is located on a 332-acre land grant in centrally located Paradise, Nevada Las Vegas.

Midtown UNLV is an ongoing private-public development along Maryland Parkway, a border street to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Development began in 2002 and the purpose is to expand the university to meet the demands of a major university in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The project is designed to improve the "front door" of the University by improving amenities for students and businesses along Maryland Parkway. The goals are to reduce vacant spaces, lower business turnover rates, as well as create new space for the University to expand. Additionally, the project aims to create new housing developments close to campus. Major funding is through state funding sources along with private donations.

The university has several facilities for the performing arts. The Judy Bayley Theatre, opened in 1972, seats 550 people and features a raked auditorium, a fully-rigged, proscenium stage, and a thrust-apron that can be used as an orchestra pit. The Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall, opened in 1976, seats 1,832 patrons and includes a beautifully decorated lobby complete with a gallery wall of fine art. The Black Box Theatre can accommodate 120–175 non-fixed seats in arrangements for small recitals, lectures, dance, and other social events. Other facilities include the Alta Ham Fine Arts Complex, opened in 1982, and the Lee and Thomas Beam Music Center, opened in 2001.

Athletic facilities include Sam Boyd Stadium, Thomas & Mack Center, Cox Pavilion, and Earl Wilson Stadium.

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