Indiana clinicals for Samford NP students
Indiana residents can apply to Samford's nurse practitioner programs, and Samford's disclosure says its NP tracks meet Indiana's licensure requirements. The Indiana State Board of Nursing oversees only programs that prepare nurses for a first license, so our research found no board step between a Samford NP student and an Indiana clinic. What is left is the search itself and a license that holds at each state line.
Find an Indiana preceptor
Name your city, your Samford program and the clinical course you need covered.
Samford's published status for Indiana
Samford's September 2025 statement for its NP tracks treats Indiana as a plain yes: its row has no asterisk, and the NP pages never list it among states Samford declines. The row points to licensing information from the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, which supports the Indiana State Board of Nursing. Samford's 2020 State Authorization list includes Indiana in all three of its columns.
| Program | Indiana applicants | Licensure in Samford's disclosure |
|---|---|---|
| Family NP MSN, BSN or ADN entry | Accepted | Meets |
| Psychiatric-mental health NP MSN, BSN or ADN entry | Accepted | Meets |
| FNP and PMHNP DNP pathways | Accepted | Meets |
| Post-graduate certificates | Accepted | Not published |
| Online RN to BSN | Accepted | Meets (BSN disclosure) |
Why Indiana's board stays out of graduate clinicals
Indiana's board is plain about its reach. It accredits Indiana-based programs whose graduates seek initial RN or LPN licensure, and it says outright that RN to BSN programs and graduate nursing programs fall outside its review. The eligibility rule at 848 IAC 1-2-4 likewise speaks only to pre-licensure RN and PN programs. Our state research found no board requirement that a graduate school based elsewhere must meet before its students train in Indiana.
That clears one hurdle, not all of them. Samford still approves each preceptor and site, your clinic may need a new affiliation agreement, and Indiana hospitals and practices keep their own student rules. Confirm with Samford that nothing more is needed for Indiana before your clinical rotation request goes in.
Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and the border metros
Two of Indiana's biggest population centers belong to metros anchored in other states, which matters for licensing as much as for driving. Students across the state tend to name Parkview Health, Franciscan Health, Community Health Network, Ascension St. Vincent and Indiana University Health first; treat them as starting points, not sites described here as linked to Samford.
| Metro | Indiana residents | Licensing note |
|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood | 2,205,695 | Entirely in Indiana |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin (northwest Indiana) | 728,743 | Centered in Illinois, outside the compact |
| Fort Wayne | 466,258 | Entirely in Indiana |
| Louisville/Jefferson County (southern Indiana) | 281,424 | Centered in Kentucky, a compact state |
AANP's map groups Indiana with the reduced practice states, because some part of every NP's practice runs under a regulated physician collaboration. In Indianapolis or Fort Wayne alike, line up an adult primary care clinician for NURG 723, a family practice that treats children too for NURG 724, a clinic with room for a 300-hour NURG 730 student, and psychiatric prescribers from NURG 788 onward.
Your license in Indiana and across its borders
Multistate licensing began in Indiana on July 1, 2020, when the state implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact. Hold a multistate license with Indiana as your home state and it covers Indiana rotations plus those in compact neighbors Kentucky and Ohio, which is all the license Samford's handbook asks for in those states.
Illinois and Michigan sit outside the compact. A clinic in Chicago or across the Michigan line needs that state's own RN license, and Illinois adds its own filing rules for programs based elsewhere. The RN license guide sets out compact status for every state Samford accepts.
Why Samford students in Indiana choose us
Samford's NP pages call connections essential to a placement near home, and Samford's existing agreements sit mostly in the Southeast. In Indiana we are the connection. Your placement advisor searches around your home, from Fort Wayne to the Ohio River, for a preceptor whose patients match the Samford course you are entering, confirms which state's license the clinic requires, and gets Samford a complete preceptor and site file early enough for an agreement to finish. When one course's hours are underway we are already lining up the next. Send us your details.
Questions Samford students ask
Can I do clinicals in Louisville while living in southern Indiana?
Your Indiana multistate license covers Kentucky, a compact state, and Kentucky's board runs no approval process for programs based in other states. Its overview does say preceptors for online APRN students working in Kentucky need Kentucky APRN licensure. Confirm your preceptor's Kentucky license and Samford's approval before the first shift.
Is Indianapolis's St. Vincent the same system as the one in Birmingham?
No. Ascension St. Vincent is an Indiana system. The Birmingham hospital is UAB St. Vincent's, which carried the Ascension St. Vincent's name until November 2024. Neither is described on this site as having a student arrangement with Samford, and each sets its own rules for outside NP students.
Will my Indiana NP license require a collaborating physician?
AANP says yes, at least for one element of practice, which is why it labels Indiana reduced practice. It matters more once you graduate than during clinicals, but it is worth watching how your preceptor's collaboration works in practice during NURG 730 or NURG 790.
Northwest Indiana: can I train in Chicago?
You would need an Illinois RN license first, since Illinois is not a compact state. Illinois rules also describe a formal filing for out-of-state programs seeking clinical placements, though they do not say whether graduate programs are covered. For most northwest Indiana students, a preceptor on the Indiana side of the metro is the simpler route.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Samford's own program pages, plans of study, the 2026-27 Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and Alabama rules. Your course, your program coordinator and Graduate Student Services have the final word.
Samford says connections are essential. We are the connection.
Tell us your Samford track, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and prepare the details Samford needs to approve the rotation, including a new affiliation agreement where one is needed.
- Preceptors matched to the course: adult primary care for
NURG 723, family practice across the lifespan forNURG 724, psychiatric care forNURG 788 - Preceptor, license and site details ready for your clinical rotation request
- In your own community, anywhere Samford accepts you and your RN license is valid
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.