EKU nursing accreditation, approval and what they mean for you

Updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the EKU Preceptor placement team

The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) accredits EKU's baccalaureate, master's, Doctor of Nursing Practice and post-graduate APRN certificate programs through December 31, 2028, with CCNE's next on-site visit due in spring 2028. ACEN accredits the associate degree with conditions, while the Kentucky Board of Nursing lists EKU's MSN and DNP as approved. Accreditation is national; whether EKU's program leads to licensure where you live is a separate question EKU answers state by state.

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Dec 31, 2028end of the current CCNE term for all four EKU programs

1997year CCNE first accredited EKU's master's program

2017year EKU began participating in SARA, per its state authorization page

Accreditation and approval. Dec 31, 2028: end of the current CCNE term for all four EKU programs; 1997: year CCNE first accredited EKU's master's program; 2017: year EKU began participating in SARA, per its state authorization page. — Dec 31, 2028: end of the current CCNE term for all four EKU programs; 1997: year CCNE first accredited EKU's master's program; 2017: year EKU began participating in SARA, per its state authorization page.

CCNE: four programs, one term

EKU's nursing pages carry the same statement: its baccalaureate degree, master's degree, Doctor of Nursing Practice and post-graduate APRN certificate programs are accredited by CCNE. The CCNE directory supplies the dates, and all four programs share the same most recent action and the same term.

EKU programs in the CCNE directory (read September 25, 2026)
Program	First accredited	Most recent action	Term ends	Next on-site visit
Baccalaureate (BSN, all routes)	September 29, 2001	March 5, 2018	December 31, 2028	Spring 2028
Master's (MSN FNP and PMHNP)	October 22, 1997	March 5, 2018	December 31, 2028	Spring 2028
Doctor of Nursing Practice	March 4, 2013	March 5, 2018	December 31, 2028	Spring 2028
Post-graduate APRN certificate (FNP, PMHNP)	March 5, 2018	March 5, 2018	December 31, 2028	Spring 2028

The last on-site visit took place in March 2018. The spring 2028 visit is the review that feeds CCNE's next decision, so check the directory after that year for the new term. Certificate students should look at the last row: the post-graduate certificate appears in the directory as an accredited program in its own right, first accredited in 2018.

ACEN and the associate degree

EKU's Associate of Applied Science in Nursing, taught on the Richmond campus, is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) rather than CCNE. ACEN lists it as accredited with conditions. The program was first accredited in June 1969, had its last visit March 26 to 28, 2024, received its most recent action on September 12, 2024, and has its next visit set for spring 2032. EKU's AAS page calls the status continuing accreditation with conditions.

Neither EKU nor the other sources checked for this site state the reasons for the conditions, and this page leaves them unstated rather than guessing. The status belongs to the associate program alone. It has no bearing on the CCNE-accredited BSN, MSN, DNP or certificate programs, and AAS students will find the on-campus clinical picture on BSN and AAS clinicals.

Kentucky Board of Nursing approval

The Board of Nursing's approved-programs page shows two EKU graduate programs, the MSN and the DNP, each marked Approved, under Madison County. EKU's catalog lists Board approval for the associate, BSN, MSN and DNP. One wording mismatch is worth knowing: the School of Nursing web page says the Board approves the Associate of Science in Nursing program, while the degree EKU awards is the AAS and both the catalog and the Board's list cover the graduate programs too.

Approval brings a rule that shapes every NP placement. Because EKU's APRN programs are Kentucky programs, 201 KAR 20:062 applies to them: the program secures students' preceptors, and students may have input. The same regulation asks programs to meet their national accreditor's preceptor standards on top of Kentucky's, and it names failure to secure preceptors among the factors that can prompt a Board site visit and endanger approval. The Kentucky preceptor rule page walks through what that means for you.

Institutional accreditation and SARA

EKU as a whole is accredited by SACSCOC to award associate through doctoral degrees. For online study across state lines, EKU's state authorization page says the university has taken part in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement, or SARA, since 2017, and NC-SARA's directory lists EKU as participating. Another passage on the same EKU page still describes membership as of April 2020, an older line that does not match the 2017 date.

SARA concerns EKU's authority to teach online students who live in other member states. EKU's page is plain that SARA carries no weight with state licensure boards. SARA participation also comes with duties for you: report your home address and any move, and let EKU know where any supervised clinical placement outside Kentucky will physically happen.

What accreditation means for NP licensure and certification

Kentucky's own rules show how accreditation feeds licensure. The Board of Nursing recognizes graduates of out-of-state APRN, MSN and DNP programs accredited by ACEN, CNEA or CCNE, and Kentucky's APRN licensure regulation, 201 KAR 20:056, requires an education program that conforms to 201 KAR 20:062, the standard EKU is approved under. EKU also requires a degree from a nationally accredited program before admitting students to the DNP and the post-MSN certificates, so accreditation follows you into your next credential.

For national certification, EKU reports a 100% first-attempt pass rate for its FNP graduates and 98.6% for its PMHNP graduates, and it describes the PMHNP program as designed to meet the requirements of the Consensus Model for APRN Regulation. Certification bodies set their own eligibility rules, so read the requirements for the exam you plan to sit alongside your transcript and clinical record. What EKU publishes about hours by program is gathered on clinical hours.

Accreditation and the state authorization list

National accreditation does not settle whether a given state board accepts EKU's program for licensure, which is why EKU publishes a separate licensure table covering the MSN and both post-MSN certificates. It lists Colorado, Louisiana, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington as Does Not Meet, and Mississippi as Unable to Determine, with a note that EKU is not currently authorized to enroll students living there because of clinical placement restrictions. The DNP, which is not a licensure degree, has no table.

State boards keep lists of their own. California's Board of Registered Nursing includes EKU among the out-of-state family and psychiatric-mental health NP programs it approves, matching EKU's claim of compliance with California's CCR Section 1486. By contrast, EKU was missing from North Dakota's 2026-27 list of recognized distance programs and from the Wisconsin list of approved out-of-state nursing schools issued August 3, 2026, so students in North Dakota or Wisconsin should confirm with EKU before planning clinicals. Every state's status is on state authorization.

Where accreditation meets your preceptor

Accreditation reaches all the way into your clinical placement. Kentucky's regulation asks EKU to meet CCNE's preceptor standards as well as the state's own, and the documents EKU collects before each clinical course are how it confirms that a preceptor and site fit an accredited, Board-approved program.

Your placement advisor applies those same rules. We match preceptors to your course's population focus, verify licenses in the site's state and check EKU's state notes before anything reaches EKU, so the option you put forward fits comfortably inside what the program has to meet. That is the difference between a preceptor who is available and one EKU can approve quickly. Tell us your program and start term to begin.

Questions EKU students ask

Is EKU's online FNP program accredited?

Yes. The FNP is a concentration of EKU's MSN, and CCNE accredits EKU's master's degree program, first in October 1997 and most recently in March 2018, with the current term running to December 31, 2028. The MSN also carries approval from the Kentucky Board of Nursing. The post-MSN FNP certificate falls under CCNE's separate accreditation of EKU's post-graduate APRN certificate.

What happens when EKU's CCNE accreditation term ends in 2028?

CCNE has scheduled its next on-site visit to EKU for spring 2028, ahead of the December 31, 2028 end of the current term, and that review is how a new term gets set. The four programs are accredited through that date. Once CCNE acts, its online directory will show the new term for each program.

Does the ACEN status with conditions affect EKU's NP programs?

No. ACEN accredits only EKU's on-campus Associate of Applied Science in Nursing, and the conditions attach to that program. EKU's MSN, DNP, post-graduate certificates and BSN are accredited by CCNE, whose directory shows all four accredited through December 31, 2028. AAS students can ask the School of Nursing what the conditions involve for their own program.

Does SARA mean an EKU degree lets me get licensed in any state?

No. EKU's own state authorization page says SARA has nothing to do with decisions by state licensure boards. SARA covers EKU's authority to teach online students in other member states, while licensure is decided by each state's board, which is why EKU keeps a separate licensure table for the MSN and the post-MSN certificates.

Is EKU's DNP accredited?

Yes. CCNE first accredited EKU's Doctor of Nursing Practice on March 4, 2013, and its current term runs to December 31, 2028. The DNP is post-master's only, with an Organizational Leadership concentration. As a degree that leads to no license, it has no licensure table on EKU's page, though EKU's state enrollment notes still reach DNP students.

StatesState authorizationWhich states EKU enrolls online FNP, PMHNP and certificate students from, the eight it does not, conditional states, Mississippi's 2026 change and clinicals.Kentucky ruleKentucky preceptor ruleKentucky's 201 KAR 20:062 makes EKU secure preceptors for its NP students and lets students have input. The full rule text and what it means for you.Online, 47 creditsMSN Family Nurse PractitionerEKU's online MSN FNP as a clinical plan: 47 credits, NSC 800 with FNP I to III, the NSC 876 internship, 750 patient care hours and when to plan your input.DNPPost-master's DNPEKU's post-master's DNP in Organizational Leadership: 30 to 34 catalog credits, 7-week terms, four starts, the 1,000-hour rule, site approval and state limits.HoursClinical hours by programClinical hours for EKU's MSN FNP, PMHNP, post-MSN certificates, DNP and RN to BSN: the figures EKU publishes, the gaps, and where to confirm yours.RolesWho does what at EKUEvery EKU role that touches an NP clinical course, from course faculty and program coordinators to Big E Central and the IT ServiceDesk, and what to ask each.

Last checked 2026-09-25

We check these pages against EKU's own catalog, program pages and handbooks, and Kentucky's regulations. The current MSN Student Handbook, your course and your faculty have the final word.

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