Campus Visits and Placements in Online Degrees

Many degrees with fully online coursework still require you to be somewhere in person: a hospital, a school, a social service agency, a testing center or the university campus. These requirements are often where an online degree's real time and travel costs sit. This guide sorts the main types, explains who usually finds the site, and lists what to confirm before you enroll.

Keep three ideas apart: online coursework (classes are delivered remotely), no campus visits (you never travel to the university) and no placements (no supervised work at an outside site). A program can have the first two and still require hundreds of placement hours near your home.

Two kinds of in-person requirement

Campus visits bring you to the university: orientations, residencies, immersions, intensives and, sometimes, a defense or exam. They are usually short and scheduled in advance. The University of Memphis says on-campus experiences in its MSN programs "may last 1-3 days and are identified at least 6 months in advance." Penn State World Campus requires online DEd students to attend at least one five-day summer summit at University Park.

Placements send you to an outside site near where you live, under supervision, for a set number of hours. They go by different names depending on the field:

• Clinicals and practicums in nursing and other health programs, supervised by a preceptor.
• Field education in social work.
• Practicum and internship in counseling.
• Student teaching and other field experiences in teacher preparation and school leadership.
• Internships in public health, public administration and similar fields, sometimes waivable

with experience.

How many hours, and why

Hour requirements usually come from the program's accreditor or the licensing field, so they are substantial and rarely negotiable. For example, CACREP's professional practice standards for entry-level counseling programs require a practicum of at least 100 clock hours over a term of at least 10 weeks, followed by 600 clock hours of supervised internship.

Program pages show the range. In our research files:

Look at when hours happen, not just how many. Hawai‘i Pacific says its field placements "primarily take place" Monday to Friday during business hours. If you work full time, that may mean reduced hours or leave.

Who finds the placement site

This varies more than anything else, and it is the question most worth asking an admissions adviser directly. Three patterns appear on university pages:

1. You find it. Boise State's BS-DNP says students "are expected to actively seek out and

initiate contact with potential preceptors and clinical sites in their geographic area." Sacred Heart's online FNP says "you'll secure a clinical placement." Texas A&M's MSN in nursing education asks students to secure a preceptor "at least six months prior to the first day of the semester."

1. The university arranges or helps arrange it. Dakota State says its Director of Field

Services "will help arrange your in-school student teaching requirements." UCF says, "We attempt to place students within a 45-mile radius of their location."

1. Your workplace may count. East Carolina says MSW students, "if approved," may complete

field hours at their employment.

If you are responsible for finding preceptors, ask what happens if you cannot find one in time. Does your graduation date move, and does the university step in?

Where you live matters

Placements are regulated by state, and a site in one state may not be allowed even if the coursework is open nationally:

• Arkansas State requires FNP clinical hours to be done "in a state in which Arkansas State has

State Operating Authority."

• Ball State requires DNP students to "reside in and complete all clinical hours in a state where

the Ball State University School of Nursing is authorized."

• Dakota State says that, because of Colorado's Workers' Compensation Act, its students "are

unable to participate in unpaid internships, clinicals, field experiences, etc." in Colorado.

If you might move during the program, ask how a move affects your placement. For the licensure side of this question, see our guide to professional licensure disclosures.

Exams and other campus-free requirements

Proctored exams are an in-person question only sometimes. Many programs proctor online; others need a physical testing center. Western Governors University's MS in cybersecurity includes a certification exam that "must be taken at a live, on-site, proctored testing center." Check whether any required exam or simulation means travel. WGU's FNP program also states, "Travel to a simulation center for the workshop is required."

Budgeting for travel and time

Placement and visit costs are usually not in the per-credit tuition figure:

• Travel, lodging and meals for campus visits. Penn State says these costs for its summit

"are at the expense of the student." Boise State's BS-DNP cost page lists "travel, room and board costs" for two summer intensives in Boise.

• Commuting to a placement. New Mexico State tells MSW students to "be prepared to travel

some distance and be responsible for your own transportation costs."

• Lost work hours for weekday placements.

If you use federal aid, the school sets your cost of attendance. The Federal Student Aid Handbook says schools may not make a distinction based on mode of instruction when setting cost of attendance for distance education students, though aid offices can use professional judgment to adjust it case by case. If placement travel is a real cost for you, ask the aid office whether it can be considered.

Questions to ask before you enroll

• How many campus visits are required, how long are they, and how far in advance are dates set?
• How many placement hours are required, and during what days and times?
• Who finds the site and supervisor, and what is the deadline?
• Can my current job count?
• Which states are excluded for placements?
• What happens to my timeline if a placement falls through?

To start with programs that list no campus visits, browse programs without campus visits. For how delivery labels are defined, see fully online vs. hybrid degrees. Two examples of placement-based online programs are the UCF online MSW and the Boise State online MSW.