Montana students and Loyola University New Orleans

Updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the Loyola Preceptor placement team

On Loyola University New Orleans' State Approvals Map, Montana is one of three states in red, not approved, in both the current July 2026 map and the August 2025 map before it. Yet the licensure table Loyola posted on June 2, 2026 lists Montana as meeting requirements, with no note. With Loyola's own documents in conflict, ask the School of Nursing where your program stands before you enroll, relocate or approach a Montana site.

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Loyola New Orleans for Montana: approvals map (July 2026) not approved; licensure table (June 2026) meets. RN license: in the compact. NP practice: full. — Montana on Loyola's sources: approvals map not approved; licensure table meets; the sources disagree. RN license in the compact; NP practice full (AANP).

Montana on the table and on the map

Neither document explains the difference, and Montana's own board, as the next section shows, asks relatively little of graduate programs from other states. That contrast is a reason to ask Loyola rather than work it out yourself. The State Approvals Map guide explains the map's colors and notes.

Loyola's entries for Montana
Loyola source	Date	Montana
Advanced practice (MSN and DNP) licensure table	June 2, 2026	Meets, no note
Pre-licensure BSN licensure table	June 2, 2026	Meets
School of Nursing State Approvals Map	July 15, 2026	Not approved
State Approvals Map, earlier file	August 20, 2025	Not approved

What the Montana Board of Nursing asks of outside programs

Montana sorts outside programs by level. For pre-licensure programs, ARM 24.159.608 requires the board, or its executive director, to approve placing their students in Montana clinical settings. The program director's written request has to cover accreditation, preceptors, faculty oversight, the program-facility agreement and assurance from Montana programs that their own students will keep their places.

Graduate programs, like RN-to-BSN programs, are exempt from that approval, the board's FAQ says. Its one expectation of them is that each student hold an active license valid in Montana, because the patients are Montana patients. Montana licensure applies to out-of-state faculty only when they give hands-on patient care; advising you and your preceptor from afar is not enough to require it.

None of this changes Loyola's map. The board describes what Montana requires of schools; the map shows where Loyola's School of Nursing lists its programs as approved, and Montana is red there.

A plan for Montana residents and movers

Ask before applyingSend the School of Nursing your track and where you live, and ask whether Montana residents can enroll and where their practicums would be sited.
Look across a border if neededIdaho, North Dakota and South Dakota border Montana and are green on Loyola's map; Wyoming, the fourth neighbor, is red. The Idaho and North Dakota guides cover their host-state rules.
Match your license to the siteMontana, Idaho and both Dakotas all belong to the Nurse Licensure Compact, which lets a multistate license work across those borders. Have the Clinical Practicum Coordinator confirm the license on your file.
Talk to your advisor before any moveLoyola says relocating may affect your license requirements, your practicum access and your aid, whether you are moving into Montana or out of it.

Practice and search areas in Montana

AANP places Montana among the full practice states. Its metro areas are compact: Billings, Missoula, Bozeman and Helena. Large systems include the merged Billings Clinic-Logan Health organization, Benefis, Intermountain Health's St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Billings, and Providence's Montana region, whose flagship is Missoula's St. Patrick Hospital. They show where Montana's care concentrates; whether any could host a Loyola student depends first on the School of Nursing's position and then on a signed affiliation agreement.

Montana licensing in brief

Montana entered the Nurse Licensure Compact in January 2018. Its RN licensing page is plain that nurses using a multistate privilege from a fellow compact state can practice in Montana without a Montana license. Montana has not adopted the APRN Compact. Loyola's standing rules add a Louisiana or multistate license for the length of your enrollment and an active license wherever a practicum takes place; the license guide explains both.

Why Montana students choose us

Montana students get a search that respects the map. We help you put a precise question to the School of Nursing, then look for preceptors in whichever approved state Loyola confirms, as close to home as the answer allows, with licenses and patient populations that fit your course. We prepare the Exxat Wishlist documents, find out if Loyola and the site have signed an agreement before, and keep Loyola's three-month lead time on the calendar. Approval of each placement comes from Loyola's placement office and faculty, and the request we prepare with you is built to clear that review cleanly. Start here.

Questions Loyola students ask

Is Loyola New Orleans' nursing program approved in Montana?

Loyola's two sources answer differently. The licensure table dated June 2, 2026 marks Montana as meeting requirements, while Loyola's approvals maps, the current file and the 2025 one, mark it not approved. Ask the School of Nursing to answer for your own track, and hold on to the written reply.

Can I keep living in Montana and train in a neighboring state?

Possibly, if the School of Nursing agrees. Idaho, North Dakota and South Dakota are green on Loyola's map. You would need an RN license active in that state, a preceptor there who meets Loyola's rules, a Loyola affiliation agreement with the site, and enough travel time to complete every hour in person.

Does a Montana multistate license meet Loyola's license rule?

Montana is a compact state, so a multistate license issued there answers Loyola's requirement for a Louisiana or multistate license during your studies. The same license is active across other compact states, which is handy if your practicum lands over a border. Keep your record current, since Loyola tracks licenses with Nursys e-Notify.

Who at Loyola should I ask about Montana?

Start with the program director for your track and copy the Clinical Practicum Coordinator, who tracks placement needs and obtains affiliation agreements. If you are already enrolled and planning a move, Loyola also expects a conversation with your program advisor before the move.

GuideLoyola practicums by stateDoing Loyola practicum hours outside Louisiana? Fifty state guides: Loyola's licensure table and approvals map, RN license rules and where to look locally.State rulesState Approvals MapHow to read the Loyola University New Orleans State Approvals Map: restrictions in Alaska, California and New York, and red for Hawaii, Montana and Wyoming.State rulesLicensure disclosuresLoyola University New Orleans publishes a licensure table and a State Approvals Map. See both side by side and the nine places where they disagree.State guideIdahoIdaho students in Loyola University New Orleans NP and DNP programs: the Idaho Board's preceptor policy, full practice, your license and the border states.Not approved (map)WyomingWyoming is not approved on Loyola New Orleans' approvals map, yet meets requirements in its licensure table. Wyoming board rules, compacts and what to confirm.State guideNorth DakotaNorth Dakota's board screens out-of-state APRN programs before clinicals. What that means for Loyola University New Orleans students, plus licenses and metros.

Last checked 2026-09-25

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.

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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 for NURS G829, acute care for NURS G902, psychiatric care for NURS G856
Preceptor CV, license and Nursys PDF, the Preceptor Agreement and the site's signer details ready for the Wishlist
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