Studying with Loyola New Orleans from Iowa
Iowa is approved for all Loyola University New Orleans School of Nursing programs, and AANP rates Iowa full practice. Iowa's Board of Nursing grants no approval to programs based outside Iowa, yet it still sets conditions for them, and one Iowa rule touches you directly: as a licensed RN in a graduate program, you train in Iowa on an active Iowa or multistate license.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Loyola program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Loyola course.
Iowa on Loyola's state lists
The sources agree, with no Iowa note on any of them.
| Loyola source | Date | Iowa |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced practice licensure table | June 2, 2026 | Meets |
| BSN licensure table | June 2, 2026 | Meets |
| School of Nursing State Approvals Map | July 15, 2026 | Approved, all programs |
From Des Moines, Cedar Rapids or Iowa City you can take Loyola's online FNP or DNP tracks, or a hybrid track with campus intensives, and keep your practicum hours in Iowa.
What Iowa expects of an out-of-state nursing program
Iowa's Board, housed in Iowa's Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing, publishes a criteria page for programs from other states whose students train in Iowa. It asks those programs for:
- Clearance to operate in Iowa, which comes from the Bureau of Iowa College Aid
- Compliance with Iowa's laws and with the rules of the program's own state
- Data for the Board on request
- Faculty and preceptors working in Iowa who are actively licensed, in Iowa or on a multistate license
- Written clinical contracts covering who does what, faculty control over student learning, an annual review and how the contract ends
Every item on that list is a school-level duty resting with Loyola. The contract piece runs through Loyola's placement office, which puts the affiliation agreement in place once you bring a site forward. A heavily edited or site-written agreement can take months, so keep a backup site in view.
Your license, not the student exemption
Iowa Code 152.1 has an exemption for nursing students, but only for those who hold no license. Anyone already licensed anywhere in the U.S. as an RN, LPN/LVN or ARNP falls outside it. As a Loyola graduate student you train on your RN license, and the Board says post-licensure students training in Iowa need an active license, Iowa or multistate, and must follow Iowa Code while they practice.
Iowa's compact membership runs from January 19, 2018. A multistate Iowa license covers your Iowa hours and meets Loyola's rule that enrolled graduate students hold a Louisiana or multistate license. Iowa has yet to enact the APRN Compact. Loyola's timing is explained on the RN license page.
ARNP preceptors under Iowa's rule
Iowa licenses its advanced practice nurses under the ARNP title. Its preceptorship rule for ARNP programs, 481 IAC 616.16, expects the bulk of a student's precepted time to be spent with a clinician, an ARNP or a physician, who shares the student's role and population focus. It also asks that preceptors be licensed under their own state's law and that the written preceptorship agreement get an annual review. Preceptor approval sits with both the nursing program and the clinical facility.
For an FNP student, the natural candidates are family ARNPs and family physicians. Loyola's preceptor requirements add board certification, more than a year of practice and no family ties. Iowa's renewal rules also give a nurse 6 contact hours for 60 or more hours spent precepting a student in an organized program, with the supervising institution supplying the documentation. One Loyola FPCM practicum runs 200 hours, so a preceptor who wants the credit can ask the Clinical Practicum Coordinator about documentation.
Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Davenport
Greater Des Moines, the Des Moines-West Des Moines metro, counts about 759,000 people in 2025 Census Bureau estimates, the largest in Iowa. Roughly 279,000 live in the Cedar Rapids metro and 183,000 in Iowa City's, and the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro's Iowa portion holds some 175,000.
Iowa's large systems include University of Iowa Health Care, as well as MercyOne and UnityPoint Health, and each describes its own student process. A Quad Cities site on the Illinois bank would need an Illinois RN license, since Illinois is outside the compact. Before calling anyone, check the Explore Clinical Locations map for Iowa sites already under agreement.
Why Iowa students choose us
We search Iowa for preceptors in your role and population focus, the pairing Iowa's rule and Loyola's courses both point to. Every license is verified, the CV, Nursys PDF and Preceptor Agreement are collected for your Wishlist, and from day one you know whether the site holds a Loyola agreement. Loyola's placement office and faculty approve each placement; your request arrives ready for them. Send your county and start term through our contact form.
Questions Loyola students ask
Can I do Loyola New Orleans practicum hours in Des Moines?
Yes. Loyola's July 2026 approvals map marks Iowa approved for all programs, and the June 2026 licensure table lists it as meeting requirements. You find the preceptor and site, Loyola's placement office handles the affiliation agreement, and you should start at least three months before your practicum term.
Does Iowa's student exemption mean I can train without an Iowa license?
No. The Iowa Code 152.1 exemption is for students with no nursing license at all, and a Loyola graduate student is already an RN. Iowa clinical hours therefore run on an active Iowa license or a multistate one, and Loyola separately requires a license in every practicum state.
Does the Iowa Board of Nursing approve Loyola's program?
The Board approves Iowa programs, not out-of-state ones. It does list conditions for schools whose students train in Iowa, including licensed faculty and preceptors and clinical contracts with set terms. Those conditions fall on Loyola and the site, and your part is a preceptor and site that fit Loyola's rules.
What does ARNP mean on an Iowa preceptor's license?
ARNP is the title Iowa uses for its advanced practice nurses, where many states say APRN. For a Loyola placement, an ARNP preceptor needs the same things any NP preceptor does: board certification, an active, unencumbered license in Iowa, and a Nursys PDF uploaded with the Wishlist.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against Loyola's own bulletin, program pages, practicum guides, forms and licensure disclosures. Your plan of study, your practicum guide, your program director and the Clinical Practicum Coordinator have the final word.
Loyola asks you to select your own preceptor and site. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Loyola program, where you live and which term your next practicum starts. We find preceptors whose patients fit the course, check whether the site already has a Loyola affiliation agreement, and prepare everything your Exxat Wishlist needs.
- Preceptors matched to the course: outpatient primary care for
NURS G823, pediatrics and obstetrics forNURS G829, acute care forNURS G902, psychiatric care forNURS G856 - Preceptor CV, license and Nursys PDF, the Preceptor Agreement and the site's signer details ready for the Wishlist
- In your own community, in Louisiana or any state where Loyola approves your practicum
Start your placement plan
Program, city and term is all we need to begin.