MRU nursing programs and Kentucky clinicals
The Kentucky Board of Nursing asks out-of-state programs for no approval at all, even when their students train in Kentucky. Its attention goes to people instead: anyone who precepts an online APRN student in a Kentucky clinical setting must hold a Kentucky APRN license.
Plan your Kentucky clinicals
Tell us your MRU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with what an MRU-ready preceptor and site look like for you.
Programs a Kentucky resident can start at MRU
Because Kentucky participates in SARA, it is on the list of places MRU enrolls distance students from, and MRU's NC-SARA disclosure gives FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP a "Meets" there. MRU's catalog draws a tighter circle, vouching for Florida licensure alone, so the Kentucky Board of Nursing (KBN) is your first call on anything license-related.
| MRU program | Kentucky residents | Where it's taught | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN-FNP | Eligible to apply | Online, or on campus in Florida | Four clinical courses, total not printed |
| FNP Post-Master's Certificate | Eligible to apply | Online, or on campus in Florida | Up to four clinical courses after a gap analysis |
| PMHNP Post-Master's Certificate | Eligible to apply | Online | 765 clinical |
| AGACNP Post-Master's Certificate | Eligible to apply | Online, plus one required on-campus weekend | 810 clinical |
| DNP | Eligible if you hold Kentucky multistate status or Florida licensure | Offsite and online | 765 practice |
| MSN Healthcare Systems Leadership | Eligible to apply | Online, or on campus in Florida | 180 practicum |
| RN-to-BSN | Eligible to apply | Online, or on campus in Florida | 135 clinical |
| ASN, BSN, MSN Direct Entry | Florida attendance needed | Miami Springs only | 450 / 675 / 495 |
KBN's position: no program approval, licensed preceptors
According to KBN's overview, KBN neither approves programs based in other states nor asks them to apply, even when a program has no Kentucky presence and its students complete clinical work in the state. The Board's reach covers prelicensure programs beginning in Kentucky, and it has no jurisdiction over RN-BSN programs.
The licensing rules land on the people around you:
- Online MSN or DNP APRN programs: preceptors in Kentucky, and faculty supervising students at Kentucky clinical sites, must carry Kentucky RN and APRN licensure, both active and unencumbered. For a person who resides in a Compact state, a Kentucky APRN license by itself suffices.
- For RN-BSN programs, clinical faculty and preceptors in Kentucky must hold a Kentucky RN license, except those residing in a Compact state.
Ask a prospective preceptor which licenses they hold before you send anything to MRU, and read MRU's preceptor requirements for MRU's own side.
Prescribing agreements and the Kentucky preceptor market
In AANP's ranking, Kentucky is a reduced-practice state. Unless the Board grants an exemption, NPs who qualify must hold two agreements with a physician, one for prescribing non-controlled substances and a second for controlled ones, and in their first year, newly licensed NPs must meet requirements about the setting they are employed in. If a prospective preceptor is in that first year, ask how it affects taking a student.
In 2025, about 1.12 million Kentuckians lived in the Louisville metro and about 535,000 in Lexington-Fayette; Bowling Green counted about 197,000, and roughly 475,000 lived in the Kentucky part of the Cincinnati metro. St. Elizabeth Healthcare, Baptist Health, UK HealthCare, UofL Health and Norton Healthcare all come up when NP students here start looking. None is presented here as an MRU partner, and we found no Kentucky preceptor incentive.
Compact license and the SARA exemption
The Compact has covered Kentucky licenses since 19 January 2018. A Kentucky multistate license covers your hours at home and in Compact neighbors, Ohio and Tennessee among them, and meets the DNP's license condition.
SARA matters here beyond admission. Nurses from other states completing a clinical rotation in Kentucky fall under an exemption in KRS 314.101, KBN notes, provided their school participates in SARA or carries Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education licensure. MRU describes itself in its catalog as approved to take part in SARA. See clinicals outside Florida for MRU's clearance and insurance steps.
Where a placement advisor helps
We look for a Kentucky-licensed APRN, or another preceptor type MRU accepts, near Louisville, Lexington, Northern Kentucky or Bowling Green, whose patients suit your MRU course. We help you collect the license details both KBN's rules and MRU's credential check turn on, and we search again when a preceptor backs out. MRU alone approves. Share your course.
Questions MRU students ask
Must my Kentucky preceptor hold a Kentucky APRN license?
Yes, when the NP course is at a Kentucky site. KBN says preceptors for online MSN and DNP APRN programs in Kentucky must hold Kentucky RN and APRN licenses that are active and unencumbered, though a Compact-state resident can precept with the Kentucky APRN license alone. A Kentucky NP with a multistate RN license meets that easily.
I live in Northern Kentucky. Can I train in Cincinnati?
An Ohio site is governed by Ohio's rules rather than KBN's. Because Ohio has been in the Nurse Licensure Compact since January 2023, your Kentucky multistate license works there, but check whether Ohio has its own requirements for out-of-state programs and tell MRU before you plan hours across the river. See our Ohio page.
Who can precept MRU's RN-to-BSN courses in Kentucky?
KBN's rule for RN-BSN programs is lighter: a Kentucky RN license is all a preceptor there needs, and Compact-state residents are exempt even from that. Each of MRU's RN-to-BSN clinical courses (NUR4269, NUR4679, NUR4689) carries 45 hours of indirectly supervised clinical work in what MRU calls a preceptorship model. MRU does not say who finds that preceptor; the RN-to-BSN page has more.
Why does MRU's SARA membership matter in Kentucky?
Twice. First, it is the reason MRU can enroll you from Kentucky at all. Second, KBN refers to an exemption in KRS 314.101 covering out-of-state nurses who do a Kentucky clinical rotation through a SARA institution. With a Kentucky license you are covered anyway; the exemption matters more to MRU students living elsewhere who train in Kentucky.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against MRU's own catalog, addenda and program pages. The nursing student handbook on the MRU student portal and MRU's Office of Academic Affairs have the final word.
MRU says secure your own preceptor. We start the search now.
Tell us your MRU program, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We look for preceptors who fit the course and help you gather what MRU checks before approving them.
- Preceptors matched to the course: adult primary care for
MSN5700, women's health, pediatrics, psychiatric or acute care - Credentials, license and site details collected before MRU's credential check
- Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, or wherever in a SARA state you live
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.