What shapes the cost of a UT Tyler preceptor search

Updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the UT Tyler Preceptor placement team

No two UT Tyler searches ask for the same thing: a pediatric preceptor for NURS 5453 near Tyler is a different job from two psychiatric preceptors near Midland. Your placement advisor quotes once your track, course, city and start term are known. Separately, UT Tyler's own clinical rules carry costs you meet however you find a preceptor, and they are listed below in plain words.

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Tell us your UT Tyler program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options in your community that fit your UT Tyler course.

Table. Student costs set by UT Tyler's clinical rules: Exxat subscription, An active subscription in every clinical course (Fall 2026 syllabi); Background check and drug screen, Run through Exxat for graduate students since Spring 2024; drug screens at facilities the School designates (policy 2.2); — Student costs set by UT Tyler's clinical rules: Exxat subscription, An active subscription in every clinical course (Fall 2026 syllabi); Background check and drug screen, Run through Exxat for graduate students since Spring 2024; drug screens at facilities the School designates (policy 2.2); Immuniz

Six things that shape your quote

A quote reflects how much searching your course needs and how much time is left to do it. These are the factors your placement advisor weighs.

The course and its patient focus. Children for NURS 5453, a psychiatric specialty practice for the PMHNP practica, adult and geriatric acute care for NURS 7383 to NURS 7388: the narrower the focus, the fewer clinicians who fit.
Hours and pace. A 125-hour course spread over a 15-week semester asks less of a preceptor's week than an AGACNP practicum that fits 125 hours into 7 weeks, or an FNP internship the catalog lists at 187.5 hours.
How many preceptors you need. One course is one search. A plan for several courses can mean several clinicians, since a PMHNP student may keep a preceptor for two rotations at most and needs 125 inpatient hours across the program.
Where you live in Texas. UT Tyler keeps NP clinicals inside Texas, so the search stays within driving distance of home, and the practices within reach differ from one region to the next. The Texas region guides show the picture near you.
Time before the semester. UT Tyler wants each site approved before the term opens, and a facility new to UT Tyler needs a signed affiliation agreement plus its own onboarding. A search begun a semester early has far more room than one begun in Week 1.
Your constraints. A workplace ruled out by UT Tyler's supervisor and relative rules, a fixed shift pattern, or sites that have already declined all change where we look.

What your quote covers

Your quote covers the part of UT Tyler's process that consumes the most hours: finding a preceptor who says yes and fits the course. It includes:

A search in your part of Texas for clinicians whose practice fits your exact UT Tyler course
Checks against UT Tyler's rules before you hear a name: Texas license, role and experience, population focus, and the supervisor, relative and PMHNP rotation limits
Every preceptor and site detail your Self-Placement Request asks for, collected from the preceptor's office
A briefing for the preceptor on UT Tyler's agreement survey, the Preceptor Handbook and the Clinical Performance Evaluation
The facility's onboarding list and deadlines, tracked beside your Exxat items
A replacement search if your preceptor steps away during the course

Approval stays with UT Tyler faculty and the Clinical Coordinator. What the quote buys is a request that reaches them complete, early and matched to the course. The full sequence is on how it works.

Costs that come from UT Tyler's own rules

Some costs belong to UT Tyler's clinical requirements rather than to any placement choice. You meet them whether you find a preceptor yourself or through us, and they are paid to UT Tyler, its vendors or other providers, separately from our quote.

Student costs set by UT Tyler's clinical rules
Item	What UT Tyler's documents say	Who pays, and how
Exxat subscription	An active subscription in every clinical course (Fall 2026 syllabi)	The student; the subscription is activated through UT Tyler
Background check and drug screen	Run through Exxat for graduate students since Spring 2024; drug screens at facilities the School designates (policy 2.2)	The student; the School pays for random screens
Immunizations and TB testing	Yearly flu and TB, hepatitis B with a titer, MMR, Tdap and varicella (policy 2.4)	Arranged by the student; the University Health Clinic offers the immunizations the School requires
CPR/BLS	A healthcare-provider course from the American Heart Association or American Red Cross	Arranged by the student and kept current
Professional liability insurance	UT Tyler's group policy with Wortham Insurance & Risk Management	Added to the student's bill at registration
Health insurance	Required by the UT System Board of Regents for students in clinical courses	The student's own plan, or the student plan through Academic Health Plans
Nursing badge and P2 Card	Both required for graduate nursing students	The badge can be bought in myUTTyler under Account Inquiry
Travel	Students get themselves to clinical sites (policy 7.3); FNP students also attend on-campus OSCE days	The student

Facilities can add onboarding items of their own, and some ask UT Tyler for a Letter of Good Standing on your behalf. The whole clearance list, with the policy behind each item, is on clinical compliance requirements.

Weighing the cost against a late start

The expensive outcome in a UT Tyler clinical course is lost time. Hours worked before approval do not count, and the Fall 2026 AGACNP syllabus warns that a placement not secured by the end of Week 2 may significantly affect finishing the course that semester.

When a course cannot be finished on time, UT Tyler's fallback options have limits of their own. An Incomplete requires satisfactory progress and reasons beyond your control, and it becomes an F if not resolved within a year. MSN nursing courses may be repeated only once, and a withdrawal counts as an attempt. The rules are on grades and time limits, and the mid-semester plan is on behind on clinical hours.

A preceptor confirmed and approved before the term begins keeps every one of those rules at a distance, which is why the timing factor above weighs as heavily as it does.

Getting your quote

Send your track, the course that comes next, your city and the term it starts through the request form. Your placement advisor may ask a few questions about your schedule and workplace, then sets out the quote and what it covers in writing.

Details sharpen the quote. Mention the hours the course still needs, any preceptor you have already used and practices that have turned you down, since each one changes the size of the search.

If a preceptor is already lined up for one course, say so, and the quote follows only the courses still open.

When an offer is live, it appears in the pop-up on this site.

Of the six factors above, time before the semester is the one you control. Ask for your quote a full semester before the course.

Questions UT Tyler students ask

Is a quote for one UT Tyler course or the whole program?

Either one. Some students start with the next clinical course; others want a plan for every remaining course. A full plan helps most in the PMHNP, where the two-rotation limit means at least two psychiatric preceptors, and in the FNP, where the patient focus shifts from children to adults. Your placement advisor lays out both options.

Does using a placement service change what I pay UT Tyler?

No. Tuition, the Exxat subscription, compliance items and insurance stay the same however your preceptor was found. Approval also works the same way: faculty weigh the preceptor and site you propose, and the Clinical Coordinator clears them. See your own search or placement help for a side-by-side view.

Does the quote change when the semester is only weeks away?

Time left is one of the factors. A short runway leaves fewer practices able to finish onboarding in time, and a facility new to UT Tyler also needs a paper affiliation agreement signed first. Give your real start date on the form; the can't find a preceptor page covers what to do this week.

What happens if my preceptor drops out mid-course?

A replacement search is part of what the quote covers. Tell course faculty first, as UT Tyler's syllabi ask, then tell your placement advisor, who looks near you for a clinician who fits the same course. The new preceptor goes through UT Tyler's survey and approval again before those hours count.

Our serviceHow it worksHow we find a Texas preceptor for your UT Tyler clinical course, collect every Self-Placement Request detail, and stay on call until your hours count.CompareYour own search or oursA fair comparison for UT Tyler NP students: what a preceptor search on your own involves, what placement help adds, and when each route makes more sense.ChecklistChoosing a placement serviceWhat any placement service should do for a UT Tyler student: match the NURS course, stay in Texas, hand over request-ready details and plan for replacements.ComplianceClinical compliance checklistEvery UT Tyler clinical clearance item: Exxat or CastleBranch, background check, drug screen, immunizations, CPR, insurance, badge and facility onboarding.SystemsExxatHow UT Tyler graduate nursing students use Exxat for compliance, placement and hour logs, what it replaced, and why some UT Tyler pages still name InPlace.ContactContactStart a UT Tyler preceptor search: what to send, what happens next, what to do when the semester is weeks away, and the Texas-only rule for NP students.

Last checked 2026-09-25

We check these pages against UT Tyler's own catalog, syllabi, program pages and clinical policies, and Texas rules. Your course, your program coordinator and the Clinical Coordinator have the final word.

UT Tyler asks you to choose your clinical site. We find it.

Tell us your UT Tyler track, where in Texas you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and gather everything your Self-Placement Request needs, so faculty can approve it before the semester.

Preceptors matched to the course: pediatrics for NURS 5453, adult and geriatric care for NURS 5455, psychiatric care for NURS 5367
Texas-licensed preceptors who clear UT Tyler's supervisor, relative and site rules
Anywhere in Texas, from the Piney Woods to the Valley

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