What shapes the cost of your CUW placement
Five things set your quote: your Concordia University Wisconsin track, the number of clinical courses in scope, how soon the first one starts, where you live, and what the likely sites require. Your placement advisor asks about each at intake and sends a written quote that spells out exactly what the search includes. Here is how each factor changes the work.
Ask for your quote
Share your track, your courses, your city and your start date. Your placement advisor sends a written quote.
Why every CUW quote is individual
No two CUW placements ask for the same work. An FNP student in Milwaukee planning all three clinicals a year out, and a PMHNP certificate student in rural Montana whose practicum opens next month, need very different searches. Quoting the search itself keeps the number tied to the effort your situation takes.
The quote follows a short intake, arrives in writing and names the courses, the settings and the support it covers. Ask your placement advisor about any line on it before you decide; a clear scope up front saves confusion in the middle of a semester. Because the quote is built course by course, adding a later clinical to your plan extends the scope instead of starting the conversation over.
The factors, side by side
| Factor | Why it matters | CUW example |
|---|---|---|
| Track and setting | Each specialty draws on its own pool of clinicians | Primary care for FNP and AGPCNP; mental health settings for PMHNP; an agency mentor for DNP projects |
| Number of courses | One search, or a planned run of several | Three 250-hour clinicals in the MSN FNP; three residencies plus immersions in the Post-BSN DNP |
| Lead time | Fewer weeks call for more outreach at once | Archived CUW guidance: proposal 4 weeks ahead, new contracts 8 to 12 weeks |
| Location | Number of practices within your travel radius | A Wisconsin metro area compared with a rural county in a state on CUW's list |
| Site requirements | Some sites need a new contract or run their own application | Health systems that take requests only from the school, months ahead |
| Narrow needs | Tight schedules or specific patient groups shrink the pool | Weekend-only availability; pediatric and women's health visits for NURS 7153 |
Your intake answers place you somewhere on each row, and together they set the size of the search.
Scope: one course or the whole run
The largest single factor is how much of your program you hand to us. Some students come for one course, usually whichever starts soonest. Others ask us to plan every clinical they have left, which lets us look for a clinician able to host two or three courses and spread the outreach across months instead of weeks.
Planning the run tends to use the calendar better. CUW's clinical courses go in order, each requiring the one before, so a search that already knows your next two courses can secure those sites while you finish the first. The clinical hours page lays out each program's order, and your quote names exactly which courses it covers.
Lead time and the contract clock
How close your clinical is changes how the search runs. With a semester or more in hand, we can wait for the right practice to answer. With only weeks left, we work many sites at once and put practices that already hold a clinical contract with CUW near the top, because a new contract took 8 to 12 weeks in CUW's 2014-15 handbook and no patient care began before it was in place.
That is why a rush search is scoped on its own terms. If your start date is close, put that date at the top of your note; need a preceptor fast explains how a compressed search works and what you can do on your side at the same time.
Location, state and a site's own rules
Where you live shapes the pool. Metro areas offer more practices to approach, while rural areas mean fewer clinicians and longer drives. We search inside the radius you set and only in states where CUW's disclosure lists your program as meeting requirements, so the options you see are ones CUW can consider.
Some sites add steps of their own. Wisconsin health systems often run student processes that take requests only from the school and need long lead times: Marshfield Clinic asks for applications four months ahead, and Ascension Wisconsin wants school requests at least 8 weeks before the start. A search that has to go through those channels is a different job from one with an independent clinic; see sites with their own processes.
What every quote includes
- A placement advisor who knows CUW's courses, rules and paperwork
- Outreach to clinicians and practices suited to your course and your state
- Vetting of license, board certification, experience and setting before you hear a name
- The preceptor's documents gathered for your CUW proposal
- An early check on whether the site needs a new clinical contract
- A briefing for your preceptor on CUW's hour logs, evaluations and the faculty site visit
- Help through the course, with a new search if a preceptor steps away
The quote states which courses are covered and for how long, so you know the support period before any outreach begins, and it names the placement advisor who owns your file. For the order of work, see how it works.
Costs that sit with CUW and the sites
Your quote covers our work alone. CUW and the clinical sites carry their own requirements, each with its own bill: tuition, the CastleBranch background check you order directly, the immunizations sites require, and, in CUW's 2022 program FAQ, drug testing and lodging for the on-campus Health Assessment. CUW's pages give the current amounts.
Budget time as well as money. The Advanced Health Assessment intensive means travel days in Mequon (2-3 days in the catalog, three on the FNP and AGPCNP pages), and CUW's 2022 FAQ pictured a 250-hour clinical as about 30 days of 8 to 10 hour shifts, usually finished in 13 weeks.
Keep those items on your own planning list alongside the search. The CastleBranch and clinical requirements pages explain what each covers and when it falls due.
Questions CUW students ask
Why does this site show no price list?
Because one number would be wrong for most CUW students. A single-course search with months of lead time and a three-course plan starting in five weeks are different jobs. Your placement advisor quotes after a short intake, in writing, so you see exactly what the number covers before you commit.
Does planning all my clinicals at once change the quote?
It changes the scope, and it usually makes the work more efficient. When we know every remaining course, we can ask one preceptor to host you for more than one and start the later searches early. Your quote reflects the courses you choose to include, listed by NURS number.
Will a close start date change my quote?
A near start date calls for more outreach at once and faster document work, so a rush search is scoped differently. The earlier you reach us, the more room there is to wait for the right practice and to let a first-time site sign its agreement with CUW. Mention your start date at intake.
Is a replacement preceptor part of the quote?
Yes. Support through the course is part of every quote, including a new search if your preceptor leaves, changes jobs or cuts clinic days. The quote names the courses it covers, so you know the support period before the first clinical begins.
Can I get a quote before CUW admits me?
Yes. You can plan ahead while your Future Falcon application is under review. Tell us the track and term you applied for, and your placement advisor quotes on that basis, then updates the scope once your plan of study is set and your clinical semesters are fixed.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against CUW's own academic catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your course faculty and the Graduate Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
CUW asks you to secure your preceptors. We make the search the easy part.
Tell us your CUW track, your city and your next clinical course. We line up preceptors who fit the NURS course, gather the license, board certification and site details CUW's graduate faculty review, and flag early whether the site needs a new clinical contract.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP and AGPCNP, mental health settings for PMHNP, an agency mentor for DNP projects
- Preceptor license, certification, CV and site details ready for CUW's approval
- All three clinical courses planned together, close to home in a state CUW's disclosure lists for your program
Start your placement plan
Track, city and next clinical course is all we need to begin.