How to become a licensed nursing home administrator in North Dakota: the routes, the Administrator-in-Training (AIT) program, the NAB exams and the Board’s own laws and rules exam, fees, continuing education and renewal, with section numbers.
| Who licenses | The North Dakota Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators, nine members (N.D.C.C. 43-34-01, 43-34-02) |
|---|---|
| Who can apply | A bachelor’s degree, or an associate degree plus 5 of the last 6 years as a licensed administrator, and one of four qualifications: the AIT, 2 years of licensed practice, ACHCA certification or the NAB HSE (Rule 55-02-01-07) |
| AIT requirement | 1,000 hours within 24 months, or 750, 500 or 250 hours with qualifying experience (Board Policy 11, revised 13 January 2023) |
| National exams | NAB Core of Knowledge (CORE) and NHA Line of Service, within 24 months before or after your application (Rule 55-02-01-10) |
| State exam | Required: the Board’s own North Dakota laws and rules exam, given by the Board after a complete application and the fee (Rule 55-02-01-10(2); Board Policy 10) Details ↓ |
| Continuing education | 20 hours each calendar year from Board-approved providers, prorated in your first year (Rule 55-02-01-12) |
| Renewal | Every year: the license expires on 31 December; $250 (Rule 55-02-01-16) |
| Official sources | ndnha.nd.gov (the Board) · N.D.C.C. ch. 43-34 · N.D. Admin. Code ch. 55-02-01 · nabweb.org (national exams) |
Verified September 2026. “Rule” numbers are sections of the North Dakota Administrative Code; N.D.C.C. is the North Dakota Century Code. Policy 11 (the AIT) is a Board policy, not rule text, so ask the Board about your case before you apply.
The license comes from the North Dakota Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators. The statute calls it the “North Dakota state board of examiners for nursing home administrators” (N.D.C.C. 43-34-01), and the Board uses the name above on its own website. It is a board created by N.D.C.C. ch. 43-34, with nine members (43-34-02), including four licensed administrators.
The law is N.D.C.C. chapter 43-34, and the Board’s rules are N.D. Admin. Code chapter 55-02-01. Policies 3 (the national exam), 10 (the application) and 11 (the AIT) were each revised on 13 January 2023 (Board policies).
The Board’s own pages give two contacts: North Dakota Information Technology, 4201 Normandy Street, Bismarck, ND 58503-1324, 701.328.3190 (contact page), and 1900 N 11th St, Bismarck, ND 58501, 701-222-4867 (licensure page). Mail an application to the address on the current form. Nursing homes themselves are regulated by the Department of Health and Human Services, under N.D. Admin. Code chapter 33-07-03.2.
You must be at least 18 and of good moral character. Rule 55-02-01-07 then asks for a degree and one of four qualifications; the four are alternatives to each other, not to the degree:
| Step | What you need | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree | A baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution, plus one of the four qualifications below | 55-02-01-07(2) |
| Associate degree and experience | An associate degree and practice as a licensed nursing home administrator in any jurisdiction for at least 5 of the last 6 years, plus one of the four qualifications below | 55-02-01-07(2) |
| Qualification: AIT | Complete a Board-approved Administrator-in-Training program (1,000 hours, below) | 55-02-01-07(3) |
| Qualification: licensed practice | Practice as a licensed nursing home administrator in any jurisdiction for at least 2 years before you apply | 55-02-01-07(3) |
| Qualification: ACHCA | Hold ACHCA certification as a nursing home administrator | 55-02-01-07(3) |
| Qualification: NAB HSE | Meet the NAB Health Services Executive (HSE) qualifications “in effect on January 1, 2017” | 55-02-01-07(3) |
The Board’s AIT page calls its program the Administrator Residency (AIT) Program and lists a “Minimum Duration: 1,000 hours”, effective 1 January 2023. Policy 11 (adopted 28 January 2016, revised 13 January 2023) says the same: 1,000 hours “to be completed within 24 months”. The Board’s AIT page and Policy 11 both say 1,000. The hours are in Board policy, not rule text, which asks only for a “board-approved” program.
Policy 11 and the Board’s waiver request form reduce the hours by experience. Full time counts as 35 hours a week. The tiers:
| 750 hours | 2 or more years of managerial or administrative experience supervising at least 25 employees with responsibility for an annual budget of at least $1,000,000; or 2 or more years in a hospital or nursing facility in a professional or direct patient-care role |
|---|---|
| 500 hours | 2 or more years as a department manager with supervisory and budgetary responsibility, plus one of: an assistant administrator title held 2 or more years, a director of nurses role 2 or more years in a hospital or registered housing with services, or a housing manager role there |
| 250 hours | One or more years as a full-time hospital administrator or assistant administrator, or in a nursing home as assistant administrator, chief executive officer or equivalent, each with resident care and administrative duties; or 2 or more years as a full-time director of nurses in a nursing facility |
You attach a signed employment verification letter on official stationery, and for the 750 and 500 tiers a position description and organization chart.
Rule 55-02-01-02 defines a preceptor as an administrator who:
Policy 11 says the preceptor holds a current, unrestricted license, has at least 3 years of administrative experience in any state and has completed the NAB Preceptor Course; financial arrangements are between the preceptor or facility and the trainee. The policy summary does not repeat the rule’s year of North Dakota licensure, so ask the Board which applies. The Board’s preceptor page describes a four-part digital course developed by NAB and ACHCA, $15 for all four modules. The Board’s AIT and preceptor pages do not give a supervision ratio, meeting frequency or reporting forms.
Other states: AIT Hours by State.
The free AIT Planner helps you plan AIT hours across facility departments. The Board’s AIT page uses NAB’s four domains above, so any department split is our planning aid, not a North Dakota rule; agree on it with your preceptor. No account needed.
Open the free AIT PlannerNorth Dakota requires both NAB exams: the Core of Knowledge (CORE) and the NHA Line of Service. NAB is the National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards, and you test at a Pearson VUE test center. The exam figures are from the NAB Candidate Handbook:
| Core of Knowledge | 125 questions (100 scored, 25 pretest), 150 minutes in all, 130 of them for answering questions |
|---|---|
| NHA Line of Service | 75 questions (60 scored, 15 pretest), 90 minutes in all, 70 of them for answering questions |
| Passing score | A scaled score of 113 on each |
| Fee | $480 for CORE and NHA applied for together, from 1 February 2026, paid to NAB. Taken alone, CORE is $320 and NHA is $190 |
| NAB attempts | Since 1 January 2026, up to 4 attempts at each exam per cycle (1 July to 30 June) |
| North Dakota window | Within 24 months before or after your application date (Rule 55-02-01-10); the Board keeps NAB scores for 24 months (Policy 3). Apply to the Board first, then register with NAB and pay it directly |
More in NAB Exam Format and The Core Domains Explained.
North Dakota’s state exam is the Board’s own laws and rules exam. Rule 55-02-01-10(2) requires you to “pass a state laws and rules examination administered by the board”. The Board gives it; NAB does not run it. For current details, see the Board’s required-exams page or ask the Board.
| Who gives it | The Board, after a complete application has been submitted and the application fee paid |
|---|---|
| Cost | Ask the Board |
| Format | A state laws and rules examination (Rule 55-02-01-10(2)); ask the Board about the format |
| Who takes it | Everyone except emergency licensees (Rule 55-02-01-10), including endorsement applicants and administrators licensed in another state who are exempt from the NAB exams |
| Details | Ask the Board for the number of questions, the time limit, the passing score, how it is delivered, retake rules and any study list |
The rule calls it a state laws and rules examination; ask the Board whether it offers a study list. The sources this page cites are the natural place to start: N.D.C.C. chapter 43-34 and N.D. Admin. Code article 55-02, plus the nursing home chapter, Rule 33-07-03.2. More in State NHA Exams Explained.
Three places where North Dakota law differs from 42 CFR Part 483. Rule 33-07-03.2-02 says that where the chapter conflicts with federal requirements “the more stringent shall apply”, so a state rule cannot lower the federal standard.
| Topic | Federal rule (42 CFR 483) | North Dakota rule | Section |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician visits | A physician sees each resident “at least once every 30 days for the first 90 days” after admission and at least once every 60 days after that (483.30(c)) | Practitioners “visit residents as often as medically indicated, but no less frequently than annually”. The state minimum is looser, and because the chapter applies the more stringent rule, a certified home follows the federal schedule | 33-07-03.2-07(5)(a)(6)(a); -02 |
| Reporting abuse | Alleged violations reported “immediately, but not later than 2 hours” if they involve abuse or serious bodily injury, otherwise within 24 hours (483.12(c)(1)) | Mandated reporters, a group that includes a “caregiver”, report “as soon as possible”, orally or in writing, under the vulnerable adult law. The statute sets no hour limit, and willful failure to report is an infraction. A certified home follows the federal clock | N.D.C.C. 50-25.2-03, -10 |
| Director of nursing and nurse staffing | Sufficient nursing staff, including licensed nurses, on a 24-hour basis (483.35(a)), a licensed nurse as charge nurse on each tour of duty (483.35(a)(2)), a registered nurse for at least 8 consecutive hours a day, 7 days a week, and a registered nurse as full-time director of nursing, unless waived (483.35(b)(1), (2)). There is no hours-per-resident-day minimum: CMS repealed the 2024 minimum staffing standards, which were never enforced, by interim final rule published 3 December 2025 (90 FR 55687, effective 2 February 2026) | The director of nursing must be a nurse executive “who is employed by the facility and is a registered nurse licensed to practice in North Dakota”. The registered nurse for 8 consecutive hours a day, 7 days a week, and a charge nurse who is a licensed nurse 24 hours a day match the federal rule; the employed, North Dakota-licensed director is the addition | 33-07-03.2-14 |
The federal nursing home rules (42 CFR Part 483, Subpart B) apply only to facilities certified for Medicare or Medicaid, so a certified North Dakota home must meet both sets of rules. Federal text as of September 2026.
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What the Board publishes. The Board lists approved programs, not a roster of individual preceptors. Its AIT page and preceptor page cover the Administrator Residency (AIT) Program, and a preceptor must meet Rule 55-02-01-02, above.
Approved colleges. The Board’s approved-colleges page names health management programs whose practicums the Board recognizes as part of the Administrator Residency (AIT) program: Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota), Minnesota State University Moorhead, the University of Minnesota Crookston and the University of South Dakota (Vermilion).
Approved AIT programs. Two programs outside the colleges are on the Board’s list: the Good Samaritan Society AIT Program and the ACHCA/Roughrider Chapter AIT Program. The Board’s Roughrider page names Doug Panchot as the contact.
Associations. The North Dakota Long Term Care Association (701-222-0660) is one of the continuing education sponsors on the Board’s renewal page, and a way to meet administrators who could precept. NAB publishes an AIT Program Manual and preceptor course, and ACHCA an Administrator Residency manual.
For the full step-by-step on approaching facilities and preceptors, see How to Find an AIT Preceptor and an Approved Program.
The Board’s fees come from Rules 55-02-01-08, -15, -15.1 and -16, and from its renewal page:
| Application (initial, endorsement or emergency license) | $250 (Rules 55-02-01-08, -15, -15.1); non-refundable per the Board’s licensure page |
|---|---|
| Annual renewal | $250 (Rule 55-02-01-16(2)); non-refundable per the Board’s renewal page; the statute caps the annual license fee at $250 (N.D.C.C. 43-34-05) |
| Late renewal | $25 for each month after 31 December (Rule 55-02-01-16(5)) |
| Inactive status | $250 a year (Board renewal page) |
| State exam | Ask the Board |
| NAB CORE and NHA exams | $480 together, from 1 February 2026, paid to NAB; alone, CORE is $320 and NHA is $190. If you apply for the wrong exams and withdraw, NAB withholds a 40 percent processing fee per application from any refund |
| Preceptor training course | $15 for the four NAB modules (Board preceptor page) |
The rules do not say whether issuing the first license costs extra. The criminal history check is at your cost, and no amount is stated in the rule or statute.
Rule 55-02-01-12 requires “twenty hours of continuing education each calendar year following the first calendar year”, from “providers approved by the board”, with documentation sent in with your renewal. In your first calendar year the hours depend on when you are licensed:
| Licensed before 1 April | 20 hours |
|---|---|
| On or after 1 April, before 1 July | 15 hours |
| On or after 1 July, before 1 October | 10 hours |
| On or after 1 October | 5 hours |
Renewal. A license “expires on the thirty-first day of December in the year of its issuance and is renewable annually” (Rule 55-02-01-16(1)), so every license runs on the calendar year, not on the anniversary of issue. You renew with the Board’s fillable form SFN 60369 and a $250 payment by mail.
If your license lapses. Late renewal costs $25 a month after 31 December, and only if you meet every requirement, CE included, within 6 months: “If the requirements for renewal are not met within six months of expiration, the license shall not be renewed.” After that you “must apply for and meet the requirements for initial licensure, including passing the examinations” within one year of applying, so you start over as a new applicant (Rule 55-02-01-16).
Inactive status. You can go inactive for up to 3 consecutive years. You still send the renewal form and $250 each year, and you need no CE while inactive but need 20 hours to reactivate (Rule 55-02-01-21).
Endorsement (N.D.C.C. 43-34-12; Rule 55-02-01-15). You need a current, good-standing license from another jurisdiction with substantially equivalent requirements, a $250 fee, a criminal history check at your cost, and the State Board Endorsement Questionnaire (SFN 60365) from each state where you hold or have held a license, with form SFN 60370. The statute says the Board may issue the license “without examination”, while the rule requires you to pass the North Dakota state exam. Rule 55-02-01-10(1) exempts endorsement applicants from the NAB exams; the state exam is not waived. For an unexpected vacancy, see the emergency license above.
Military. Rule 55-02-01-12 lists military service as a CE exception. The Board’s application form has a military spouse provision, and N.D.C.C. chapter 43-51 covers renewal hardship for activated military (43-51-11) and licensure for military members and spouses (43-51-11.1). Ask the Board how it applies them.
The laws, rules and other sources cited on this page.
Citations verified September 2026. The Cornell link is a labeled mirror of the federal text. For reference, not legal advice; the current official text governs.
1,000 hours, to be completed within 24 months (Board Policy 11, revised 13 January 2023), or 750, 500 or 250 hours with qualifying experience. You also need a bachelor’s degree, or an associate degree plus 5 of the last 6 years as a licensed administrator (Rule 55-02-01-07).
The NAB Core of Knowledge and NHA Line of Service exams, with a scaled score of 113 on each, within 24 months before or after your application, and the Board’s own laws and rules exam (Rule 55-02-01-10).
The Board’s own state laws and rules exam, given by the Board, not NAB, after a complete application and the $250 fee (Board Policy 10; Rule 55-02-01-10(2)). Ask the Board for the number of questions, the time limit, the passing score and retake rules.
20 hours each calendar year from Board-approved providers, prorated to 20, 15, 10 or 5 hours in your first year by the date you are licensed (Rule 55-02-01-12). The rule names no required topics and has no carryover provision. Licenses expire each 31 December.
The Board publishes approved programs, not a preceptor roster: four colleges, the Good Samaritan Society AIT Program and the ACHCA/Roughrider Chapter AIT Program. A preceptor must meet Rule 55-02-01-02.
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