A $3 Million Grant Will Pay About 565 Nevada Community College Students for Internships, Including at CSN

by Ryan Rose

What Happened

FOX5 Vegas reported the news on Oct. 20, 2026, in a story by Chayanne Moreno titled "$3M grant expands paid internships at Nevada colleges." The Nevada System of Higher Education, known as NSHE, secured $3 million through the Nevada Attorney General's Office to create NV FORGE.

The name is short for Fostering Opportunity, Resilience, Growth, and Entrepreneurship. The money will support students at four schools:

College of Southern Nevada
Great Basin College
Truckee Meadows Community College
Western Nevada College

The colleges expect to serve about 565 students over three years. That includes students heading into healthcare, education, information technology, skilled trades and other fields. The program will also help small businesses and nonprofits offer work-based learning they might not have the money to provide on their own.

The funding was approved by the Nevada Legislature's Interim Finance Committee. A separate FOX5 story by Brittany Defran, published Oct. 17, reported that the committee approved the allocations that Thursday. That same story said the committee set aside $3 million for the NV Forge Grant program, along with $500,000 for a Nevada Fiber Optic Apprenticeship program and $473,838 for a UNLV student retention and community program run through its School of Music.

Stephanie Goodman, chair of the NSHE Board of Regents, said the initiative "will open doors for students who might otherwise have to pass up opportunities." NSHE Chancellor Matt McNair said a strength of the program is that each college can build opportunities around the needs of its own students and local employers.

How the Money Works at Each College

One thing that makes NV FORGE different is that it is not one program copied four times. Each college builds its own version based on what its students and nearby employers need. Here is how FOX5 described each one.

College of Southern Nevada. CSN will combine career-readiness training with internships at local small businesses and nonprofits. It will provide student stipends and supplies. Priority industries are healthcare, hospitality, retail and information technology. CSN's outreach will also reach Mesquite and Moapa Valley, two smaller communities in the northeast corner of Clark County.

Great Basin College. Great Basin will provide stipends and related help for clinical placements, internships, apprenticeships and student teaching across rural Nevada. Its first focus is healthcare and education. The goal is to help students handle travel costs and lost income while they finish required training.

Truckee Meadows Community College. In the Reno area, TMCC will cover internship tuition and fees and pay back participating employers for student wages. It plans to grow employer partnerships and career prep, especially for students facing money or other barriers.

Western Nevada College. WNC will provide wages, scholarships or both. It will expand employer partnerships in advanced manufacturing, healthcare, information technology, diesel technology and education.

NSHE's Workforce Development and Community Colleges Department will oversee the three-year effort. It will work with the colleges to track how many students take part, whether they find jobs and how many employers sign on.

Stipends, Wages, Apprenticeships: What the Words Mean

The FOX5 story uses a handful of terms that sound alike but are not the same. If you are a student or a parent trying to make sense of NV FORGE, here is a quick guide.

Internship. A short-term job, often a semester or a summer, where a student works in their field to learn how it works. Some internships are paid and some are not. NV FORGE is aimed at making more of them paid.

Wage. Regular pay for hours worked, the same way any job pays. TMCC, for example, plans to pay back employers for student wages. That means the business pays the student and the program helps cover that cost.

Stipend. A set amount of money given to help with costs while a student trains. It is not always tied to hours. CSN says it will provide student stipends and supplies, so a student might get a set payment to help them afford the time spent in an internship.

Apprenticeship. A longer training path, common in the skilled trades, where a person learns on the job under an experienced worker while earning money. The program can help with costs tied to apprenticeships.

Clinical placement. Required hands-on training for students in fields like nursing. Students often must spend many hours at a hospital or clinic before they can finish their degree. Great Basin College plans to help students with travel costs and lost income during these placements.

Student teaching. The classroom training future teachers must finish before they can get a license. Like clinical placements, it can mean weeks of unpaid work, which is a real barrier for students who need to earn a living.

The common thread is that all of these require a student to spend time learning instead of earning. NV FORGE is designed to help pay for that time.

Why It Matters to Las Vegas Residents

CSN is the community college most Southern Nevada families know. When a program sends money to CSN students, it lands right here in Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas. And CSN's focus areas line up with the jobs that keep the valley running. Hospitality, healthcare, retail and tech jobs are part of daily life in nearly every corner of the valley.

The big idea is simple. A paid internship lets a student build real work experience without giving up the income they need to live. Many students work part-time jobs that have nothing to do with what they are studying, just to pay the bills. A stipend or wage tied to an internship means they can work in their chosen field instead. That experience can make a big difference when they apply for a full-time job.

For local small businesses and nonprofits, this is a chance to bring in help they might not be able to afford. A small dental office, a neighborhood nonprofit or a local tech shop may want an intern but not have room in the budget to pay one. NV FORGE is meant to help close that gap.

Families with high school seniors should pay attention too. If your teen is weighing CSN against a four-year school, programs like this add value to the community college path. Paired with options like the dual enrollment courses CCSD now offers, a student can start college credit early, move on to CSN and gain paid work experience before finishing a degree.

Background and History

The money behind NV FORGE comes from a consumer protection settlement with T-Mobile that the Nevada Attorney General's Office manages. According to FOX5's Oct. 17 story, Attorney General Aaron D. Ford reached the agreement with T-Mobile in 2019. It set up a $30 million charitable fund meant to boost entrepreneurial opportunities in Nevada.

Over the years, the state has used that fund for several workforce and education programs. Ford said in the Oct. 20 story that the settlement has supported students pursuing STEM and education careers and that the new $3 million for NV FORGE expands those opportunities to Nevadans seeking skilled trades, entrepreneurship and a fresh start.

The approval went through the Interim Finance Committee, which is the group of state lawmakers that handles certain money decisions when the full Legislature is not in session. That is the same committee that approved the fiber optic apprenticeship bridge funding and the UNLV program in the same round.

Those other two items help show where NV FORGE fits. According to FOX5's Oct. 17 report, the $500,000 for the Nevada Fiber Optic Apprenticeship program will train technicians to build out internet infrastructure. It serves as bridge money ahead of larger payments from a $10 million allocation already awarded to the Nevada Governor's Office of Science, Innovation and Technology. The $473,838 for UNLV goes to a program run through its School of Music that serves vocal performance students, promotes arts and culture for children around Clark County and aims to keep university graduates in the Las Vegas area. Put together, the round is about the same goal: training Nevadans and keeping them working here.

Paid internships are not a new idea in Nevada, but they have often been tied to four-year universities or bigger companies. What stands out here is the focus on community colleges and on small businesses and nonprofits. Those are the places where students and employers both tend to have the fewest extra resources.

What Happens Next

NV FORGE is a three-year program. Now that the funding is approved, each college will build out its own plan for placing students and partnering with employers. The FOX5 story did not list a start date for applications or a specific sign-up process, so students should watch for updates from their own college.

At CSN, look for news about career-readiness training and small business or nonprofit internship placements in healthcare, hospitality, retail and IT. Students in Mesquite and Moapa Valley should keep an eye out too, since CSN's outreach is meant to reach them.

NSHE says it will track student participation, job outcomes and employer partnerships over the three years. Those numbers will show whether the program reaches its goal of about 565 students and whether internships turn into jobs. If the results are strong, it could make a case for keeping the program going after the grant runs out.

Western Nevada College's plan points to that same goal. FOX5 reported that WNC wants to encourage employers to keep offering opportunities beyond the grant period. That is the real test for any program like this. Three years of funding is a start, but the lasting win is when businesses see the value of interns and keep hiring them on their own dime.

Ryan's Take

Here is why a real estate guy cares about college internships. Every week I work with people trying to buy their first home in Las Vegas, and the biggest hurdle is almost always income. Young adults who start their careers with real experience tend to land better jobs sooner. Better jobs mean steadier income, and steadier income is what gets someone approved for a mortgage.

When local students can train for healthcare, hospitality and tech jobs right here, more of them stay here. They rent here, they buy here and they raise families here. That is good for neighborhoods all across the valley. A program like NV FORGE will not change the housing market overnight, but it is the kind of quiet investment that builds a stronger local workforce over time.

What You Can Do

If you are a CSN student: Talk to your program advisor or the college's career services office and ask about NV FORGE. Ask whether your field is part of CSN's focus on healthcare, hospitality, retail or IT. Keep your resume current so you are ready when placements open up.

If you own a small business or run a nonprofit: This may be a chance to bring on a trained student without carrying the full cost. Reach out to CSN to ask how employers can take part. Hosting an intern is also a good way to find a future hire.

If you are a parent: Share this with your college student or your high school senior. It is one more reason to look closely at CSN as a smart first step.

Good questions to ask CSN: When students reach out, these questions can help them get clear answers fast:

Is NV FORGE open yet, and when can I apply?
Which programs or majors are eligible at CSN?
Does the program pay a stipend, a wage or both?
Is the career-readiness training required before an internship?
How are students matched with small businesses and nonprofits?
Can students in Mesquite or Moapa Valley take part close to home?

Write down the answers and the name of the person you spoke with. Programs like this can fill up, and being organized helps.

Curious how local jobs and schools shape the neighborhoods you are looking at? Reach out to Ryan Rose or text/call 702-747-5921 anytime. Ryan Rose | Real Broker, LLC | 702-747-5921 | ryan@rosehomeslv.com | rosehomeslv.com