EDITORIAL: UNLV’s expanded offerings a smart move

Las Vegas is a city built on a crazy schedule, with its heavy reliance on the casino resort industry, meaning many of its citizens have to keep an equally crazy work schedule. That can make it hard to take advantage of higher education opportunities, for both working college students and others who wish to take coursework just to increase their earning power.

Much to its credit, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas is looking to do something about that. As reported by the Review-Journal's Ana Ley, UNLV Senior Vice Provost Carl Reiber said the school may move about eight to 10 offerings in its course menu to Friday and Saturday for the first semester of the 2016-17 academic year. Administrators may push even more into the weekend if they find enough demand.

This is not only a hat tip from UNLV to its current students, but also to working professionals. The past two semesters, UNLV offered a handful of classes on Saturday, including in the school's executive master's degree in business administration -- a program designed for midcareer workers.

For 2016-17, there will be limited offerings to start with, but it's smart for UNLV to slowly roll out this program. This is a culture change for a traditional public university, and that change will take time, so it's best to see how students respond, then hopefully expand the curriculum. Regardless, UNLV merits applause for seeking more ways to make post-secondary coursework available to more people, be they typical college-age students or workers aiming to advance their careers.