With workforce demand moving toward an all-time high, the Nevada Surplus Lines Foundation gifted UNLV $735,000 to support the university's rise into a west coast hub and national leader in the insurance and risk management industry. The gift will fund scholarships for the first cohort of a new Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) Insurance and Risk Management program, which will be presented to the NSHE Board of Regents for approval in June. The new degree program will build on the university’s successful Kerestesi Center for Insurance and Risk Management. 

School of Nursing senior lecturer Minnie Wood was named the 2025 Public Health Hero by the Southern Nevada Health District for her contributions to creating a healthier, more resilient community. Wood, a nurse practitioner, was recognized for her vast community involvement and for her leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic where she collaborated with the Health District’s Office of Disease Surveillance to help OB/GYN practices in Southern Nevada understand the importance of testing, treating and educating pregnant patients about congenital syphilis. Woods' community involvement also extends to work with the Clark County School District, Helping Hands of Vegas Valley, Helping Hands of Henderson, Meals on Wheels, Boys and Girls Club of Henderson, The Just One Project, UNLV Student Wellness Center, and UNLV’s interprofessional group, which includes the schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, Public Health and Integrated Health Sciences.

UNLV Athletics continued to set records in the classroom as the NCAA released its most recent Academic Progress Rate (APR) data for the 2023-24 academic year. Nine Rebel sports programs all tied records by earning a perfect single-year APR score of 1000 (women’s basketball, cross country, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s soccer, women’s swimming & diving, women’s tennis, track & field, volleyball), while football set the program record with a single-year score of 988 (previous high was 987 in 2019-20). In addition, three programs set or tied their record for multi-year APR score (women’s golf with 1,000; women’s soccer with 998; women’s tennis with 1,000). The UNLV Athletics Department as a whole turned in a single-year score of 982, which was the fifth-highest in department history, and its multi-year score of 983 tied for its third-highest.

The College of Engineering opened a new interactive space in the Science and Engineering Building to train students and support research in nuclear reactor physics. The lab space, supported by a grant from the US Dept. of Energy's Nuclear Energy University Program, will utilize NuScale Power's trademarked Energy Exploration (E2) Center technology to simulate a control room environment in a nuclear power plant and equip students in engineering and radiochemistry for careers in the nuclear energy industry. UNLV will be the ninth institution worldwide to train students on the NuScale control room simulator.

As part of the newly released 2025 Carnegie Classifications, UNLV earned recognition for both its size and student impact. The university was designated as a "Mixed Undergraduate/Graduate-Doctorate Large" institution, placing it among just 3% of colleges and universities nationwide. UNLV also received a "Higher Access, Medium Earnings" classification, reflecting the university's commitment to serving a diverse student body who are prepared for successful careers. These designations are based on data from 2020 to 2023 and reflect UNLV’s ongoing efforts to expand opportunity and deliver positive outcomes for students.

After winning the conference’s first-ever championship playoff, the UNLV Women’s Golf team captured the 2025 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Championship on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club (Par 72, 6,286 yards). The title marks the program’s eighth overall league championship and the fifth under 14th-year head coach Amy Bush-Herzer. With the victory, the Rebels now have two wins and seven top-two finishes during the 2024–25 season, as well as the first Mountain West trophy claimed by UNLV since the 2018 championship. The team also advanced to the NCAA Golf Championships with a fourth-place regional finish and will compete for a shot at the national title this summer.

UNLV earned a rare distinction from the the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) following its recent Year Seven Evaluation of Institutional Effectiveness. During a three day campus visit, the NWCCU peer review team met with more than 20 groups to assess UNLV's alignment with accreditation standards. The NWCCU team put forward four commendations and no recommendations. This marks the second consecutive accreditation cycle in which UNLV received no recommendations, reflecting more than a decade of coordinated, sustained work across the campus community.

UNLV joined state, local leaders at an Intermountain Health event to commemorate planning of first dedicated children's hospital in Southern Nevada. The event, held on the site of the hospital’s future home at UNLV’s Harry Reid Research and Technology Park in Southwest Las Vegas, drew community and statewide leaders, including Gov. Joe Lombardo, state legislators, regents and leadership from the Nevada System of Higher Education, members of the Clark County Commission, and university leadership.