Louisiana and Spring Arbor nursing: not authorized

01Louisiana at a glance

SAU keeps one state list for every nursing program it offers online. Louisiana is one of four states on it marked as lacking authorization for nursing; Alabama, Arizona and New York are the others. The full picture, including Washington's residents-only approval, is on our state authorization page.

02What this means if you live in Louisiana

Plan on neither enrolling in an SAU nursing program from a Louisiana address nor completing SAU clinical hours at a Louisiana site. SAU's page doesn't say whether its list tracks where a student lives or where the clinical takes place, so the careful reading is that both are closed until SAU tells you otherwise in writing.

NP applicants face a second, separate problem. SAU's professional licensure summary dated March 9, 2026 states that its FNP, AGNP and PMHNP programs do not meet licensure requirements in Louisiana. A 2021 SAU disclosure had listed Louisiana as still under review; the 2026 document is the current word. If you hope to practice as an NP in Louisiana, that finding matters more than any placement question.

03Louisiana's rule for schools based in other states

Louisiana regulates this closely. Under LAC 46:XLVII.3539, a nursing program run from another state needs the Louisiana State Board of Nursing to sign off before it teaches courses or runs clinicals inside the state. The school files the request at least six months ahead, naming the clinical agencies and units and sending its curriculum, syllabi and faculty qualifications. An approval lasts up to three years.

The same rule reaches faculty. Anyone teaching in Louisiana for an out-of-state program needs Louisiana licensure as an RN or APRN, a nursing master's or doctorate, and at minimum two years' clinical experience, and faculty must check in with preceptor and student every week and visit the site each term. None of this is paperwork a student or a willing preceptor can file. It is the school's application to make.

04Before you move, and what not to try

If Louisiana is in your plans

• Already enrolled at SAU and thinking about relocating to Louisiana? Talk to your program director and advisor before you sign anything. A move can stall clinical courses partway through.
• Living in Louisiana now and planning a real move to an authorized state? Ask SAU admissions how and when it judges your state, then apply once the answer is clear.
• Staying in Louisiana? Look for programs that hold authorization to train students there.

Please don't test the edges. A borrowed address, a mail-forwarding service or a clinical site just over the state line is not a fix: SAU faculty approve each site and review your license and location, and an approval built on the wrong state can come apart mid-course.

05How we help SAU students near Louisiana

With Louisiana off SAU's list, our work for SAU students in the region happens in the open states around it. If you are an SAU student who lives in an authorized state nearby, such as Mississippi, Texas or Arkansas, we search for a preceptor there and assemble the paperwork before SAU's four-week mark. Unsure which state counts for you? Ask SAU's program staff first, then contact us.