South Dakota: what Rivier University's yellow status means for you
South Dakota is one of three yellow states on Rivier University's State Guide. Every graduate program, from the FNP and PMHNP to the DNP, carries yellow there, as does pre-licensure study, while the RN-BSN is green. For a yellow cell, Rivier's instruction is a call to the Program Director ahead of applying; after that call, the South Dakota Board of Nursing's approach to schools from other states shapes the practicum.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Rivier program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Rivier course.
The yellow row and the call it asks for
Rivier's key defines yellow as limiting criteria, paired with a direction to call the Program Director. The guide lists no criteria for South Dakota; only the Program Director can explain them for your track. The full color system is on our State Guide page.
| Column on the guide | Status |
|---|---|
| Family Nurse Practitioner, MSN and PMC | Yellow |
| Psychiatric-Mental Health NP, MSN and PMC | Yellow |
| MSN: Education, MSN and PMC | Yellow |
| MSN: Leadership in Health Systems Management | Yellow |
| Doctor of Nursing Practice, both tracks | Yellow |
| ASN/BSN pre-licensure | Yellow |
| RN to BSN | Green |
Both editions online, January 2025 and February 2022, color South Dakota identically. Neither lists the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP, so ask about that track by name.
How South Dakota's Board treats a New Hampshire program
Approving schools from other states is not something South Dakota's Board of Nursing does. Its guidance sheet for those schools, last revised in June 2020, leaves each direct-care placement to whatever agreement the school signs with a South Dakota preceptor or agency.
Instead, the Board looks to faculty: at least one faculty member should hold South Dakota standing. To oversee APRN students, that person holds an APRN license from South Dakota or a privilege to practice there, and ARSD 20:48:07:49, the rule on distance education, sets the same expectation for faculty whose APRN students sit physically within South Dakota. Ask the Program Director how Rivier handles it for your track.
A companion rule, ARSD 20:48:07:34, governs preceptors in Board-approved programs and wants APRN preceptors working in a role or specialty comparable to the student's. For a Rivier placement, your track's Handbook rules set the bar; the PMHNP preceptor rules are one example.
Sioux Falls, Rapid City and the miles between
Two metros lead by population: Sioux Falls, home to about 305,000 South Dakotans (the metro reaches into Minnesota), and Rapid City at about 157,000, with Aberdeen the next hub. Health systems with a large footprint include Monument Health, Sanford Health and Avera Health; each is mentioned from its own website to show where an NP search might start, not as a host arranged for Rivier.
AANP shows South Dakota as full practice. New NPs get there after 1,040 hours in written collaboration with a physician, certified NP or certified nurse midwife. In a state this rural, drive time to a preceptor adds up across a semester, so a good search starts from your own town.
Licensing: compact coverage on both ends
South Dakota's Nurse Licensure Compact membership dates to January 2018. A South Dakota multistate RN license meets Rivier's rule of a license valid in the practicum state and also covers campus days in New Hampshire. South Dakota has put the APRN Compact on its books as well, signed February 5, 2024, yet it stays inactive until a seventh state signs on; the tally is five.
South Dakota's APRN license later asks for a graduate program with at least 500 clinical hours spent in your chosen role and population, plus graduate courses in pathophysiology, health assessment and pharmacology. Rivier's Handbook plans 750 practicum hours for each NP track, while the catalog for 2025-26 shows 610 FNP hours; the hours comparison explains that conflict.
Every NP track also brings you to Nashua: the FNP for a nine-day total across three intensives, the PMHNP for three weekends, the AG-ACNP for ten campus days.
Why South Dakota students choose us
In a state with long drives between practices, a thorough search pays off quickly. After your call with the Program Director, we locate preceptors you can meet in person close to home, check them against Rivier's Handbook rules, gather each one's license, credentials and CV into the Preceptor Request Form file, and hold your timeline well inside Rivier's fall and spring deadlines. Approval stays with Rivier's graduate faculty and Clinical Practicum Coordinator, who receive a packet ready to review. Reach the placement desk.
Questions Rivier students ask
Can South Dakota residents enroll in Rivier's online DNP?
The DNP is yellow for South Dakota on Rivier's State Guide. Call the Program Director before you apply. If you go ahead, the Handbook has DNP students keep an unencumbered RN license in the state of their project or practicum, and Professional Practice track students add an APRN license there.
Does a South Dakota multistate license cover a Rivier intensive in Nashua?
It should. New Hampshire lets a compact state's multistate RN license stand in for its own, and South Dakota is a compact state. The license has to be multistate and South Dakota has to be your primary state of residence. Check it with the Program Director before you book travel.
Once I finish at Rivier, does South Dakota's APRN Compact help me work in other states?
Not at this point. The state passed it in 2024, yet the compact waits for seven enacting states and has five. Until it starts, an NP license from South Dakota covers South Dakota alone, and practice in another state means applying to that state's board.
Who can precept a Rivier FNP student in South Dakota?
Rivier looks for a family NP, MD or DO working in outpatient family practice with two years or more of practice behind them. A PA can step in as a substitute but not serve as the primary preceptor. South Dakota sites follow the same rule, and Rivier's graduate faculty have the last word on each one.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against Rivier's own Nursing Student Handbook, program sheets, catalog, academic calendar and State Guide. Your program of study, your course faculty, your Program Director and the Clinical Practicum Coordinator have the final word.
Rivier asks you to identify a qualified preceptor. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Rivier track, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors who meet your track's rules, check early whether the site can contract with Rivier, and prepare everything the Preceptor Request Form asks for, well ahead of August 1 and December 1.
- Preceptors matched to the track: an MD, DO or FNP in outpatient family practice for
NURS 511, a psychiatrist or PMH-certified NP forNURS 521, a hospitalist or intensivist forNURS 638P - Preceptor license, credentials and CV ready for the Preceptor Request Form, with the site's contact details for the contract
- In your own area, in New Hampshire or any state Rivier's State Guide accepts
Start your placement plan
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