Preceptor requests outside Alabama: Troy's license rule and state steps
Troy University acts on a preceptor request for a site in another state only after you prove RN licensure there, current for every day of the semester. Some states add their own steps, which Troy lists in a clinical-availability table last updated December 15, 2020. We run out-of-state searches in that order: the license first, then the state step, then the preceptor.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Troy program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Troy course.
The license comes before the request
Troy's MSN Student Orientation Manual puts it in one line: "Out of state preceptor requests are not processed until evidence of licensure in that state is provided." What Troy wants to see is an unencumbered RN license issued for the clinical state and current from the first day of the semester through the last. The DNP manual carries the same requirement, and Troy lists it among admission items for graduate nursing.
The order matters. A preceptor across the state line can be willing, qualified and ready, and the request still waits until your license there is on file. Apply for that license the moment the clinical state is settled. The full license rule has its own page: RN license for clinicals.
Troy's manuals speak of licensure in that state and do not mention multistate compact licenses. If you hold a multistate license, ask your faculty advisor whether it is the evidence Troy needs for the state you have in mind.
What Troy's 2020 table is, and what it is not
Troy links a document called Online Nursing Programs from its state authorization page. It answers one question for three programs at once, the RN to BSN (which Troy calls RN Mobility), the MSN and the DNP: can Troy offer clinical experiences in each state? Every row reads Last updated 12/15/2020, even though Troy lists the file among its current disclosures.
Its answers are Yes, No, Not yet determined and, for Wyoming alone, Applied for authorization. It does not say whether a program meets a state's licensure or certification requirements, and it does not separate the three programs. The complete state list sits on clinicals by state; this page covers the rows that carry an extra step.
Because the table dates from 2020, use it as a starting point rather than an answer. Before you put time into recruiting, check your state's current position with the Coordinator of State Authorizations and with the Clinical Placements Specialist.
States with an extra step in the 2020 table
Several of these steps sit with Troy rather than with you, such as the Oregon petition or a faculty member licensed in South Dakota. They still take time, so raise them with the Clinical Placements Specialist as early as you can.
| State | 2020 status | Step Troy listed |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Yes | Apply for a preceptorship with an Alaskan preceptor through the Alaska Board of Nursing |
| Arizona | Yes | Approval or application process: contact the Clinical Placements Specialist |
| Colorado | Yes | Workers' compensation must cover students in clinical practicums; contact the Clinical Placements Specialist |
| Minnesota | Not yet determined | The clinical faculty of record for Minnesota students must be licensed in Minnesota |
| Montana | No | Approval or application process: contact the Clinical Placements Specialist |
| Oregon | Yes | Troy must petition the Oregon State Board of Nursing before students do clinicals there |
| South Dakota | Yes | One faculty member licensed in South Dakota oversees students in the state |
| Tennessee | Yes | Approval or application process: contact the Clinical Placements Specialist |
| Washington | Yes | Approval or application process: contact the Clinical Placements Specialist |
| West Virginia | Yes | Approval or application process: contact the Clinical Placements Specialist |
| Wisconsin | Yes | Approval or application process: contact the Clinical Placements Specialist |
| Louisiana | Yes | Approval for graduate clinical experiences ran until October 12, 2022 |
| Wyoming | Applied for authorization | Application submitted 12/4/20 |
States marked No, and the entries that have aged
The 2020 table marks five states No: Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Montana and New York. Three carry reasons. In Troy's summary, Hawaii's board gives no approval to post-licensure programs based elsewhere or taught at a distance; Kentucky's board gives none to nursing education programs from other states; and New York's State Education Department must register or approve a program from outside New York before it can place students there for rotations. Indiana has no note, and Montana's No sits beside an application-process note.
Troy's state authorization page lists all five among its 40 SARA-authorized states. SARA covers distance education while the 2020 table covers clinicals, and neither page reconciles the two. Louisiana is the other trap: it still reads Yes, but its own note says the approval ended on October 12, 2022.
Troy's MSN program page adds that, because each state runs its own approval process, the online MSN may not be available in every state. When the table and a newer Troy page seem to disagree, the Coordinator of State Authorizations is the person to ask; the state authorization guide explains SARA and Troy's separate state approvals.
Alabama's neighbors: Georgia, Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee
All four states bordering Alabama read Yes in the 2020 table. Georgia and Florida also appear on Troy's list of separate state-agency authorizations, and the MSN manual describes solid ties between the graduate program and clinical agencies across Alabama, Georgia, Florida and well beyond. Mississippi is on Troy's SARA list.
Tennessee is the neighbor with a step: its row says to contact the Clinical Placements Specialist about the approval or application process. For every neighbor, the license rule still governs. Georgia hours call for Georgia licensure, Florida hours for Florida licensure, across the whole semester.
For students who live near the Georgia or Florida line, the nearest practice may sit across it. That works, but only once the license and any state step are in place.
How an out-of-state request moves
- Confirm the stateCheck your state's current position with the Clinical Placements Specialist and, if your state is missing from Troy's authorization lists, the Coordinator of State Authorizations.
- Secure the licenseGet your unencumbered RN license for that state in place for the entire semester, with proof ready to attach to the request.
- Recruit to the course ruleFind a preceptor who meets Troy's rule for the course; an NP preceptor must be licensed as an NP in the state where they practice.
- Send the packetThe Preceptor Information Form, Preceptor Biosketch, license copy and your own license evidence go to your faculty advisor before the form deadline.
- Allow for the agreementIf the site has no formal contract with Troy and one is required, Troy says the agreement takes longer, so apply early.
Troy has published nothing on relocating partway through a program. If a move is coming, talk to your faculty advisor and the Clinical Placements Specialist before you go.
How we run out-of-state searches
We start with the state, not the preceptor. We check where your state sits in Troy's table and what step it names, confirm your license timing, and only then search for preceptors who meet the rule for your course in your own area. The packet we prepare flags any state step and any site that will need a new formal contract, so your faculty advisor and the Clinical Placements Specialist see the whole picture at once. When the site is across a state line, we also note the distance and travel days, since those costs fall to you.
If your home state read No or Not yet determined in 2020, we help you frame the question for Troy first and begin searching once the answer is in. Use the form below to share your state and track.
Questions Troy students ask
Can I do Troy FNP clinicals in Georgia or Florida?
Troy's 2020 clinical-availability table lists both as Yes, and both appear among Troy's separate state-agency authorizations. Before Troy will process the preceptor request, you still need an unencumbered Georgia or Florida RN license, whichever matches the site, covering the semester from start to finish.
Does a multistate compact RN license count for Troy clinicals?
Troy's manuals ask for evidence of licensure in the state where clinicals take place and do not mention compact licenses by name. If your multistate license covers the clinical state, ask your faculty advisor to confirm it satisfies the rule before you send an out-of-state preceptor request.
Can Troy students do clinicals in Louisiana?
Troy's 2020 table still marks Louisiana Yes, but its note says approval for graduate clinical experiences ran only until October 12, 2022. Treat Louisiana as unconfirmed, and ask Troy's state authorization office and the Clinical Placements Specialist where things stand now, before recruiting a preceptor there.
What does Not yet determined mean for my state?
It is the status Troy recorded for your state in December 2020, and that document has not been updated since. Ask the Coordinator of State Authorizations and the Clinical Placements Specialist whether clinicals are now possible where you live, and get the answer before you invest time in recruiting a preceptor.
Can I travel to a preceptor across a state line?
Yes, if the paperwork follows the site. The preceptor needs a license from the state where they practice, and yours must cover the state the site is in. Any step Troy's table lists for that state applies too, and travel, meals and overnight stays are yours to cover.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Troy's own 2026-27 MSN, DNP, AMSN and RN to BSN orientation manuals, program pages, degree maps and state authorization pages. Your faculty advisor, your course faculty and the School of Nursing have the final word.
Troy asks you to recruit your preceptor. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Troy program, where you live and which semester your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors who meet Troy's rules for the course, check the setting against Troy's limits, and prepare everything the Preceptor Information Form and biosketch ask for, well ahead of the form deadline.
- Preceptors matched to the course: a graduate-prepared NP or physician for
NSG 6619, pediatrics and women's health forNSG 6666, adults and older adults forNSG 6668 - Preceptor Information Form details, a biosketch and a copy of the preceptor's license, ready for your faculty advisor
- In your own area, in Alabama or a state where Troy can offer clinicals, never in your own work setting
Start your placement plan
Program, city and semester is all we need to begin.