NKU's state authorization tables for online nursing, row by row

NKU's state authorization and professional licensure page exists in two places. The graduate-admissions copy is the newer one; NKU's old graduate URL now redirects to it. The online and accelerated admissions copy is older and matches the graduate copy as it stood in November 2024, according to Internet Archive captures.

The older copy still matters, because it is the one NKU's preceptor requirements page links to when it says preceptors must be located in NKU-approved states. When the two copies disagree, this page shows both and flags the state.

Both copies use the same row labels: "Nursing, BSN", "Nursing, RN-BSN", "Nursing, MSN + Post Master's Certificates", "Nursing Practice, DNP: Post Master's" and "Nursing Practice, DNP: Nurse Anesthesia". The two campus programs, the BSN and the Nurse Anesthesia DNP, list all states and are outside the scope of this site. Puerto Rico is the only territory NKU names; American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands are absent from every row.

The NP tracks and NP certificates sit inside the MSN row, but NKU adds a tighter admissions list for them on top of this table. Those 11 states have their own page: NKU's NP admission states.

On the newer copy, the MSN row authorizes 26 jurisdictions: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. It lists 27 as not authorized, including DC.

South Carolina is the first conflict. It appears in both the authorized and the not-authorized column, on both copies, so the table alone cannot tell you its status. Our South Carolina page explains what that means for a student there.

Virginia is the second. The MSN row still marked Virginia not authorized in an October 13, 2025 capture and authorized it by January 13, 2026. The older online copy has not caught up and still lists Virginia as not authorized. Our Virginia page covers the practical side.

The DNP row on the newer copy authorizes 27 jurisdictions: the 26 on the MSN row plus North Carolina. It lists 25 as not authorized: Alabama, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington, Wyoming and DC.

This row changed recently. A May 11, 2026 capture of the graduate copy still listed Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia as not authorized and put South Carolina in both columns. By September 2026 the graduate copy authorized all four. The older online copy keeps the earlier version, with 24 authorized and 29 not.

DNP students in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina or Virginia should confirm their status with NKU in writing. The DNP project work happens at a project site, and our post-master's DNP page covers the practicum itself.

The RN-BSN row is identical on both copies. It authorizes 23 jurisdictions: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. It lists 28 as not authorized, including DC.

Two details trip people up. Georgia, Utah and Virginia are authorized for the MSN but not for the RN-to-BSN, so a nurse planning both degrees can be eligible for one and not the other. Missouri appears in neither column of this row, which leaves its status unstated; a Missouri nurse should ask NKU before applying.

The RN-to-BSN program page sends applicants to this table to check eligibility, and its leadership practicum, NRP 478P, needs a preceptor like the graduate tracks do.

Both copies carry the same warnings. State authorization under SARA does not cover the rules of state licensing boards. In a restricted state, NKU says you "may not be able to complete field placements," and a student who moves into one is taking a risk of not being able to finish the program. Checking with the licensing board in your home state is described as the student's responsibility.

The program pages add a practical rule. A change of state residency "may affect student program status," and MSN students must tell their academic advisor and concentration coordinator right away.

The table also governs your preceptor. NKU's requirements page says preceptors must be located in current NKU-approved states, so a preceptor across a border must sit in an authorized state too. Licensing questions for that situation are on our RN license page, and each state's own summary is on our state pages.

State rules are the first filter in every search we run for an NKU student. Before a placement advisor contacts a single clinician, we check your program's row, your home state and the preceptor's state against NKU's newer table, and we flag any state where NKU's copies disagree so you can get a written answer first.

From there we search for track-matched preceptors in authorized states near your home, assemble the preceptor's paperwork and site contact, and hand you a complete Medatrax request. Approval stays with NKU, and the state on your request is one its table already allows. Questions about a state on this page go to studentclinicalinfo@nku.edu; questions about our service go to our contact page.