Understanding Clinical Preceptor Salary and Why It’s Changing

If you’ve searched for a clinical preceptor salary, you’ve probably found salary estimates for jobs titled “clinical preceptor.” For NPs and RNs who teach students, though, precepting usually isn’t a salaried job of its own. You teach alongside your clinical work, and how you’re compensated depends on who arranges the rotation. We’ll explain how preceptors are paid and recognized today, why that’s changing and what to settle before you take a student.

TL;DR

• There’s no standard clinical preceptor salary. Your pay depends on who arranges the rotation: a school, your employer or a placement service.
• Many preceptors teach unpaid, and some schools recognize them in other ways, such as documenting precepted hours, which can count toward certification renewal.
• Some schools pay preceptors an honorarium, and some hospitals pay RN preceptors an hourly differential for the time they precept.
• As a Clinical Match Me preceptor, you’ll earn $1,000+ per rotation, and we pay your honorarium when your student starts their rotation.
• Before you say yes, check the time it takes, your employer’s rules, liability coverage and how you’ll report the income.

Is there a clinical preceptor salary?

Usually not. Precepting happens during your clinical work, so there’s rarely a separate salary for it. Instead, your pay or recognition depends on who you’re precepting for:

• A school. Many preceptors teach a school’s students without pay. Some schools recognize that time in other ways, and some pay an honorarium.
• Your employer. Some hospitals add a preceptor differential to an RN preceptor’s regular pay.
• A placement service. When you precept through Clinical Match Me, we pay you an honorarium for each rotation.

New to teaching? Our guide explains what a preceptor is and what the role involves.

Do preceptors get paid?

Some do, and many teach unpaid. Here’s how each arrangement works.

Unpaid precepting with recognition

Rutgers School of Nursing tells prospective preceptors, “In general, we do not pay preceptors for training students.” Instead, it recognizes their time in other ways, including:

• Verification of precepted hours for certification
• Free school events and training, some with continuing education credit
• An annual preceptor appreciation event and excellence awards

School honorariums

Some schools pay preceptors an honorarium. Washington State University’s College of Nursing, for example, offers one to preceptors who meet its requirements, which include precepting its DNP, FNP or PMHNP students and committing to 60 to 180 hours of precepting per clinical course.

Certification renewal credit

If you’re an NP, precepting can count toward renewing your certification. Under ANCC’s certification renewal handbook, you can meet one of the professional development categories for renewal by precepting students in a related academic program for at least 120 hours. AANPCB, which now operates as NPCB, lets you count up to 120 precepted hours toward as many as 25 non-pharmacology continuing education hours. Ask the school to document your hours, since an ANCC audit requires a form signed by the student’s school.

State incentives

Some states offer tax credits or payments to preceptors, but these programs change often. Our guide to preceptor tax credits by state lists each program’s current status, so check it before you plan around one.

Is there a nurse preceptor salary for RNs?

Not a separate one. If you’re a hospital RN preceptor, you usually teach during your regular paid shifts, and some hospitals also pay a preceptor differential, an extra hourly amount for the hours you precept.

At Englewood Hospital and Medical Center in New Jersey, for example, a preceptor and the new nurse they’re orienting share a patient assignment. Under the hospital’s 2021 agreement with its nurses’ union, the preceptor earns a differential “for every assigned hour spent precepting.”

If you’re in a union, your contract states whether a differential applies. Otherwise, ask your nurse manager or HR whether your hospital pays one.

Why is preceptor pay changing?

Schools need more precepted time than they can find, and the organizations that pay preceptors keep updating their terms.

• A shortage of preceptors. According to AACN, U.S. nursing schools turned away 6,496 qualified applications from master’s programs and 10,359 from doctoral programs in 2025. AACN reports that the main reasons were “a shortage of faculty, preceptors, and clinical education sites.”
• More hours per student. The 2022 national standards for NP education set a minimum of 750 direct patient care hours for each NP track. ANCC and AANPCB certification require at least 500 faculty-supervised clinical hours. As programs move to the new standard, each student needs more precepted time.
• New pay terms. Englewood switched from educational credits to an hourly preceptor differential in 2021 and agreed to raise it in 2024. The University of Washington Medical Center’s 2025 to 2027 nurses’ contract increases its preceptor premium. State incentive programs change often, too.

That’s why the clinical preceptor salary question has no single answer, and why the answer keeps changing.

How much do preceptors get paid with Clinical Match Me?

As a Clinical Match Me preceptor, you’ll earn $1,000+ per rotation. Set your own pay: our standard honorarium, a higher flat fee or an hourly rate. We pay your honorarium when the student starts their rotation.

Review placement requests from NP and PA students on your own schedule. You decide which students to send offers to and how many to take. Non-exclusive, so you can keep any other precepting arrangements you have. We handle the affiliation agreement with the student’s school using their existing template.

Browse our open preceptor jobs to see where students need a preceptor.

What should you settle before you precept?

Answer these questions before you accept a student.

How much time will precepting take?

NP rotations typically run over one semester, and each clinical course requires a set number of hours. Besides seeing patients with your student, plan time for:

• Orienting your student to your practice
• Talking through cases and reviewing notes
• Evaluations and check-ins with the student’s faculty

If you’re new to precepting, start with one student for one rotation, and choose dates outside your busiest months. The One Minute Preceptor model gives you five short steps for teaching after each case your student presents, and our guide on how to be a good preceptor covers goals, feedback and evaluations.

Does your employer allow it?

Read your employment contract, and ask your employer whether students can join you at your site and whether you can accept outside pay for precepting. Washington State University, for example, notes that federal and state employees “may not be eligible to collect additional compensation” and should check with HR.

If your employer would rather receive the honorarium, your practice can become a clinical rotation site for NP and PA students. Practices that partner with us decide whether we pay the honorarium to the practice or directly to the preceptor.

Who covers liability?

Your student needs malpractice coverage, either through their school’s policy or one they buy themselves. The University of Pittsburgh, for example, buys a “blanket” policy that covers its students, while Berkeley College requires its MSN students to buy individual NP student insurance. Texas Tech’s PA program notes that “All clinical facilities require students to have professional liability insurance,” with the details in the affiliation agreement between the school and the facility.

For your own protection, ask your insurer or employer whether your professional liability policy covers precepting. Our guide explains how NP student liability insurance works.

How do you report the income?

An honorarium is income. The IRS says that, generally, “an amount included in your income is taxable unless it is specifically exempted by law.” Keep a record of every honorarium you receive, and ask a tax professional how to report it.

Clinical preceptor salary questions

What’s the role of a clinical preceptor?

A clinical preceptor teaches and supervises a student during their clinical rotation. The 2022 national standards for NP education describe a preceptor as a clinician “who collaborates with faculty to facilitate and supervise NP student clinical learning experiences in a faculty approved clinical setting.”

Do you have to be certified to be a preceptor?

To precept NP students, usually yes. Under the national standards, NP programs document each preceptor’s degree, unencumbered license and national certification, and each program’s faculty set the eligibility criteria. Our guide explains the NP preceptor requirements schools set.

What’s the difference between a clinical preceptor salary and an honorarium?

A salary is fixed pay you receive regularly for ongoing work. An honorarium is a payment for a specific professional service, such as precepting one rotation. Preceptors who are paid to teach students often receive an honorarium.

Do you earn more as a preceptor?

It depends on the arrangement. Some hospitals pay RN preceptors a differential for the hours they precept, and some schools pay an honorarium. As a Clinical Match Me preceptor, you’ll earn $1,000+ per rotation.

Are PA preceptors paid?

Some are. Elon University’s PA program in Charlotte, for example, lists an honorarium among its preceptor benefits, along with CME credits and eligibility for a clinical affiliate faculty title. You can also precept PA students through Clinical Match Me.

Precept NP and PA students with Clinical Match Me

Precepting is a great way to improve care in your specialty, and you can choose an arrangement that fits your schedule.

Learn how to become a preceptor with us, or sign up free and start receiving placement requests today.