Bradley University NP tracks and clinicals in South Dakota

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

Bradley University's state table gives South Dakota a YES for all four online NP specialties. South Dakota's nursing board approves no out-of-state programs; it leaves each placement to the school and the host preceptor or agency, and asks only that the school keep a faculty member with the licensure needed to supervise APRN students there.

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1,040hours a new South Dakota NP works under a collaborative agreement before full practice

Bradley University's online nursing state table for South Dakota: FNP meets requirements; PMHNP meets requirements; AGACNP meets requirements; AGPCNP meets requirements. The leadership MSN and DNP are not in the table. An RN license in the state is needed for clinicals there. RN license: in the comp — South Dakota in Bradley's state table: FNP meets requirements; PMHNP meets requirements; AGACNP meets requirements; AGPCNP meets requirements; leadership programs not listed; RN license in the compact; NP practice full (AANP).

South Dakota's row in Bradley's table

Bradley's licensure table for online nursing puts a YES in every NP column for South Dakota, without a footnote and without any change from the March 2025 copy. The document names no degree levels, so a single YES appears to speak for MSN, DNP and certificate students of a specialty alike; the state disclosures guide walks through the rest of it.

South Dakota in Bradley's online nursing table
Bradley program	South Dakota	Context
Family Nurse Practitioner	Meets	750 hours in the 2026-27 course list, above the board's 500
Psychiatric Mental Health NP	Meets	Mental health settings for three practicums
Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP	Meets	Acute care preceptors
Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP	Meets	Primary care or outpatient practices
MSN Nursing and Healthcare Leadership	Not in the table	Ask Bradley about enrollment from South Dakota
DNP Nursing Leadership	Not in the table	Same question for the DNP

How South Dakota's board treats schools from elsewhere

The South Dakota Board of Nursing keeps its hands off schools from other states. A Board guidance sheet, revised 06-2020, says outright that it approves none of them, and any deal to put a student in a South Dakota clinic is struck by the school with the host clinician or agency.

The Board's single ask of the school is about faculty: at least one instructor who holds a South Dakota license, or who works in the state under a compact privilege, at the students' own level (for NP students, APRN). The state's distance-learning rule, ARSD 20:48:07:49, points the same way. That duty rests with Bradley, so check with the Office of Online and Distance Education on how your course meets it before you lock in a South Dakota site.

In-state programs also face a preceptor rule, ARSD 20:48:07:34: a preceptor's license must match or outrank the credential the student is chasing, and an APRN preceptor's field should resemble the student's. Bradley answers to its own criteria, listed under who can precept you, but the South Dakota test is a handy check on any match.

Full practice after 1,040 hours, and where to look

Full practice in South Dakota, as AANP classifies it, comes with an apprenticeship. A new NP logs 1,040 hours in a written collaboration first, and the collaborator can be another certified NP, a physician, or a certified midwife; only then does independent practice begin. Seasoned NPs are the preceptors to aim for, since Bradley's 2017 webinar steered most hours toward NPs.

The population gathers at opposite ends of the state. The Sioux Falls metro counted about 305,000 South Dakotans in 2025, Rapid City's about 157,000, and Aberdeen's micropolitan area holds about 42,000. Monument Health, Sanford Health and Avera Health come up most in NP students' searches; each sets its own student steps, so treat them as starting points rather than Bradley sites.

Licensing, neighbors and the APRN Compact

The compact has covered South Dakota since its enhanced form launched on January 19, 2018. A license issued to a South Dakota resident works at home and in every member state, which answers Bradley's license rule on the RN license page. Five of its six neighbors, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa, are compact states too.

Minnesota is the exception, and the Sioux Falls metro reaches into it. A Minnesota clinic would need a Minnesota RN license, plus a sign-off from your academic advisor or the chair before the semester, since it crosses a state line. Iowa and Nebraska both moved to YES for PMHNP and the AG tracks after March 2025.

On February 5, 2024, South Dakota enacted the APRN Compact as well. Five states have done so and it needs seven to start, so student clinicals are unaffected.

Why South Dakota students choose our placement desk

Distances in South Dakota make a near-home match matter. Your placement advisor starts the search at your doorstep, whether that is Sioux Falls, Rapid City or a smaller town, looking for a preceptor whose practice suits your Bradley course, and assembles the preceptor's documents for the DocuSign packet (license, CV, malpractice proof, practice address) in time for Bradley's midterm cutoff. Because South Dakota leaves the placement deal to the school and the site, a complete packet lets Bradley's approval and the site's agreement move together. Start by telling us where in South Dakota you live, using the form below.

Questions Bradley students ask

Would Bradley accept a nurse midwife as my South Dakota preceptor?

Bradley's public sources name NPs, MDs and DOs as preceptors for NP students and rule out PAs, CNSs and CNLs; midwives go unmentioned. South Dakota lets a certified midwife act as a new NP's collaborator, but that is a state practice rule, not a Bradley one. Ask course faculty before you build a packet around a midwife.

Do Bradley's clinical hours meet South Dakota's APRN licensure rules?

The board's APRN checklist calls for a graduate program with no fewer than 500 supervised clinical hours matched to the role and population you will certify in, and three graduate course areas: pharmacology, pathophysiology (or physiology), and health and physical assessment. Bradley's NP course lists carry 750 hours, and its table marks South Dakota as meeting requirements. Confirm specifics with the board when you apply.

I live in Iowa. Can I do my Bradley clinicals in South Dakota?

Iowa's multistate license already reaches into South Dakota, so licensing is settled. Bradley still wants rotations in the approved state you live in, so a South Dakota site needs your academic advisor or the department chair to clear it as a cross-border rotation before the semester starts.

Does South Dakota offer preceptors a tax credit?

Nothing in our state research points to a South Dakota incentive for preceptors. What moves a busy preceptor is a well-prepared request: the Bradley course, the hours, a schedule and a packet ready to sign. That is the request our placement desk puts together for every South Dakota match.

GuideBradley clinicals by stateDoing Bradley clinicals outside Illinois? Fifty state guides: Bradley's state table for each NP track, RN license needs and how precepting works there.State guideNorth DakotaNorth Dakota meets Bradley University's table for all four online NP tracks, and its board wants each semester's preceptors named early. What to plan for.State guideIowaIowa now meets requirements for all four Bradley NP tracks. Iowa's duties for schools from elsewhere, full practice ARNP preceptors and the Quad Cities line.State guideNebraskaNebraska now reads meets for all four Bradley NP tracks, PMHNP and AG included. What DHHS regulates, compact licensing and where Nebraska NP students look.State guideMinnesotaMinnesota is YES for all four Bradley NP tracks. The state's student license exemption, Mayo Clinic's stricter terms, MERC and the Wisconsin border, explained.LicensureRN license for clinicalsBradley wants an active RN license in the state where you do clinicals. How that works with Illinois outside the compact, bordering states and approved states.

Last checked 2026-09-25

We check these pages against Bradley's own catalog, online program pages and Graduate Student Handbook. Your clinical packet, course faculty and academic advisor have the final word.

Bradley lets you choose your preceptors. We find the ones worth choosing.

Tell us your Bradley track, your city and your next practicum course. We line up preceptors who fit the NUR course and gather the license, CV and malpractice details the DocuSign packet asks for, well before the midterm of the semester before you start.

Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP and AGPCNP, acute care teams for AGACNP, mental health settings for PMHNP
Preceptor license, CV, malpractice coverage and the site address ready for the packet
Every practicum in your sequence planned together, close to home in your approved state

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