What your placement costs depends on six things
Every UTA placement needs its own search, so every quote is written for the student in front of us. Six things shape yours: your track, the hours you still need, where you live, how soon the course opens, in person or virtual, and how much help you want with paperwork. You see it in writing, with terms, before you commit.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your UTA track and where you live. A placement advisor replies with what a UTA-ready preceptor and site look like for you.
Why every quote is written for you
A UTA placement can mean one 180-hour course or a whole 720-hour track, a family practice in the Dallas–Fort Worth suburbs or a pediatric preceptor in a rural county, twelve weeks of runway or four. Those searches take very different amounts of work, so a single price would be wrong for most students.
Instead, a placement advisor talks through your situation first and then puts a quote and terms for your placement in writing. The search starts only after you accept them, and sending the form or opening the chat commits you to nothing.
If something changes before you accept, such as your start date or the course you need placed, ask for a revised written quote so the one you accept matches what you are actually agreeing to.
The six factors behind a quote
Each factor changes how much searching, checking and preparation your placement takes. The conversation before your quote covers all six.
| Factor | Why it matters | What we ask you |
|---|---|---|
| Track | Each track has its own population and setting, and each course has its own list of acceptable preceptor types. Acute care, pediatric and psychiatric preceptors are a different search from family practice. | Your program and track, as UTA names them |
| Hours needed | One course is a smaller job than a whole track. UTA's FNP track carries 720 hours across three courses, and the dual tracks carry 1,260. | Which courses, and how many hours are left |
| Location | How many suitable preceptors are within reach varies by city and county, and UTA's NP programs are open only in seven states. | Your city, county and how far you can travel |
| Timeline | A search squeezed into a few weeks takes more work in less time than one started 12 to 16 weeks ahead, the window UTA suggests. | The date your clinical course opens |
| In person or virtual | In person near you is the main route. A virtual arrangement is possible only where your course and faculty allow it, and it is a different search. | Whether your faculty have approved anything virtual |
| Paperwork support | Some students want help pulling together the preceptor's resume, license check, Preceptor Agreement and site information; others arrive with most of it. | What you have already gathered |
Not sure how many hours your course carries? UTA clinical hours lists them by track.
Timing is the factor you control
Of the six, the start date is the one you can move. UTA's online FAQ recommends a head start of 12 to 16 weeks on sites and preceptors, and each course's MyRequest in Exxat has its own Wishlist close date. Starting inside that window keeps a backup candidate in play should the first say no.
Starting late is still possible. The search, the preceptor's decision and UTA's review simply have to fit into less time, so a late search puts sites that can already host UTA students first. If your course opens within weeks, say so in your first message. Need a preceptor fast sets out what is realistic in the time left, and the UTA placement timeline shows the order of UTA's own deadlines.
What to ask before you accept a quote
The written quote and terms are what you are agreeing to, so read both before you commit. If the answer to any of these isn't already on the page, ask the placement desk.
- Which courses, and how many hours, does the quote cover?
- Is the search for an in-person placement, a virtual arrangement your faculty have approved, or both?
- Which parts of the paperwork will you help with?
- What happens if a preceptor pulls out, before the course or partway through?
- How do the terms handle payment, changes and refunds?
If an answer matters to you and it isn't in the written terms, ask for it in writing before you accept. How it works shows where the quote sits in the process.
Every quote covers the search, the screening and the packet; the final say on each preceptor and site belongs to UTA's Clinical Coordinator and course faculty.
Costs that come from UTA and your clinical site
Some placement-related costs are set by UTA or by the clinical agency, and they sit alongside any placement quote. UTA names these on its own pages:
- Exxat: students are required to purchase it on entry to the graduate program. UTA does not state the amount.
- Clinical clearance: students pay all clearance costs, which UTA lists as including vaccines, titers, TB testing, CPR, ACLS, PALS, NRP, the background check and the urine drug screen.
- Liability insurance: professional liability coverage comes through a yearly student fee.
- Medical insurance: your coverage must include emergency department care and needle-stick follow-up.
- Parking: UTA's catalog mentions that some agencies charge a small fee for a parking pass.
- Licensure: you need an RN license that is valid wherever your clinicals take place; if that state isn't covered by a compact license, UTA says the extra license is at your own expense.
Budget for these alongside any placement help. UTA clinical clearance has the full list of what clearance involves and when each item is due.
What a dedicated search gives you
UTA's Department of Graduate Nursing commits to helping students who are having difficulty with placement, and its online FAQ suggests raising site partnerships with your Clinical Coordinator. UTA placement assistance explains how to ask.
What our service adds is a search working for you from the day you accept: a placement advisor focused on your course, candidates screened against UTA's minimums before you hear their names, a packet built for the Clinical Coordinator, and someone on call if a preceptor drops. Students bring us in early to get ahead of the Wishlist, midway when their own leads run dry, and late when the term is close. Whichever it is, your quote reflects the work your placement needs.
Questions UTA students ask
How much does a preceptor placement cost for UTA students?
There is no single figure, because the work differs from one placement to the next. Your quote reflects your track, the hours you need, where you live, when you start, whether the placement is in person or virtual, and how much paperwork help you want. A placement advisor talks it through with you first, then sends the quote and terms in writing.
Can you give me a price in the chat?
The chat is the place to ask what would shape your price and to talk through your track, course number, start date and location. The figure to rely on is the written quote that follows that conversation. It comes with the terms, so you can read both side by side before you decide.
Does UTA charge a clinical placement fee?
UTA doesn't publish one, and we found no UTA statement about a placement fee. The placement-related costs UTA does list are the Exxat purchase, clinical clearance costs, the liability-insurance student fee and, at some agencies, parking passes. If a charge on your student account puzzles you, ask UTA directly.
Is the quote for one course or my whole track?
It covers what you ask it to cover. Tell the placement desk whether you need one course, such as the 360 hours of NURS 5660, or every clinical course left in your track. Hours needed is one of the six factors, so the quote is written for the courses you name.
Does sending the form commit me to anything?
No. The form starts a conversation with the placement desk about your track, course, start date and location. You then receive a written quote and terms, and the search starts only if you accept them. If you would rather ask a question first, the chat reaches the same desk.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-23
We check these pages against UTA's own sources. UTA's current handbook and your course faculty have the final word.
Hand us the search. Keep your term.
Tell us your UTA track, your county and when your clinical course opens. We look for a preceptor and a site that fit what UTA asks for, and we help you put the approval packet together.
- Matched to your track's population and setting
- Paperwork prepared the way UTA's clinical team expects it
- In person near you, or a virtual option where your course allows it
Start your placement plan
A placement advisor replies with what a UTA-ready preceptor and site look like for you.