Maryland residents and UL Lafayette: a DNP question to settle first
UL Lafayette's state authorization page answers Maryland two ways. The DNP program list skips Maryland, yet the state-by-state section of that same page prints the DNP under it. The FNP, PMHNP and PMHNP certificate are closed to Maryland residents either way. Get a written answer from UL Lafayette's online programs office before you plan anything around the DNP.
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Tell us your UL Lafayette program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your UL Lafayette course.
How the university's page reads for Maryland
UL Lafayette sorts its online programs by the state a student calls home. For Maryland, one entry contradicts another, and the table keeps both. The complete breakdown sits on our state authorization page.
| Program | Maryland status | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP and MSN PMHNP | Not accepting; no determination made | Rotations in Louisiana on a Louisiana RN license |
| PMHNP Post-Master's Certificate | Not accepting; no determination made | Held to the same Louisiana clinical rule |
| MSN Nursing Education | Not on its list | Virginia and West Virginia are the closest accepted states |
| DNP (post-MSN) | Conflict | Absent from the program list, present in the state-by-state section |
Kansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Washington and Wyoming share that gap, and the page never says which section controls.
Maryland licensing, practice and a preceptor credit
Maryland entered the compact when multistate licensing started in January 2018. Its nursing regulations (COMAR 10.27.01.03(B)) allow a nurse holding another compact state's multistate privilege to work there, following Maryland law, and Louisiana is a compact member too. AANP classes Maryland as full practice, though a newly certified NP must declare an 18-month mentorship, the mentor being a certified NP or physician.
Maryland's income tax also carries a credit for NP and physician preceptors (Tax-General §10-739). The bar is a minimum of three community rotations, 90-plus hours apiece, in places the state health department marks as workforce-short. The statute speaks of NP students in Board-recognized programs and sunsets June 30, 2030, so confirm with MDH before counting on it for a post-MSN residency.
Care in Maryland centers on Baltimore-Columbia-Towson and Maryland's part of the Washington metro, plus Lexington Park and Hagerstown. Among the large systems are MedStar Health, LifeBridge Health, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Luminis Health and UMMS. We name them as landmarks, not as places that host UL Lafayette students.
Maryland's board and an outside program's residency
We came across no Maryland rule making an outside school seek the nursing board's approval before clinical training. Maryland looks at outside programs mainly when their graduates apply for a license, through a substantial-equivalency review and published lists that mark each prelicensure program from another state approved or not approved. Separately, §8-301(d)(2) of the Health Occupations article exempts graduate APRN students practicing inside an accredited program.
Higher education is a separate layer. The Maryland Higher Education Commission wants registration from outside schools that enroll Maryland residents online, with an exception for SARA-approved institutions, and UL Lafayette describes itself as an NC-SARA member. The DNP listing is still UL Lafayette's to decide.
If UL Lafayette confirms the DNP for Maryland
The post-MSN DNP runs 39 credits, starts each Fall and takes applications until May 1. Its 420 residency hours across NURS 821, NURS 822 and NURS 823 sit in your specialty area and may be completed in Louisiana or your home state, with campus visits for the DNP Orientation Intensive and the final Synthesis Project presentation. Our DNP residency guide covers the mentor and each course.
For the MSN and certificate NP tracks, a Maryland nurse would first need to relocate, since every clinical hour stays in Louisiana (Louisiana-only clinicals).
Why Maryland nurses work with us
Maryland applicants need eligibility settled before a residency search makes sense, and we work in that order. Once UL Lafayette confirms your status, we find an agency and mentor in your specialty that fit its rules, with or without the university's help on the placement, and we prepare the credentials and agency details your committee will review. Share your plans through the contact form.
Questions UL Lafayette students ask
Is Maryland eligible for UL Lafayette's online DNP?
The page answers both ways: the DNP program list, 44 states plus the District of Columbia, omits Maryland, while the state-by-state section shows the DNP under it. Get written confirmation from the online programs office or the DNP Coordinator before you choose a residency agency.
Can Maryland nurses enroll in UL Lafayette's PMHNP program?
Not from Maryland. The PMHNP, the FNP and the PMHNP certificate share a single entry, and Maryland falls in its not-accepting group, where UL Lafayette has made no determination about educational requirements. Those programs also keep rotations in Louisiana under a Louisiana RN license, so they come into play only for nurses who move to Louisiana.
Could a Maryland residency mentor claim the state's preceptor credit?
That is uncertain. The credit was drafted with NP students in Board-approved preceptorships in mind, and the preceptor needs three community rotations of 90-plus hours apiece in designated shortage areas. A post-MSN DNP residency may not match that design, so ask the Maryland Department of Health, which issues the credits.
Must UL Lafayette get Maryland approval before a residency there?
No approval step for outside programs appeared in our research; Maryland's board meets those programs when their graduates apply for licenses. Maryland law separately exempts graduate APRN students within an accredited program. Confirm how that applies to a post-MSN residency with the board and UL Lafayette's DNP Coordinator.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against UL Lafayette's 2026-27 catalog, its online program and state authorization pages, the ICMSN student handbook and Louisiana's nursing rules. Your course faculty and your plan of study have the final word.
Whether UL Lafayette helps or you start alone, we find the preceptor.
Tell us your UL Lafayette program, the practicum coming up and the Louisiana town you train near. We look for preceptors and sites that fit the course and gather the license, CV and agency details that must be on file before your first clinical day.
- Preceptors who meet Louisiana's rules: an active Louisiana license, most hours with an APRN in your population focus
- The preceptor's CV, the agency details and your letter of agreement items gathered early
- Across Acadiana and the rest of Louisiana, plus DNP residencies in your home state
Start your placement plan
Your program, your town and your next clinical semester is all we need to begin.