UL Lafayette MSN in Nursing Education: plan, practicums and states
UL Lafayette's Nursing Education concentration is a four-semester online MSN run through the ICMSN, with its two practicum courses, NURS 544 and NURS 557, in the final year. The 2026-27 catalog counts 240 practicum hours, an older program page says 300, and UL Lafayette accepts students living in eight states. However your placement ends up being arranged, our team lines up an educator preceptor and a teaching setting that satisfy UL Lafayette's rules.
Find a Nursing Education preceptor
Tell us your start term, where you live and which practicum course is next.
How the Nursing Education MSN is built
The concentration is one of three inside UL Lafayette's MSN, which the LHC Group · Myers School of Nursing offers through the ICMSN, a consortium shared with three sister schools: Nicholls State, McNeese State and Southeastern Louisiana. The 2026-27 catalog sets it at 40 to 43 credits across four semesters. The three-credit spread comes from the capstone choice: NURS 595, a focused scholarly project, or the NURS 599 thesis track.
Coursework is delivered online only. UL Lafayette takes MSN applications for two entry points: Oct 30 is the cutoff for Spring 2027 and June 30 for Fall 2027. A partner university may teach one of your courses, yet it still opens inside UL Lafayette's Moodle, provided you file the consortium's Online Enrollment Form each advising period. The ICMSN guide explains how that form works.
UL Lafayette's published MSN pages list no on-campus sessions. The in-person part of this program is the practicum year, when you teach alongside a preceptor.
The course plan, semester by semester
The catalog plan puts the shared MSN core first and saves both practicums for semesters 3 and 4. Three education courses carry a Fall-only mark, which matters when you line up your start term against the plan.
| Semester | Courses | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | NURS 500, 505, 518; NURS 534 Nursing Education: Roles, Issues, and Foundations | NURS 534 runs in Fall only |
| 2 | NURS 502, 507, 517; NURS 535 Curriculum and Program Development | Core courses shared with the NP concentrations |
| 3 | NURS 536 Teaching Methodologies and Technologies; NURS 570 Measuring Outcomes in Nursing Education; NURS 544 Advanced Clinical Practicum in Nursing Practice; NURS 595 or 599 | NURS 536 and 570 run in Fall only; NURS 544 needs at least 60 hours |
| 4 | NURS 509 Population-Based Primary Care; NURS 557 Nursing Education Practicum; NURS 599 on the thesis track | NURS 557 needs at least 180 hours |
The core runs NURS 500 (theoretical foundations), NURS 505 (applied statistics) and NURS 518 (pathophysiology) in semester 1, then NURS 502 (generating evidence), NURS 507 (health assessment and diagnostic reasoning) and NURS 517 (pharmacotherapeutics) in semester 2. Because a Fall-only course sits in semester 1 and two more sit in semester 3, map your own sequence with your faculty advisor, especially if you enter in January.
Practicum hours: 240 in the catalog, 300 on the web
All of the precepted time sits in two courses. NURS 544, Advanced Clinical Practicum in Nursing Practice, is worth 1 credit and requires a minimum of 60 clinical/clock hours. NURS 557, Nursing Education Practicum, is worth 3 credits and requires a minimum of 180, spent practicing the educator role in precepted classroom, lab and clinical settings.
Added up, the 2026-27 catalog gives 240 hours. The School of Nursing's Nursing Education requirements page, in a copy captured in September 2025, says the concentration carries 300 practicum hours. UL Lafayette has published nothing that reconciles the two, so read the current catalog first and let your course faculty or the graduate coordinator confirm which total applies to your cohort.
While the answer is open, it makes sense to ask your preceptor for room above the minimum. Finishing a practicum with spare hours is far easier than finding 60 more in the last weeks of a term. The Nursing Education practicums page breaks each course down further.
Two UL Lafayette sources give different totals, 240 and 300 hours. Ask which one applies to your cohort before your preceptor's schedule is set.
The eight states UL Lafayette accepts
UL Lafayette's state authorization page gives Nursing Education a wider list than the nurse practitioner tracks. It accepts Nursing Education students located in these eight states:
- Louisiana, with neighboring Mississippi and Arkansas
- Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia to the east
- Arizona in the Southwest
Compare that with the FNP, PMHNP and PMHNP certificate entry, where only Louisiana and Mississippi meet the educational requirements and rotations must happen in Louisiana under a Louisiana RN license. The same page has a gap worth knowing: Nursing Education appears in its program list but not in the state-by-state section, even under Louisiana.
The license wording also varies. On licensure, the catalog accepts a Louisiana RN license or a multistate one, unencumbered, whereas the MSN How to Apply page mentions only Louisiana. Relocating partway through the program? Recheck the current list first; the state authorization guide sets every UL Lafayette program side by side.
Where the practicum happens: two statements side by side
Settle this question early, because UL Lafayette's own pages point two ways. The Master of Science in Nursing page on the School of Nursing site says the MSN concentrations must complete all clinical experiences in Louisiana. As written, that sentence covers Nursing Education along with the NP tracks.
The state authorization page, on the other hand, accepts Nursing Education students who live in seven states besides Louisiana, and the MSN How to Apply page repeats the Louisiana-only rule for the FNP concentration alone. Neither page says where a student living in Virginia, Georgia or Arkansas completes NURS 544 and NURS 557.
Only UL Lafayette can settle it. Put the question to the graduate coordinator or to course faculty: where may your practicum hours take place? Keep their reply with your records. A student living in Louisiana plans in Louisiana either way. For the NP concentrations, the rule is laid out on the Louisiana-only clinicals page.
Admission, grades and progression
What the catalog asks for at admission
- A BSN from an accredited program (the web page specifies ACEN or CCNE) and a 2.75 undergraduate GPA
- A personal statement of purpose, plus your resume or CV
- Proof of immunization
- Prior coursework in lifespan physical assessment and in undergraduate statistics
- An unencumbered RN license, worded as described above
Once enrolled, you need a B or better in every MSN course. Falling below B means retaking the course, you get one retake, and a C grade is never applied toward MSN requirements. The consortium handbook layers on three more: any D or F halts your progression, an unsatisfactory final practicum evaluation, whether it comes from your preceptor or from faculty, turns the course grade into an F, and two Ws are the most one student may accumulate. The full picture is on grades and progression.
How we fit: an educator preceptor for class, lab and clinical teaching
We are specialists in UL Lafayette's practicum rules, and we match Nursing Education students with preceptors who teach in the settings NURS 557 describes: a classroom, a skills or simulation lab, or a clinical unit where teaching happens. For NURS 544 we line up a clinical practice setting that fits your course objectives. Every search starts near where you live.
We start the paperwork early, since that is where practicums stall. Our checklist covers a preceptor CV updated within the past two years, the facility details an agency contract calls for, the letter of agreement that you, your course faculty member and your preceptor all sign, plus the health, OSHA and HIPAA documents on your side. Every item has to reach the graduate nursing office ahead of practicum day one, and the handbook warns that a brand-new agency contract can need several weeks or even months. See the clinical paperwork guide.
Already teaching or working at a hospital or school? We can build the practicum there, with the hours kept separate from your job duties and unpaid, as the workplace clinicals rule requires. Course faculty approve every preceptor after the graduate coordinator's review, and we send each review a complete, rule-ready packet. Share your start term and home city on the contact page.
Questions UL Lafayette students ask
Is UL Lafayette's Nursing Education MSN completely online?
The courses are. UL Lafayette delivers the MSN online only, consortium courses taught at partner universities open in its Moodle, and no on-campus session is listed for the MSN. The practicum year is different by design: NURS 544 and NURS 557 place you in real classrooms, labs and clinical areas with a preceptor, so plan for in-person time in semesters 3 and 4.
Who approves my Nursing Education preceptor?
Two sets of eyes: per the consortium handbook, the graduate coordinator screens each proposed preceptor first, then course faculty decide. Before any practicum day, the graduate nursing office needs the preceptor's CV, no older than two years, and the signed letter of agreement. Your placement advisor assembles that packet in full so the faculty review can move without back-and-forth.
Is a practicum at my own employer allowed?
The consortium's procedure for nurse educator practicums allows a preceptor at your workplace on two conditions: the practicum hours sit outside your job duties, and no pay attaches to them. Planning the practicum as a distinct teaching role, such as a class or lab outside your normal shift, keeps that line visible. Confirm the arrangement with course faculty before the term begins.
Does UL Lafayette require the GRE for the MSN?
It does not. The MSN How to Apply page says the GRE has not been required since Fall 2019. That page does ask for three references (at least one from a recent supervisor or employer) and a letter of application, in addition to the documents and prerequisite courses the catalog lists.
Is a January start possible for Nursing Education?
Yes, the MSN admits for both Spring and Fall. Three courses in the plan are offered only in Fall: the roles course NURS 534 from semester 1, plus the teaching methods course NURS 536 and the outcomes course NURS 570 from semester 3, so a January start can change the order of your courses. Ask your faculty advisor to lay out your plan of study before you register.
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.
- UL Lafayette 2026-27 catalog: Nursing, MSN, Nursing Education Concentration
- UL Lafayette Online: State authorization for online programs
- LHC Group · Myers School of Nursing: Master of Science in Nursing
- LHC Group · Myers School of Nursing: Nursing Education requirements
- ICMSN Student Handbook (rev. 10/06/2025)
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.