MRU's online programs for Pennsylvania nurses
As a SARA state, Pennsylvania meets MRU's residency rule for the online NP, RN-to-BSN and leadership programs. Our research turned up no Board rule obliging an out-of-state program to be approved before Pennsylvania clinicals begin, and a long-standing regulation, 49 Pa. Code section 21.118, speaks directly to RNs licensed elsewhere who train in accredited graduate programs.
Plan Pennsylvania 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.
MRU from Pennsylvania: the program table
Pennsylvania is one of the jurisdictions in MRU's NC-SARA disclosure, and the FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP tracks are marked "Meets" for it. The catalog's own promise stops at Florida's licensure requirements and sends out-of-state students to their board, which here is the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing.
| Program | Pennsylvania residents | Format | Clinical load |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN-FNP | Can join | Online from Pennsylvania or classes in Miami Springs | MSN5700, MSN6050, MSN6150, MSN6400; MRU states no overall total |
| FNP Post-Master's Certificate | Can join | Online or in Miami Springs | The four FNP clinicals, minus any a gap analysis waives |
| PMHNP Post-Master's Certificate | Can join | Online | 765 hours, 150 of them psychotherapy |
| AGACNP Post-Master's Certificate | Can join | Online plus a campus simulation weekend | 810 hours of acute care |
| DNP | Can join with a Pennsylvania multistate or Florida license | Offsite and online | 765 practice hours |
| MSN Healthcare Systems Leadership | Can join | Online or in Miami Springs | 180 hours in MSN5855 |
| RN-to-BSN | Can join | Online or in Miami Springs | 135 hours |
| ASN, BSN, MSN Direct Entry | Out of reach unless you study in Florida | Campus | 450, 675, 495 |
No approval step found; section 21.118 does the work
As far as our research went, Pennsylvania's Board has no regulation or web guidance that obliges a distance or out-of-state program to be approved before its students begin clinicals in the state. Its Distance Education Application applies only to programs it approves itself.
What Pennsylvania does have is 49 Pa. Code section 21.118. Under it, a nursing student who is currently licensed as an RN in another U.S. jurisdiction or in Canada, and enrolled in an accredited program at graduate or BSN level, may practice without a Pennsylvania license in the clinical settings the program calls for. The one condition is pay: stipends, scholarships and program awards are allowed, and nothing beyond them. ACEN accredits MRU's baccalaureate, MSN-FNP and post-master's certificate programs; the DNP is only an ACEN candidate, and the new leadership MSN's status is worth confirming with MRU.
On 8 September 2026 a comprehensive rulemaking on nursing education, IRRC #16A-5141, arrived in final form; IRRC has a meeting set for 15 October 2026, and the final annex leaves section 21.118 substantially unchanged. For MRU's side, read MRU clinicals outside Florida.
Section 21.118 covers unpaid clinical practice for your program. To work as an RN in the state while enrolled, you need licensure by endorsement plus a temporary practice permit.
Two-physician collaboration: reduced practice
Pennsylvania is reduced practice on AANP's scale. Throughout a career, an NP there works under a written physician agreement; prescribing on top of that rests on collaborative agreements held with a minimum of two physicians. Any NP preceptor you find will be working inside those agreements, so ask how prescribing works in their practice before a course such as MSN5700. MRU keeps its preceptor rules in the student handbook; see what MRU publishes on preceptor requirements.
The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro is home to about 4.24 million Pennsylvanians and greater Pittsburgh to 2.42 million, with about 775,000 on the Pennsylvania side of Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton and 617,000 around Harrisburg-Carlisle. The large systems are Geisinger, Jefferson Health, Penn State Health, UPMC and Penn Medicine. We list them for context; MRU has no known arrangement with any of them.
The Compact arrived in July 2025
Full implementation of the Nurse Licensure Compact in Pennsylvania came on 7 July 2025, and the Board confirms that RNs and LPNs with active, unencumbered multistate licenses may practice in Pennsylvania on them. If Pennsylvania is your home state, confirm with the Board that your license is multistate: that decides both whether you can train in other Compact states and whether you meet the DNP's Florida-or-Compact license rule. Pennsylvania has not enacted the APRN Compact.
Why Pennsylvania students choose us
We search around Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Harrisburg or your own county for a preceptor and practice that can take on your MRU course. We help you put together what MRU verifies and keep searching if a preceptor drops. MRU approves each preceptor and site, and each one reaches MRU with its details complete. Ask us about Pennsylvania.
Questions MRU students ask
Does Pennsylvania make MRU register before my clinicals?
Our research found no such requirement. The Board's Distance Education Application applies to Board-approved programs, and we found no regulation or guidance that asks an out-of-state program for approval before its students are placed. Section 21.118 separately lets RNs licensed elsewhere train unpaid in accredited graduate programs. MRU still has to approve your preceptor before any hours count.
I hold a non-Pennsylvania RN license. Do I need a Pennsylvania one for clinicals?
Not for unpaid clinical practice your accredited graduate or BSN program requires, under 49 Pa. Code section 21.118, and a multistate license from a Compact state is already valid in Pennsylvania. Holding an RN job in Pennsylvania alongside the program is another matter: you would apply for licensure by endorsement, together with a temporary practice permit.
Will Pennsylvania's new nursing education rules change section 21.118?
Apparently not in substance. IRRC #16A-5141, a comprehensive Board rulemaking covering nursing education programs, came through in final form on 8 September 2026. IRRC scheduled a public meeting on it for 15 October 2026, and the final annex carries section 21.118 forward in substantially the same form. Check the IRRC record after the meeting for the outcome.
What do Pennsylvania's two-physician agreements mean for my preceptor?
To prescribe, a Pennsylvania NP must hold collaborative agreements with two physicians or more, all within a written agreement that lasts their whole career. Your NP preceptor already works under these, so you are not asked to arrange anything. It does shape the prescribing you see. MRU's credential check still needs the preceptor's license and certification details.
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
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