Living in Nebraska currently rules out NKU's online nursing programs with clinical work, since NKU's tables leave the state unauthorized for master's, doctoral and RN-to-BSN study and its NP list omits it. Colorado, to the west, is open for every NKU program group, and South Dakota, to the north, for all but the NP tracks.
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.
Both of NKU's filters leave Nebraska out: the graduate state-authorization table and the NP admission list on NKU's graduate admission page.
| NKU program group | Nebraska |
|---|---|
| NP programs: MSN FNP, AGACNP, PMHNP and the four NP certificates | Not open |
| MSN Nursing Education and Nurse Executive Leadership | Not authorized |
| Post-master's DNP | Not authorized |
| RN-to-BSN | Not authorized |
Nebraska's licensing agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, only regulates education that leads to a first license. Any NCLEX-track program with students in Nebraska must get in touch with the Board, and approval may follow. Post-licensure education, whether online or delivered some other way, sits outside the Board's remit, which means RN-to-BSN and graduate clinicals face no Board approval; for those programs the school itself sets preceptor qualifications and arranges preceptors with each facility.
What Nebraska does insist on follows NCSBN's view that practice happens where the student is. An instructor needs a license for the state the student is in, and anyone teaching APRN students in Nebraska needs a Nebraska APRN license. The regulators themselves may be changing shape. Until mid-2026, DHHS rosters listed an APRN board of its own; from July 2026 the advanced practice seats (APRN, CNS, CNM) appear on the Board of Nursing roster, with terms starting July 1. That looks like a consolidation, though research found no statute saying so.
AANP lists Nebraska as full practice, earned after 2,000 hours of practice with a supervising provider. Students here usually know Bryan Health, Children's Nebraska, Nebraska Medicine, CHI Health and the Nebraska Methodist Health System, in the Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island markets; none can supply an NKU preceptor while Nebraska is off NKU's list. Compact licenses have been honored in Nebraska from January 19, 2018 onward, so a Nebraska multistate license reaches other member states, but NKU's program tables turn on where you live. See our RN license page.
Colorado is one of NKU's eleven NP application states and is authorized for the MSN, DNP and RN-to-BSN as well. South Dakota is authorized for the MSN, DNP and RN-to-BSN only. Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Wyoming are not authorized.
Relocating on your own schedule? Verify the destination with NKU for the term you would begin, hold a license that is valid there, and if you are already a student, raise the move with your advisor in advance. NKU tells students that moving can change their program status.
Heading to Colorado or South Dakota? A placement advisor sketches the NKU tracks each state allows, scouts clinicians close to your new home who clear NKU's bar, and times a complete self-placement request to your first 7-week session. NKU approves the placement; we make sure the file arrives ready. Share your move.
No. The master's row of NKU's table, which governs Nursing Education and Nurse Executive Leadership, puts Nebraska among the not-authorized states, and the NP list omits it. The DNP row and the RN-to-BSN row mark Nebraska not authorized too, so none of NKU's online nursing programs with clinicals is open here.
No. An NKU preceptor must practice in an approved state, which Nebraska is not, even when the student is enrolled from Colorado or South Dakota. The Iowa side of the Omaha metro is no different, because Iowa is also off NKU's authorized list.
Not directly. Nebraska's Board approves pre-licensure education and does not regulate post-licensure programs. It does apply the principle that practice happens where the student is, so faculty need a license in the student's state and APRN faculty need Nebraska APRN licensure.
All four groups. Colorado is on NKU's NP application list and is authorized for the MSN, the post-master's DNP and the RN-to-BSN. Colorado is a compact state, so a Colorado multistate license, current and unencumbered, covers your clinicals there. Recheck NKU's lists in the term you apply.
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.