UNLV cut the ribbon Wednesday on a $16 million preschool campus that instantly opens roughly 80 new childcare slots for Las Vegas families, a 35% capacity boost aimed squarely at a waiting list that has stretched for years. The Marlow Early Childhood Education Campus is now the new home of the Lynn Bennett Early Childhood Education Center and the UNLV/CSUN Preschool, replacing a facility that had simply run out of room to meet demand.
University officials revealed this week that the $10 million anonymous gift that sparked the whole project in 2022 came from a donor family with a very personal stake in the outcome, according to the Las Vegas Sun. One of the family's children had attended the UNLV preschool only after spending two and a half years on its waiting list, and that experience became the catalyst for the donation. Susie Smith said the early childhood center has been a meaningful project to the donor family, per the Sun's reporting.
A Decade in the Making
The Marlow campus project had been ten years in the making before it broke ground in February 2025 as a $16 million facility designed to double classroom capacity and chip away at multi-year waiting lists. The new 12,500-square-foot building now has more classrooms than the previous preschool space, with each classroom accommodating about 20 children. Campus buildings pair two classrooms around a shared observation room fitted with two-way mirrors and audio systems, letting researchers watch preschoolers without disrupting their routines.
The facility also includes a conference room with smart technology, family lounges stocked with seating and children's activities, and outdoor playgrounds and green spaces. UNLV College of Education professor Tina Vo said she hopes the expansion gives more parents and children access to the preschool, and Provost Chris Heavey said the campus will affect hundreds and eventually thousands of children. At Tuesday's grand opening, Joseph Morgan formally opened the Marlow campus by tearing through a chain of colorful paper rings.
Five Decades of Serving Southern Nevada
The UNLV/CSUN Preschool traces back to 1972, when it was founded inside a UNLV residence hall by the Consolidated Students of the University of Nevada. It later moved into the Lynn Bennett Early Childhood Education Center in 2004 after casino executive William G. Bennett gave $5 million in honor of his wife. Since its founding, the preschool has enrolled more than 3,500 children, employed more than 1,200 student workers, supported more than 800 UNLV students through coursework, and conducted more than 42 research studies.
The program serves children ages 6 weeks to 5 years and runs 51 weeks a year, following an age-specific curriculum built around physical, social, emotional and intellectual development. With the Marlow campus now open, annual enrollment is rising from around 250 students to almost 350. The UNLV/CSUN Preschool holds national accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children, placing it among the top 5% of accredited early childhood centers nationwide.
Who Gets a Spot
Under UNLV's enrollment policy, available slots are split three ways: 35% reserved for UNLV students, 35% for university faculty and staff, and 30% for the general public. The UNLV College of Education and College of Fine Arts also bring students into the campus to design interactive activities blending music and elementary science, with fine arts professor Amy Brown among the faculty involved. For families, the new campus serves as the hub for childcare and early learning at UNLV, creating more room for research and hands-on training alongside the added seats for children.
Affordability Concerns Persist Despite More Seats
The physical expansion, though, does not resolve every barrier facing student-parents. In November 2025, federal funding for UNLV's Child Care Access Means Parents in School grant was eliminated, wiping out a subsidy that had previously covered up to 90% of childcare tuition for low-income UNLV student-parents, according to UNLV Scarlet and Gray. That loss lands even as the campus adds capacity, leaving some student families with new classroom space but fewer tools to afford it.
The stakes extend well beyond UNLV's campus. As of April 2026, nearly 75% of Nevada children under age six lacked access to a licensed childcare slot, producing widespread waiting lists across Southern Nevada, per The Nevada Independent. The First Five Years Fund has estimated that childcare shortages and disruptions cost Nevada's economy between $1 billion and $1.5 billion annually in lost earnings, productivity and tax revenue, with nearly half of Nevada employers reporting hiring struggles tied to childcare gaps.
State investment has grown alongside the need. During the 2023–2024 academic year, Nevada's state Pre-K program enrolled 3,606 children backed by $31.8 million in state funding, part of a broader push that includes a $70 million state Early Childhood Innovation Literacy Program grant to expand early learning infrastructure, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research. UNLV's Marlow campus adds a significant piece to that statewide effort, but with nearly three in four young Nevada children still shut out of licensed care, the university's 80 new slots represent only a fraction of what Southern Nevada families are waiting for.
