A Montana nurse can study with NKU in the MSN Nursing Education or Nurse Executive Leadership track, the post-master's DNP or the online RN-to-BSN. Montana's Board keeps graduate and RN-to-BSN clinicals comparatively simple. NKU's NP tracks are the exception: they take applicants from eleven other states.
Tell us your NKU track and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site that fit NKU's rules for you.
Montana shows as authorized on three of NKU's nursing rows. The NP admission list is a separate filter, and Montana is not on it.
| NKU program group | Montana |
|---|---|
| NP programs: MSN FNP, AGACNP, PMHNP and the four NP certificates | Not open to Montana applicants |
| MSN Nursing Education and Nurse Executive Leadership | Authorized |
| Post-master's DNP | Authorized |
| RN-to-BSN | Authorized |
ARM 24.159.608 is Montana's approval rule for out-of-state students in Montana clinical settings, and its audience is pre-licensure education: those schools send the Board a signed written request before any placement. NKU's graduate tracks and its RN-to-BSN fall outside that rule. Montana's Board spells this out in its FAQ, where RN-to-BSN and graduate clinicals are listed as not requiring Board sign-off.
One expectation remains, and it rests on the school. Montana patients are involved, so the program checks that each student's license is active and good in Montana. Out-of-state faculty are in scope only if they themselves treat patients in Montana; teaching by phone or video with you and your preceptor does not trigger a Montana license. NKU's own review still sits on top, so confirm your track and site with NKU before the term.
Montana NPs have full practice authority in AANP's ranking, with no physician agreement required. The open NKU tracks lean on other preceptors, though. For Nursing Education, think of faculty at a Montana school of nursing or staff in a hospital education department who hold a graduate degree in nursing education. Nurse Executive Leadership pairs you with a nurse leader for the MSN 631L capstone, and the DNP project is built with a project site across DNP 881 to DNP 884.
Most searches start in Missoula, Billings, Helena or Bozeman. Names students usually know first include Benefis Health System, St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Billings (Intermountain Health), Providence's St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, and Billings Clinic and Logan Health, which now operate as one combined system. Where a site has never signed an affiliation agreement with NKU, pass NKU a contact there early; NKU handles the negotiation, and it has to be finished before the term.
Montana brought the Nurse Licensure Compact into force on January 19, 2018, and the state's RN licensing guidance lets nurses holding a compact state's multistate license work in Montana on that license alone. So a Montana resident with a Montana multistate license already satisfies the Board's active-license expectation for clinicals, and it also meets NKU's admission standard of a current, clean license from your state of licensure and practice. The compact is covered step by step on our RN license page.
Eleven states supply NKU's NP applicants: Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Colorado, Nevada, Florida, Georgia, Virginia and West Virginia. If a move to one of them is already in your plans, check that the state is still on NKU's list when you apply, line up a license for the new state (Illinois, Michigan and Nevada are outside the compact), and loop in your advisor before moving once enrolled.
A placement advisor searches Montana for preceptors who fit NKU's rules for your track, checks each one's license, year in role and employment at the site, and gathers the CV, license and Preceptor Responsibilities form. Your self-placement request reaches NKU complete and early, which matters when a new affiliation agreement is part of the plan. NKU approves the placement; we make sure nothing in the file holds it up. Share your track and term.
No. The FNP track, like NKU's other NP programs and certificates, draws applicants from eleven states, and Montana is not one. What Montana nurses can apply for is everything else online with clinicals: the educator and executive MSN tracks, the post-master's DNP and the RN-to-BSN.
Not for graduate or RN-to-BSN programs. Montana's FAQ exempts both, and ARM 24.159.608 is aimed at pre-licensure schools. The program is still expected to check that your license is active and valid for Montana practice, and NKU's own review and affiliation agreement process applies to every site you propose.
Only when that instructor would personally treat patients in Montana. Out-of-state faculty who work with you and your preceptor from a distance fall outside Montana's licensing expectation, per the Board. The faculty contact NKU describes publicly is a meeting with you and your preceptor held over video.
Someone working in a leadership role; NKU's FAQ pictures a nurse leader with an MSN, at nurse manager rank or higher, usually in a hospital unless the coordinator signs off on another setting. The capstone, MSN 631L, is 100 hours, and the preceptor needs at least a year in the current role.
Montana is authorized for the DNP. The practicum runs through DNP 881 to DNP 884, with the project written with and carried out at a project site, and DNP 897 added only if you need more hours. You finish with 1,000 post-baccalaureate hours, counting verifiable MSN clinical hours.
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.