After several decades of struggling to implement requirements of federal Morrill land-grant legislation, the university made large strides toward becoming the modern institution it is today with the opening of the Desert Research Institute in 1960 and a medical school in 1967. The University of Nevada, Reno remained the only four-year academic institution in the state of Nevada until 1965, when the current-day University of Nevada, Las Vegas attained university status as Nevada Southern University.
Bachelors, master's, and doctoral programs are offered through the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology, and Natural Resources; the College of Arts & Science; the College of Business Administration; the College of Education; the College of Engineering; the College of Extended Studies; the College of Human and Community Sciences; the Graduate School; the Mackay School of Mines; the Reynolds School of Journalism; and the School of Medicine.
The University of Nevada, Reno campus is located on top of a large hill north of downtown Reno overlooking Truckee Meadows. The school's sports teams are called the Wolfpack. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A and in the Western Athletic Conference.