TTUHSC's background check and drug screens, explained
TTUHSC runs a criminal background check before you enroll and drug screens before most clinical placements, at random and for cause. MSN, DNP and RN to BSN students complete the background check through what the Student Handbook calls "the institutionally approved vendor," a company TTUHSC leaves unnamed on its public pages. When the School of Nursing requests a drug screen, you have five days to finish it.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your TTUHSC program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your TTUHSC course.
What TTUHSC checks, and when
Both clearance steps appear in the "SON Requirements" section of the 2026-27 Student Handbook, and both are paid by the student. The background check is a one-time gate before enrollment, repeated only after a break. Drug screens are different: they can arrive before a new clinical setting, at random during a term, or for cause.
Each step also rests on named policies, which helps when you need to ask a precise question of the School of Nursing. The table lists what the handbook cites.
| Step | Policies cited | When it happens | Who handles it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal background check | TTUHSC OP 10.20, SON OP 60.081 | Before enrollment, and again after a break in enrollment | Pre-licensure students: the Texas Board of Nursing process. RN to BSN, MSN and DNP students: the institutionally approved vendor |
| Drug screen | TTUHSC OP 77.15, SON OP 60.115 | Before placement in most clinical settings, at random times, and for cause | Requested by the SON Office of Student Affairs; results go through Medical Review Officer review |
The background check and the unnamed vendor
Your route depends on where you enter. Students starting a pre-licensure BSN go through the Texas Board of Nursing's own process. Everyone entering the RN to BSN, an MSN track or a DNP program is sent to "the institutionally approved vendor," in the handbook's phrase.
That phrase is as far as TTUHSC's public pages go. No company name appears in the handbook, the 2026-27 catalog or the program pages, so follow the instructions TTUHSC gives you after admission rather than any company a web search turns up. If something in those instructions is unclear, ask the School of Nursing office that sent them before you pay for anything.
One timing rule catches returning students. After a break in enrollment, TTUHSC asks for a new background check before you continue, so a semester away has a clearance cost as well as a scheduling one.
Drug screens: before placement, at random, for cause
The handbook's wording is broad: screens "will be conducted prior to placement in most clinical settings, as well as at random times and/or for cause." The MSN and BSN to DNP catalog entries describe the same thing from the facility's side, noting that a screen may be necessary when the clinical site requires one. The two sources agree in practice: expect a screen before a new site, and expect that one may arrive without notice.
Requests come from the SON Office of Student Affairs, and results pass through Medical Review Officer review. The handbook also ties the pre-placement screen to the facility, requiring a passed screen before clinical placement begins and in compliance with the facility affiliation agreement.
If a result is disputed, the handbook names the Executive Associate Dean as the title that hears drug-screen appeals. Respond quickly to anything the SON asks for, because an open question can hold a placement.
The five-day window
Once the School of Nursing asks for a screen, the handbook gives you five days to complete it. For an online student juggling shifts, family and a long drive to a collection site, that window fills fast. A simple routine keeps it from colliding with your rotation.
- Keep TTUHSC Email in view.The handbook says students need TTUHSC Email access to move through the School of Nursing. Check it daily in the weeks before a new site starts.
- Book the visit right away.Put the screen on your calendar the day a request arrives instead of saving it for a day off near the end of the window.
- Keep your records.Note the date you completed it and keep any documentation you receive, so you can answer course faculty or the site without delay.
- Tell your preceptor early.If the screen might touch your start date, a heads-up protects the schedule you and the preceptor agreed on.
The five days run from the School of Nursing's request, not from your first clinical day, so a screen can be due weeks before you meet your preceptor.
Where the facility adds its own rules
TTUHSC's policy is one layer; the facility's agreement is the other. Because graduate students pick their own sites, the onboarding list changes from one rotation to the next, and a site may ask for items on its own schedule. Our guide to affiliation agreements explains how those facility contracts work at TTUHSC.
Covenant Health in Lubbock shows what one system's public student page asks for: a clinical rotation application, a Supervising Professional Agreement signed by the student and preceptor, a certificate from an online orientation and a badge photo, all at least two weeks before the start date. Other systems publish different lists or none at all.
Clearance also runs in parallel with your health file. Vaccines, TB testing and life-support cards follow their own deadlines, covered in immunizations and certifications.
Why TTUHSC students choose us for this stretch
The background check and screens are yours to complete with TTUHSC. Our job is to make sure the placement they clear you for is ready. We are the most thorough placement service built around TTUHSC's process: we find a preceptor and facility near home that fit your course, gather the preceptor's license, certification and practice details, and confirm the facility's agreement status for SON staff and faculty well before the term.
We also map each facility's onboarding list, so you know early whether a site wants its own orientation, paperwork weeks ahead or a screen timed to its start. When a request lands, your rotation plan is already settled and the five days go to the screen itself. See how it works, follow the full placement process, or use the form below.
Questions TTUHSC students ask
Which background check company does TTUHSC use for nursing students?
TTUHSC's handbook calls it "the institutionally approved vendor" and names no company on its public pages. Pre-licensure BSN students use the Texas Board of Nursing process instead. If you are entering the RN to BSN, an MSN track or a DNP program, use the ordering instructions TTUHSC gives you after admission, and ask the School of Nursing about anything in them that is unclear.
Do I need a new background check after time away from TTUHSC?
Yes. The handbook asks for a new background check after a break in enrollment. For graduate students, not enrolling in a fall or spring term counts as withdrawal from the School of Nursing, so talk with your Graduate Enrolled Student Advisor about a leave of absence first. Grades and progression covers the related rules.
Can a TTUHSC drug screen come after my rotation has started?
It can. Beyond the screen before placement, the handbook allows screens at random times and for cause, so a request can arrive mid-semester while you are already with a preceptor. The same five-day window applies, and finishing on time keeps your clinical schedule intact.
Who pays for the TTUHSC background check and drug screens?
The student. The 2026-27 Student Handbook lists both the background check and drug screens at the student's cost. It does not print a price in the sections that set these rules, so look for current pricing in the instructions TTUHSC provides, and budget for a possible repeat screen when you move to a new site.
Where can I read TTUHSC's drug screen policy?
The handbook cites TTUHSC OP 77.15 and SON OP 60.115, and summarizes the rules in its "SON Requirements" section at catalog.ttuhsc.edu. Your course faculty and the SON Office of Student Affairs, which sends screen requests, can answer questions about how the policy applies to a given site.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against TTUHSC's catalog, Student Handbook, program pages and licensure disclosures. Your course faculty, your program director and the plan of study for your cohort have the final word.
Your TTUHSC preceptor search, run by specialists.
Tell us your TTUHSC track, your next clinical course and the town you'll train near. We find preceptors who fit the course and pull together what SON staff and faculty need to approve both the clinician and the facility, early enough for the electronic preceptor agreement to go through before the term.
- Preceptors matched to the track: family primary care, adult-gerontology acute care, pediatrics, psychiatric mental health
- License, certification and facility details ready for TTUHSC's preceptor and facility approval
- In Lubbock, Amarillo, Abilene, the Permian Basin, Dallas-Fort Worth and the states TTUHSC accepts
Start your placement plan
Your track, your town and your next clinical term is all we need to begin.