Taking USU's nursing programs from Texas
Every current USU nursing program is open to Texas residents, the FNP included. The separate Texas FNP track USU once ran no longer takes students, and the Texas Board of Nursing's approval rules for out-of-state schools cover pre-licensure programs, not NP programs like USU's.
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Programs, hours and the closed Texas track
| Program | Open to Texas residents? | Clinical hours |
|---|---|---|
| MSN Family Nurse Practitioner | Yes, through the general MSN FNP | 540 across FNP592, FNP594, FNP596, FNP597 |
| MSN Nurse Educator | Yes | 100 in MSN578 |
| MSN Health Care Leadership | Yes | 100 in MSN587 |
| RN-to-BSN | Yes | 90 in NUR378 and NUR499 |
| DNP | Yes | 1,000 post-baccalaureate |
| Post-Master's FNP Certificate | No, closed in every state | Not applicable |
USU's state disclosure says the MSN-FNP-TX in-state track no longer accepts students. It covered students accepted from May 5, 2024 through June 9, 2025, and the catalog words the cutoff slightly differently, placing FNP students admitted before May 29, 2025 on the Texas track. If you started around then, ask your Clinical Placement Coordinator which track your record shows. Everyone admitted now joins the general FNP, which Texas residents can take.
What the Texas Board of Nursing does and doesn't regulate
Texas makes out-of-state nursing programs win Board approval before any clinical learning experience in the state, even schools that belong to NC-SARA. Those rules, 22 TAC 214.3(e) and 215.3(e) and Education Guideline 3.1.3 (revised May 1, 2026), apply to pre-licensure vocational and RN programs. The Board's out-of-state approval rules don't reach post-licensure RN-to-BSN or graduate APRN programs, so USU's FNP isn't on that path.
The Board's APRN education standards in 22 TAC 219.10 describe preceptors as licensed APRNs or other licensed health professionals able to teach, with written program-preceptor-agency agreements. But Chapter 219 formally governs programs seeking Texas Board approval. For a USU student, USU's own criteria decide who qualifies: a board-certified NP, or an MD or DO, with at least a year of experience and permission from their employer. The preceptor requirements page lists the rest.
Delegation, protocols and the metros where students look
AANP rates Texas as restricted practice. NPs work under physician delegation and supervision, keep career-long written protocols with a physician, and follow setting limits on Schedule II prescribing. Every Texas NP therefore has a delegating physician, and USU accepts either as your preceptor if they meet its criteria, provided NPs supervise no fewer than 135 of your hours.
The state's four largest metros are Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (about 8.5 million people), Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands (about 7.9 million), San Antonio-New Braunfels and Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos (each roughly 2.6 to 2.8 million). Baylor Scott & White Health, Texas Health Resources, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Houston Methodist and San Antonio's University Health are examples of systems whose clinics FNP students approach. This isn't a list of USU partners.
USU's travel rule is statewide: you pay your own way to any site in Texas, and travel time isn't an accepted reason to turn a placement down. In a state this size, settle early how far you'll drive.
Preceptor incentives that miss NP students
Texas's preceptor tuition exemption won't help your preceptor. Public Texas colleges must grant a tuition exemption to Texas-resident RNs who precept undergraduate students preparing for initial RN licensure, and to their children, but the program doesn't cover preceptors of graduate or NP students. No preceptor tax credit or NP-preceptor grant turned up on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's grant pages, and its Nursing Shortage Reduction Program funds nursing programs, not individual preceptors.
USU gives its preceptors a tuition discount, continuing education and library access, and those who precept 135 hours in a year can hold an honorary clinical faculty title. Our page for clinicians explains them for a Texas NP or physician you're asking.
Your Texas license
Texas has been a compact state since January 19, 2018, so a Texas multistate license covers RN practice at home and in other compact states. USU requires that license to be active and unencumbered in your state on file and in any other state where you train, and your liability coverage should be written for the same state. The APRN Compact isn't operating: Texas hasn't enacted it, and only five states have.
Travel nurses based in Texas need to update their address with USU to wherever they'll do clinicals, and telehealth patients must be located in your state on file. More detail is on our RN license page.
What a placement advisor does for Texans
We search your Texas metro or region for outpatient preceptors who fit your USU course, check their license status against USU's rules, and help you assemble the documents OFE and the Program Director review. If a preceptor drops, we search again. USU makes every approval decision. Send us your course and city.
Questions USU students ask
Is USU's Texas FNP track still open?
No. USU's disclosure says the MSN-FNP-TX in-state track no longer accepts students; it covered students accepted from May 5, 2024 through June 9, 2025. Texas residents now enroll in the general MSN FNP, which is open to them. If you were admitted in that window, check with your Clinical Placement Coordinator which track applies.
Does the Texas BON have to approve USU before my FNP clinicals?
Its out-of-state approval rules apply to pre-licensure programs such as ADN and BSN, not to post-licensure or graduate APRN programs, so that approval path doesn't apply to USU's FNP. USU's own steps still do: OFE, the Program Director and an affiliation agreement all come before your first hour.
Can a Texas physician be my USU preceptor?
Yes, if they're a licensed MD or DO with at least a year of experience, supervise you while employed by the clinical site, and hold an active Texas license. At least 135 of your 540 hours must still be with a nurse practitioner, and USU recommends spending most hours with FNPs.
Do Texas preceptors get a state benefit for taking a USU student?
Not from the program Texas runs. Its preceptor tuition exemption covers preceptors of undergraduate students preparing for initial RN licensure, not NP students, and no Texas preceptor tax credit was found. USU's own perks for preceptors, such as a tuition discount and continuing education, are the incentives on offer.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-23
We check these pages against USU's own catalog, handbooks and disclosures. USU's current handbook and your Clinical Placement Coordinator have the final word.
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- Appendix H, license, CV and board certification gathered the way OFE asks
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