MRU clinicals, state by state
Where you live decides which MRU nursing programs you can take and whose rules apply at your clinical site. Florida is MRU's home state, residents of SARA member states can enroll in the online programs, and California residents are shut out of every program that carries MRU's residency rule.
Get your placement plan
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.
What each state guide covers
Every guide opens with the MRU programs open to residents of that state and how each is delivered. It then covers the state's nurse practitioner practice environment and who can precept there, any rule the state applies to out-of-state programs placing students, the license you need where you train, and the health systems and cities where NP students tend to look.
The Florida guide goes further, because MRU's campus is in Miami Springs and Florida's preceptor rule, 64B9-4.001(13), requires a Florida-licensed preceptor for any clinical setting in the state.
How MRU's rules change with where you live
- The MSN-FNP, the FNP, PMHNP and AGACNP certificates, RN-to-BSN and the leadership MSN make residence in Florida or a SARA member state a condition that lasts for the entire program.
- The DNP asks instead for an active, unencumbered RN license from Florida or a Compact (eNLC) state.
- California has not joined SARA and does not appear in MRU's licensure table, which puts Californians outside the residency rule.
- MRU's NC-SARA disclosure, reviewed in August 2025, marks FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP as meeting requirements in 49 states plus DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Even so, the catalog confines MRU's licensure assurance to Florida, and it asks anyone living elsewhere to speak to their home-state board before enrolling.
- The ASN, BSN and MSN Direct Entry are taught on campus in Miami Springs, and the AGACNP certificate includes a three-day on-campus weekend.
Home state
Open to residents
Not open to residents
Questions MRU students ask
Can I enroll in MRU's online FNP if I live outside Florida?
Yes, if you live in a SARA member state and stay there for the whole program. MRU's catalog makes residence in Florida or a SARA state an admission requirement for the MSN-FNP and the NP certificates. Check with your own state's board of nursing as well, as the catalog advises.
Why can't California residents take MRU's NP programs?
MRU requires residence in Florida or a SARA member state, and California is not a SARA member. California is also absent from MRU's professional licensure disclosure. The DNP's rule concerns the RN license rather than residence, so a Californian holding a Florida or Compact license could ask MRU admissions about that program.
What happens if I move to another state during the program?
The residency rule applies for the duration of the program, so a move to a state outside SARA would conflict with it. Tell MRU before you move and ask how the move affects your enrollment and your clinical site. Your preceptor would also need to meet the rules of the new state.
Does my preceptor need a license in my state or in Florida?
In the state where the clinical site is. Florida's rule requires a Florida license for preceptors at Florida sites, and outside Florida the state where you train sets the rules, while MRU approves the preceptor either way. Clinicals outside Florida covers this in more detail.
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.