UT Tyler's MSN in Nursing Administration and MSN/MBA: preceptors, hours and clearance
UT Tyler's MSN in Nursing Administration (36 credits) and the coordinated MSN/MBA (63 credits) are online, with no direct patient care. Three practicum courses and a capstone call for a nurse leader to precept you, and you choose that preceptor for faculty approval. Our placement desk finds a leader with the right degrees at a facility near you and has the agreement details ready before the Clinical Liaison's clearance.
Find your administration preceptor
Tell us your course, your facility and where you live. A placement advisor replies with a plan for all three practicum courses.
Two degrees built on one administration core
The MSN in Nursing Administration is 36 credits: 15 in the MSN core, 12 in required administration courses and 9 in electives. It is 100% online and prepares graduates for the ANCC Nurse Executive and AONL CENP credentials. The program page describes three practicum courses and one capstone project, all completed under preceptors who hold leadership positions in their organizations.
The coordinated MSN/MBA pairs those nursing administration courses with UT Tyler's AACSB-accredited MBA for 63 credits, with nine elective hours shared between the two degrees. UT Tyler's online-program site tells MSN/MBA students they secure clinical placement at facilities of their choice, and its placement hours match the Administration track's. One catalog oddity: the MSN/MBA heading promises 18 required hours but lists courses worth nine.
A nine-credit post-baccalaureate Administration certificate (NURS 5331, NURS 5335 and NURS 5337) carries the same placement hours from Spring 2026, and associate-degree RNs can reach the track early through the RN-MSN.
The practicum courses
The catalog says every administration course carries practice hours and that 24 of them in each practicum course require a clinical placement, with no direct patient care. The courses run in sequence across full 15-week semesters.
| Course | Title | Placement hours | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
NURS 5331 | Nursing Leadership in the Healthcare Environment | 24 | Hours begin only after the Clinical Liaison approves a Preceptor and Facility Agreement |
NURS 5335 | Legal, Regulatory, and Financial Management | 24 | Follows NURS 5331 |
NURS 5337 | Nursing Administration: Delivery of Care | 24 (the syllabus also says 37.5) | Follows NURS 5335 |
NURS 5388 | Administration Capstone | 125 project hours, including 24 clinical hours | Spans the final two semesters |
Because the three practicum courses follow one another, the leader who agrees to host you in NURS 5331 is often the easiest person to ask about the next two. Plan the whole sequence when you make the first request rather than one course at a time.
24 or 37.5 hours per course
UT Tyler's sources give two figures for each practicum course. The current catalog and this fall's syllabi say 24 placement hours. UT Tyler's online-program site and the Administration preceptor guide from 2022 say 37.5. The Fall 2026 NURS 5337 syllabus prints both numbers, in different sections.
Your syllabus for the term decides, and your course faculty can settle any doubt in week one. When you recruit a preceptor, describe the commitment using the larger figure. A leader who agreed to 37.5 hours is pleasantly surprised by 24, while the reverse means an awkward second conversation with a busy executive.
The capstone is separate. NURS 5388 counts 125 project hours across the final two semesters, and only 24 of them are clinical placement hours, so most of that work is your project rather than time at the facility.
Who can precept an administration student
UT Tyler's Administration preceptor guide asks you to select a bachelor's-prepared nurse who also holds a master's degree: an MSN, an MBA or an MHA. Faculty review your preceptor application and have final approval of the preceptor before any hours begin.
That guide was revised in October 2022, yet it is still the document UT Tyler links for administration preceptors, so expect faculty to apply it as written.
The guide adds two limits
- The preceptor should not be someone directly responsible for your employee evaluation, which rules out your own manager
- Students are discouraged from choosing a preceptor who works in an educator role at the facility
Directors, chief nursing officers and nurse managers outside your reporting line are the natural fit. Preceptor requirements compares the rules across UT Tyler tracks, and clinicals where you work covers using your own employer as the site.
From Exxat registration to "Clinical Requirements Complete"
Each step depends on the one before it, and School of Nursing policy expects sites and preceptors to be approved before the semester starts. Work backward from your first class day.
- Register in ExxatThe Fall 2026
NURS 5331syllabus requires administration students to register with Exxat for clinical placement and complete its forms for clinical hours. TheNURS 5337syllabus still mentions an InPlace subscription, a leftover from the software change; Exxat explains the transition. - Propose your preceptor and facilityYou submit the preceptor's details through the Self-Placement Request, and faculty review the preceptor application.
- AgreementsThe Clinical Liaison approves the Preceptor and Facility Agreement, and the facility's affiliation agreement with UT Tyler has to be in place.
- ClearanceHours start only once the Clinical Liaison has emailed you "Clinical Requirements Complete". Anything logged earlier does not count.
Studying from outside Texas
Because Administration is not an APRN track, your RN license needs to be valid where the practicum happens, which need not be Texas. UT Tyler counts the MSN, the MSN/MBA and the certificate among its online programs for students in other states, with conditions, and the program pages carry a note for applicants elsewhere about reciprocity and clinical hours.
Washington is the one state UT Tyler names on its own. The School of Nursing reports approval from the Washington State Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission to conduct practice experiences there for the MSN Administration, what it calls the Post-Master's Administration Certificate, and the MSN/MBA. On licensure, the university chart gives the Administration MSN an all-states entry, but the School of Nursing's own state page, dated May 2025, puts 48 states in its undetermined column; state authorization lays out both.
How our placement desk helps administration students
Nurse executives run full calendars, and three courses in a row need either a preceptor who stays with you or a planned hand-off. Our placement desk handles that search from start to finish.
- We identify nurse leaders near you who hold a BSN plus an MSN, MBA or MHA and sit outside your reporting line
- We confirm the leader can cover the placement hours for
NURS 5331,NURS 5335andNURS 5337, or we line up a second preceptor for the later courses - We gather the credentials, titles and facility details the Self-Placement Request and the Preceptor and Facility Agreement ask for
- We stay on call through the capstone, and if a preceptor changes jobs, your placement advisor starts a replacement search
Tell us your facility and goals through the form below.
Questions UT Tyler students ask
Can I do my administration practicum at the hospital where I work?
UT Tyler's Administration guide does not bar your own employer; its limit is on the person. The preceptor should not be anyone directly responsible for your employee evaluation, so look to a leader in a different department or service line. The facility still needs its agreement with UT Tyler, and faculty approve the fit before hours begin.
Can a non-nurse executive precept me in UT Tyler's MSN/MBA?
UT Tyler's Administration guide asks for a bachelor's-prepared nurse who also holds an MSN, MBA or MHA, and the MSN/MBA follows the same placement rules. A hospital executive without a nursing degree would not match that wording, even with an MBA. If a non-nurse leader is central to your goals, ask your course faculty before you approach them.
Can one preceptor cover all three administration practicum courses?
UT Tyler's public documents do not say either way. Keeping one preceptor through NURS 5331, NURS 5335 and NURS 5337 saves repeated paperwork, but faculty approve the preceptor for each course. Ask your course faculty at the start, and let your placement advisor know, so the search covers the right number of semesters.
Is UT Tyler's nursing administration MSN fully online?
The coursework is 100% online. The placement hours happen at a facility with your preceptor, and they are leadership experiences with no direct patient care. No campus visit shows up in UT Tyler's Administration or MSN/MBA materials, so the facility is the one place you need to appear in person.
Related pages
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 forNURS 5455, psychiatric care forNURS 5367 - Texas-licensed preceptors who clear UT Tyler's supervisor, relative and site rules
- Anywhere in Texas, from the Piney Woods to the Valley
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.