This page lists the three Nevada schools with a record in the UltrasoundDegree directory that offer a sonography program or a sonography track. The schools are grouped by region. Each entry shows the accreditation the directory records, the degree awarded, the program length where the record has one, and what sets the program apart from the others in the state. The page also covers Nevada’s licensing status and May 2025 wage data for the state.
Two counts appear on this page. Three is the number of Nevada schools in the directory. Two is the number whose entries record programmatic accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP), granted on the recommendation of the Joint Review Committee on Education in Diagnostic Medical Sonography (JRC-DMS). Those two are the College of Southern Nevada (CSN) in Las Vegas, which awards an Associate of Applied Science (AAS), and Great Basin College in Elko, which awards a bachelor’s degree. The third school, the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), offers a bachelor’s degree in comprehensive medical imaging with an ultrasound track. The directory holds no accreditation record for it. An earlier version of this page counted two programs and did not mention UNLV. It also named Pima Medical Institute in Las Vegas and Henderson as a CAAHEP-accredited program. There is no directory record for a Pima campus in Nevada, so it is not listed or counted here.
Accreditation in Nevada: two of three listed programs record CAAHEP
Two different things get called “accredited.” Institutional accreditation covers the whole college or university. Programmatic accreditation covers one program. For sonography, programmatic accreditation comes from CAAHEP, which accredits diagnostic medical sonography programs on the recommendation of JRC-DMS. Cardiovascular technology programs go through a separate committee, the JRC-CVT, and include non-ultrasound cardiac and vascular methods. No Nevada entry in the directory is a JRC-CVT program. CAAHEP allows two kinds of sponsor: an accredited college or university, or an accredited hospital or clinic. The sponsor has to award at least a certificate or diploma at completion. All three Nevada entries are colleges or universities; none is hospital-based. The CAAHEP standards are competency-based. They set the skills a graduate has to demonstrate in each concentration, not a minimum number of clinical hours, which is one reason program length varies. The difference between the two kinds of accreditation is covered in programmatic vs. institutional accreditation and in Chapter 11, Accreditation. CAAHEP’s own search is the primary source for current status. As of June 2026 it listed 390 accredited sonography programs at 275 institutions nationwide; one institution can hold more than one.
In Nevada, the CAAHEP record belongs to CSN and Great Basin College. CSN’s program page dates its accreditation to the spring of 2001. It also describes the program as the only CAAHEP-accredited one in Southern Nevada; that is the college’s statement, and the directory neither confirms nor contradicts it. The UNLV entry has no accreditation record. The university’s program page, checked in September 2026, did not state a programmatic accreditation for the imaging degree. It pointed to the university’s institutional accreditation office instead. That does not mean the program is unaccredited; it means the directory cannot say. CAAHEP’s search, linked under related pages, settles it either way.
Accreditation matters for the certification exams. The American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ARDMS) awards its credentials by exam only, and each applicant has to meet one of its prerequisites first. Prerequisite 2 covers current students and graduates of a CAAHEP-accredited sonography, cardiac sonography, or vascular technology program. No clinical experience beyond the program is required, and students may apply up to 60 days before graduation. CSN and Great Basin both record CAAHEP accreditation, so Prerequisite 2 is the route that applies to their graduates. CSN’s program page says its students are eligible to sit for the exams before graduation. For a bachelor’s program with no CAAHEP record, the routes ARDMS lists are different. Prerequisite 3A requires a bachelor’s degree in any field plus 12 months of full-time clinical ultrasound experience after it. Prerequisite 3B covers bachelor’s programs in sonography that include at least 12 months, or 1,680 hours, of clinical work inside the program. Which of these, if either, fits a UNLV graduate is not something the directory can answer. Prerequisite 5 is a crossover for people who already hold a credential from Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI), the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT), or Sonography Canada.
Every ARDMS credential requires the Sonography Principles and Instrumentation (SPI) exam plus a specialty exam. The SPI has its own prerequisite: a physics course passed with a grade of C or better, or 12 ARDMS-accepted physics continuing-education credits earned within the prior two years. Once the first exam is passed, the second has to be passed within five years. The general credential is the Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer (RDMS); every Nevada program page in the directory points to it. The state also has one cardiac track. CSN’s Cardiac/Vascular track prepares graduates for the Registered Diagnostic Cardiac Sonographer (RDCS) exam in adult echocardiography, the ARDMS cardiac credential. ARRT runs a separate Sonography credential. Details: Chapter 4, Licensing and Certification, the SPI exam, the RDMS credential, the RDCS credential, and how to verify a program’s accreditation.
In the entries below, “CAAHEP (JRC-DMS)” means the directory entry records that accreditation. Where a school’s own website confirmed it in September 2026, the entry says so.
Sonography schools in Nevada by region
Las Vegas metro
College of Southern Nevada (CSN), Las Vegas. Associate of Applied Science in Diagnostic Medical Sonography at a multi-campus community college serving the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The program houses two AAS degrees. The General/Vascular Ultrasound track trains in abdominal-extended and obstetrics and gynecology sonography; its graduates are eligible for the ARDMS RDMS exams in abdomen and OB/GYN. The Cardiac/Vascular Ultrasound track trains in adult cardiac sonography; its graduates are eligible for the ARDMS RDCS exam in adult echocardiography. It is a limited-entry program. Applicants attend a health-programs orientation and meet with a health-programs advisor before applying. Students are eligible to sit for the ARDMS exams before graduation. CAAHEP (JRC-DMS); the college’s own program page confirmed the accreditation in September 2026 and dates it to spring 2001. The page also publishes program effectiveness data, the outcome figures covered in reading program outcome data. This is the only associate-degree sonography program in the Nevada directory and the only entry with a cardiac track.
University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), Las Vegas. Bachelor of Science in Comprehensive Medical Imaging through the School of Integrated Health Sciences, Department of Health Physics and Diagnostic Sciences. The degree is not a sonography-only program. It covers ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging, with ultrasound and radiography as its tracks. The university’s program page, checked in September 2026, listed it as a four-year, 120-credit degree. No programmatic accreditation is recorded in the directory, and the program page did not state one. This is the only Nevada entry without a CAAHEP record and the only one whose degree spans several imaging methods.
Northeastern Nevada: Elko
Great Basin College (GBC), Elko. Bachelor of Science in Comprehensive Medical Imaging with an Emphasis in Diagnostic Medical Sonography at a public college in the Nevada System of Higher Education. The college has campuses in Elko, Winnemucca, Ely, and Pahrump. The sonography emphasis is delivered primarily through distance education from the Elko campus, with clinical sites across Nevada. The college’s program page, checked in September 2026, described a five-semester sequence of 118 to 121 credits over about two years: didactic courses in fall, winter, and spring terms, then three clinical semesters. At that check the page listed in-state program tuition of about $13,000, not counting prerequisite courses. Graduates are eligible for the ARDMS exams. CAAHEP (JRC-DMS); the program page confirmed the accreditation in September 2026. The directory entry also records a certificate program under the same accreditation. The September 2026 check did not find it on the college’s site, so this page counts the bachelor’s only. An earlier version of this page called the degree a four-year, on-campus program that was not available online. The directory record and the college’s program page both describe distance delivery, and this page follows them. Great Basin is the only directory entry outside the Las Vegas metro and the only one delivered by distance.
Reno, Sparks, and Carson City
The directory holds no entry for a sonography program in Reno, Sparks, or Carson City. Two entries sit in the Las Vegas metro; one is delivered by distance from Elko with clinical sites across the state. CAAHEP’s accredited-program search, linked under related pages, is the primary source for any program the directory does not hold.
Program types found in Nevada
| Program type | Schools | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Associate degree (AAS) | 1 | College of Southern Nevada (Las Vegas; two AAS tracks, General/Vascular and Cardiac/Vascular) |
| Bachelor’s degree, CAAHEP-recorded | 1 | Great Basin College (Elko; BS in Comprehensive Medical Imaging, sonography emphasis; distance delivery; five semesters, 118 to 121 credits) |
| Bachelor’s degree, no accreditation record | 1 | University of Nevada Las Vegas (Las Vegas; BS in Comprehensive Medical Imaging, ultrasound track; four years, 120 credits) |
| Certificate | 0 confirmed | Great Basin College’s directory entry records a certificate program; the September 2026 check of the college’s site did not find it. |
| Cardiac or vascular focus | 1 track | CSN’s Cardiac/Vascular track (RDCS, adult echocardiography). No Nevada entry is a JRC-CVT program, and no Nevada track on record targets the vascular (RVT) credential. |
| Hospital-based | 0 | All three Nevada entries are colleges or universities. |
Nationally, the associate degree is the typical entry-level education for a diagnostic medical sonographer, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook; certificate and bachelor’s programs also exist. Nevada is the reverse of that pattern: one associate program, two bachelor’s degrees, and the only certificate unconfirmed. What separates the degree levels is covered in associate vs. bachelor’s sonography degrees. Chapter 2, Educational Pathways, covers certificate programs, a type no confirmed Nevada entry offers. Cost context is in Chapter 13, Cost and Financial Aid. CSN’s limited-entry admission and the prerequisite courses that come before both bachelor’s programs are the subject of sonography prerequisites.
Distance delivery is the Nevada feature that stands out. Great Basin teaches the didactic part of its sonography emphasis by distance and places students at clinical sites across the state, which is how a program based in Elko reaches rural Nevada. The three clinical semesters happen at those sites. CAAHEP’s standards are competency-based, so the skills a graduate has to demonstrate are the same whether the coursework was delivered on campus or at a distance. What “online” does and does not mean for a sonography program is covered in Can you do a sonography program online?. Hospitals were the largest employer of sonographers nationally in 2024, with about 57 percent of jobs, according to the BLS. None of the three Nevada entries is hospital-sponsored. The setting question is covered in hospital vs. outpatient sonography.
Program pages in the directory: CSN, Great Basin, and UNLV.
State licensing in Nevada
Nevada does not license diagnostic medical sonographers. As of 2026, the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS) lists four states that mandate a sonographer license: New Mexico, Oregon, North Dakota, and New Hampshire. Nevada is not one of them. One neighbor, Oregon, is. Its law took effect on July 1, 2010, so a sonographer trained in Nevada who works across that border enters a licensing system Nevada does not have. Certification is separate from licensing. The ARDMS, ARRT, and CCI credentials described in Chapter 4 are national registries and do not depend on the state. A credential earned after a Nevada program is the same credential in Arizona, Utah, California, or anywhere else. Organization page: SDMS.
Sonographer wages and employment in Nevada
The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program reports state figures for diagnostic medical sonographers (SOC 29-2032). The May 2025 release gives Nevada the following.
| Nevada, May 2025 | Value |
|---|---|
| Median annual wage | $95,980 |
| Mean annual wage | $98,350 |
| 10th percentile | $74,960 |
| 90th percentile | $133,250 |
| Employment | 640 |
Source: BLS OEWS state estimates for SOC 29-2032, May 2025.
Nevada’s median ranks 26th of the 52 states and territories in that table. It sits $610 below the national median of $96,590 that the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook reports for May 2025. The spread inside Nevada is wider than the middle number suggests. The state’s 90th-percentile figure, $133,250, is above the national 90th percentile of $129,370. It is also above the 90th-percentile figures for Arizona ($127,510), Utah ($124,760), and Idaho ($117,100). At the other end, Nevada’s 10th percentile, $74,960, is above the national 10th of $67,820. Every neighbor’s median is higher than Nevada’s: California’s was $128,530 (1st), Oregon’s $120,220 (4th), Utah’s $100,100 (20th), Arizona’s $100,040 (21st), and Idaho’s $99,920 (22nd). Employment is small. The 640 sonographers counted in Nevada compare with 2,070 in Arizona and 10,110 in California, out of about 92,200 nationally in 2025. BLS projects national employment of sonographers to grow 14 percent from 2025 to 2035, much faster than the 3.5 percent average projected for all occupations, with about 6,000 openings a year over the decade. That projection is national; no Nevada-specific projection is given on this page. State-by-state comparison: sonographer salary by state. Chapter 8, Salary and Compensation, and Chapter 7, Job Market and Employment Trends, cover the national picture. Occupation profiles: diagnostic medical sonographer and cardiac sonographer.
Related pages
- Nevada school directory: the state listing of the school pages above, with addresses and official-site links
- Sonography and Ultrasound Degree Guide: the 13-chapter reference this page draws on
- CAAHEP, JRC-DMS, JRC-CVT, ARDMS, ARRT, and CCI organization pages
- RDMS, RDCS, and RVT credential explainers; ARDMS vs. CCI
- Abdominal, OB/GYN, and cardiac specialty pages, matching the three concentrations named at CSN; vascular sonography; Chapter 12, Sonography Specialties, for the rest
- How to evaluate a sonography program and reading program outcome data
- Other state guides: Alabama, California, Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia
- CAAHEP’s accredited-program search (the primary source for current programmatic accreditation), ARDMS, and BLS OEWS tables
Last verified: September 2026. School facts come from the UltrasoundDegree directory entry for each school; the College of Southern Nevada and Great Basin College entries were checked against each college’s own program page in September 2026, and the UNLV entry against the university’s program page. Each directory entry links the school’s official site, where current admission rules and accreditation status are published.