Careers and Credentials

Nursing Home Administrator in Training Programs: Hours and Rules by State

How Does a Nursing Home Administrator in Training Program Work?

A nursing home administrator in training (AIT) program is a supervised internship in a licensed nursing home, run by a state-approved preceptor, that most states require before you can sit for the NAB exams. Length depends on your state and your degree: Texas asks for 500 or 1,000 hours, California 1,000 hours after a bachelor's, Florida 1,000 or 2,000 hours, and New York 12 months full time. A master's degree often shortens it, as the nursing home administrator license guide explains.

Researched and edited by Taylor Rupe · Published November 2, 2026

Two care home staff members in yellow shirts talk with an older resident in an orange sweater in a brightly painted hallway — Photo: Jsme MILA / Pexels

A nursing home administrator in training program, usually called an AIT, is the supervised internship that stands between your degree and your license. Every state licenses its own administrators, so the hours, the paperwork and even the name change at the state line. Ohio calls it an administrator residency. Texas calls it an internship.

The ranking pages for this search each cover one state. This post puts seven of the largest states side by side, so you can see what your degree buys you and plan the internship before you pick a program. For the full license picture, including the NAB exams, start with the nursing home administrator license guide.

What Is a Nursing Home Administrator in Training Program?

An AIT is a set number of hours you work inside a licensed nursing home under a preceptor, a licensed administrator your state board has approved to train you. You learn the job by doing it, across resident care, staffing, finances, dietary and maintenance.

Three things are true almost everywhere:

The board approves it before you start. New York requires the board’s written approval in advance. Texas requires you and your preceptor to file an internship application through the HHSC portal before day one. In Georgia, hours at an unapproved site earn no credit.
The preceptor runs the facility. Texas requires the internship to happen at the nursing facility where your preceptor is the administrator. Georgia requires the preceptor to work full time at the approved training site.
It comes before the national exam. Your state board has to approve you before NAB will let you test, and NAB charges $480 for the CORE plus Nursing Home Administrator exam pair as of February 1, 2026.

AIT Hours by State

Hours depend on your state and your education. A degree in health administration, or a master’s, cuts the requirement in most states.

State	AIT With a Bachelor’s	AIT With a Health Administration Degree or Master’s	Notable Rule
Texas	1,000 hours (any bachelor’s plus 12 credit hours in long-term care administration)	500 hours (health administration or nursing degree plus management experience)	No more than 40 hours a week; half during business hours
California	1,000 hours	None separate if your master’s included a 480-hour internship	1,000-hour route also open to experienced nursing home RNs and staff
Florida	2,000 hours (any field)	1,000 hours (health care or health services administration degree)	Training facility’s latest AHCA survey report goes with the application
New York	12 months full time	12 months full time	Two years as a qualifying administrator can replace it
Georgia	500 to 2,000 clock hours	500 to 2,000 clock hours	Three to twelve consecutive months at a site with 60+ licensed beds
Pennsylvania	1,000 hours within two years	800 hours within two years (master’s)	Hours split across administration, patient care and service delivery
Ohio	Set by education level, for example nine months and 1,500 hours	Reductions granted for education and experience	Full time means at least 35 hours a week

Georgia’s board sets your exact hours within its range, and Ohio’s board sets yours from your education and experience. Ask for any reduction before your residency is approved, because Ohio won’t consider it afterward.

How a Master’s Degree Shortens the AIT

A graduate degree in health administration is the single biggest lever on AIT length. Here is what it changes in three states:

California: a master’s in nursing home administration or a related health administration field that included an internship of at least 480 hours in a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility qualifies you without a separate AIT. With a bachelor’s, you’d owe 1,000 hours.
Texas: a master’s in health administration, health services administration, health care administration or nursing, with coursework covering the four NAB domains and one year of management experience, drops the internship from 1,000 hours to 500.
Pennsylvania: a master’s in nursing home, hospital or public health administration, or a related field, lowers the AIT from 1,000 hours to 800.

Some programs go further and build the internship into the degree. The Texas State University Master of Long-Term Care Administration is a 33-credit online program whose internship course, taken twice for 12 credits, covers 1,000 internship hours spread over two semesters. You finish school and the AIT together. Other long-term care options include Youngstown State’s health and human services administration master’s with a long-term care track and Hofstra’s online MHA with a long-term care concentration. Before you enroll, compare any program internship with your state’s hours in the table above, since a short internship won’t replace a 1,000-hour AIT.

If you’re still choosing a degree, the online MHA program rankings compare formats and costs, and the program matcher filters by what you need.

Who Can Be Your Preceptor

Your preceptor has to be a licensed administrator the board has approved, working at the facility where you train. States add their own conditions, and Georgia’s are the most detailed:

currently licensed as a nursing home administrator in Georgia;
employed as a licensed administrator for five years, with the final year in Georgia;
working full time at the board-approved training site;
finished the Georgia Health Care Association preceptor course.

Florida keeps a list of certified preceptors, and you must have one lined up before you apply. In Pennsylvania, a licensed supervising administrator certifies your hours. Start asking administrators at facilities near you while you’re still in school, since nothing counts until a preceptor signs on.

What You Do During an AIT

You rotate through every department of the facility, because the license makes you responsible for all of them. Pennsylvania spells out the mix: at least 300 hours in general administration, 250 in patient services and care, and 250 in health and social service delivery systems.

Georgia requires monthly reports to the board within 30 days of the end of each training month, and in Texas you complete a preceptor performance report while your preceptor files a final report through the HHSC portal. If your preceptor is tied to an accredited university, you submit an official transcript instead. Keep your own log of hours and departments from the first week, so every report matches.

What an AIT Costs in Application Fees

Boards charge to approve the program itself, separate from the license and the exams. Florida’s fees are the clearest example:

Florida AIT Program	Application Fee	Unlicensed Activity Fee	Total
1,000-hour program	$250	$5	$255
2,000-hour program	$350	$5	$355

Then come the national exams: $480 for the NAB CORE and NHA pair. Georgia gives you six months from the board’s approval notice to pass the NAB exam, so schedule it as soon as your hours are done.

Can Experience Replace the AIT?

In a few states, yes. New York accepts two years of full-time work in a qualifying nursing home, in an administrative position above department head, within the last five years. Texas lets a health services executive (HSE) qualification stand in for the internship. Ohio grants a three-month, 500-hour reduction for significant nursing facility experience.

California opens its 1,000-hour AIT to people without a degree: ten years of full-time nursing home work in the last fifteen, five of them supervisory, plus 60 semester units of college courses. Registered nurses with ten years in a nursing home, five supervisory, qualify the same way without the coursework.

How to Plan Your AIT

Plan the internship before you enroll, not after you graduate. These steps run in order:

Read your state board’s rules and note the hours your degree level requires.
Choose a degree that cuts those hours or builds the AIT in, using the MHA admission requirements guide to check what each program asks of you.
Find an approved preceptor at a facility that meets your state’s site rules.
File the AIT application and get approval before you log a single hour.
Complete the hours, submit your reports, then apply to sit for the NAB and state exams.

Once you’re licensed, the healthcare administration careers guide shows where nursing home leadership fits among hospital, practice and health system roles.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Long Is Nursing Home Administrator Training?

It ranges from about three months to a year. Georgia sets 500 to 2,000 clock hours over three to twelve consecutive months, Texas requires 500 or 1,000 hours with a 40-hour weekly cap, and New York requires a 12-month full-time internship.

How Much Does the NAB Exam Cost?

NAB charges $480 for the CORE plus Nursing Home Administrator (NHA) exam combination, effective February 1, 2026. Your state board must approve you to test first, and many states add their own state exam.

Can You Skip the AIT With a Master's Degree?

In California, yes: a master's in nursing home administration or a related health administration field that included an internship of at least 480 hours replaces the separate 1,000-hour AIT. Texas and Pennsylvania shorten the AIT for master's graduates instead, to 500 and 800 hours.

Can You Do an AIT Part Time?

Some states allow it. Georgia averages 24 hours a week for part-time trainees and 40 for full-time trainees, and New York may consider a part-time internship as long as every hour is finished within two years.

Is It Hard to Become a Nursing Home Administrator?

It takes time more than anything. You need a degree, a supervised internship that can run up to 2,000 hours, the national NAB exams and usually a state exam. The health administration careers guide shows where the license leads.