NKU authorizes Delaware for its education and leadership MSN tracks, its doctoral program for MSN holders and its BSN completion program; its NP concentrations recruit from 11 other states. Delaware also wants advance word from schools based elsewhere before their students train in its clinical facilities, which makes an early start worth more here.
Tell us your NKU track, your town and your practicum session.
| NKU program group | Delaware status |
|---|---|
| Nurse practitioner concentrations and NP certificates | Not open to Delaware applicants |
| MSN Nursing Education and MSN Nurse Executive Leadership | Authorized |
| DNP (post-master's) | Authorized |
| RN-to-BSN (online) | Authorized |
NKU's two state tables agree on Delaware for every row, and the state authorization page explains how the tables work.
Delaware rule 1900-2.4.1.9.4.1.5 (24 Del. Admin. Code) requires a school based elsewhere to alert the Board before its students use a Delaware clinical facility. The packet includes copies of the Delaware or compact licenses held by faculty and preceptors, who those people are and where each is assigned, the school's own requirements for them, signed agreements with every clinical agency, and proof that a state board or national accreditor approves the program. A neighboring provision has the Board approve facilities before any student arrives, with site visits possible.
Nothing in the text carves out graduate or RN-BSN programs. Filing is NKU's job, but it adds lead time. NKU requires preceptor details at least 30 days before a practicum and highly recommends 90; in Delaware, aim for 90 and ask Contracts & Compliance how it handles the notice. See placement deadlines.
Compact membership in Delaware dates to January 19, 2018: practice here on a Delaware multistate license or one issued by your compact home state. Delaware's rules expect a preceptor to be a licensed nurse holding at least a BSN. See RN licensing for NKU clinicals.
Delaware has enacted the separate APRN Compact, which won't operate until seven states enact it. AANP rates Delaware full practice.
Northern Delaware sits inside the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro, home to ChristianaCare and the Wilmington hospital of Nemours Children's Health. Dover and Seaford are the state's other two metros, and Bayhealth and Beebe Healthcare are the other large Delaware systems.
Watch the borders. Pennsylvania and Maryland are both in NKU's not-authorized column, so a Philadelphia or Maryland preceptor won't clear review. New Jersey holds NKU authorization for the graduate and BSN-completion programs apart from the NP tracks; see the New Jersey page before planning a practicum there.
NKU's FNP, AGACNP, PMHNP and NP certificate programs take applications only from Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Florida, Colorado, Nevada, Virginia and West Virginia. A Delaware nurse planning a move to one of them should confirm eligibility with NKU admissions and secure a valid RN license there before applying.
Delaware's notice step rewards preparation, and preparation is what we deliver. A placement advisor finds an educator, nurse leader or DNP project site that fits your NKU program, collects the preceptor's CV or resume, license and Preceptor Responsibilities form, and names a site contact for NKU's contract team, all early enough for Delaware's timeline. NKU approves every placement; we hand it a request that is complete and ready for its rules. How it works.
Delaware's standards want advance notice and paperwork from any school based elsewhere before its students use a Delaware clinical facility, with no exception carved out for graduate programs. NKU, not you, would handle that filing. Give NKU your preceptor details as close to 90 days ahead as you can, and ask Contracts & Compliance how it manages Delaware.
No. Pennsylvania and Maryland both sit in NKU's not-authorized column for the MSN and the DNP, and NKU requires preceptors in approved states. New Jersey is authorized for those programs, so a site across the river there can work if the preceptor and site meet NKU's rules.
Not while you live in Delaware. NKU's FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP concentrations and NP certificates take applications from 11 listed states only. Delaware residents can pick an education or leadership MSN, the post-master's DNP, or BSN completion.
Not yet. Delaware has enacted the APRN Compact, but it only starts operating once seven states have enacted it. For your practicum, the compact that matters is the RN one, the Nurse Licensure Compact, in force in Delaware since early 2018.
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against NKU's own published sources. NKU's School of Nursing and your Canvas clinical shells have the final word.
Tell us your NKU track, where you live and which 7-week session your clinical starts. We find a preceptor and site that fit NKU's rules for your track and have your self-placement request ready well inside the 90-day window.
A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site that fit NKU's rules for you.