EKU students in Georgia: open enrollment, one Georgia rule to know
EKU sets no Georgia restriction on any online nursing program: both licensure tables say Meets Requirements, and Georgia sits on EKU's list of SARA states without restrictions. The Georgia detail that shapes your clinicals comes from the Georgia Board of Nursing, which wants APRN students' clinical teaching done by nurses authorized as APRNs in Georgia.
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Tell us your EKU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options in your community that fit your EKU course.
EKU's status for Georgia residents
For Georgia, EKU's state page is short: no nursing note, no condition, and a Meets Requirements result in each of its nursing licensure tables. Since EKU's online programs require no campus visits, a Georgia resident completes clinical hours in Georgia.
| EKU program | Status for Georgia residents | Licensure table result |
|---|---|---|
| MSN: Family Nurse Practitioner | Yes | Meets Requirements |
| MSN: Psychiatric Mental Health NP | Yes | Meets Requirements |
| Post-MSN FNP and PMHNP certificates | Yes | Meets Requirements (MSN table) |
| Post-master's DNP | Yes (SARA list without restrictions) | No DNP table published |
| RN to BSN | Yes | Meets Requirements |
Post-licensure education, APRN programs among it, sits outside the Georgia Board of Nursing's approval process, so EKU needs no Board sign-off before you train at a Georgia practice. Georgia works through licensing instead. The state authorization guide has EKU's full picture.
Georgia's licensing expectations for clinicals
What the Georgia Board of Nursing expects of out-of-state post-licensure programs
- Students: a Georgia resident logging clinical hours in the state for an out-of-state school must hold a Georgia RN license, or a multistate license from some other compact state.
- Faculty and preceptors: the same licensing test applies to anyone who teaches or supervises students in Georgia, whether on site or remotely.
- APRN programs: the Board says clinical teaching in post-licensure APRN programs belongs to a nurse with Georgia APRN authorization.
The third point matters most when you propose a preceptor. Kentucky's definition of a preceptor takes in physicians and physician assistants as well as APRNs, but Georgia's statement centers on a Georgia-authorized APRN, so the cleanest Georgia option is a nurse practitioner who holds that authorization. How EKU applies the rule to a physician or PA preceptor is a question for your faculty; the preceptor requirements guide covers what EKU publishes.
NP practice in Georgia and where students look
Georgia carries AANP's restricted rating. NPs practice under physician delegation or supervision, and Schedule II prescribing by NPs has limits, so your preceptor's delegation arrangement will shape which patients and prescriptions you see during NSC 800.
Metro Atlanta held about 6.5 million people in the Census Bureau's 2025 estimates, and Savannah, Augusta and Columbus are the state's other large metros. Wellstar Health System, Emory Healthcare, Grady Health System, Northside Hospital and Piedmont Healthcare are among the big systems. These are pointers for your own search; none is presented here as a site that works with EKU.
Georgia's Preceptor Tax Incentive Program, revised and extended by HB 144, is reserved for preceptors of students enrolled in Georgia-based medical, dental, NP and PA programs, so precepting an EKU student falls outside it.
License and compact status
Georgia's participation in the Nurse Licensure Compact dates from January 19, 2018, so multistate RN licenses work there. It has no APRN Compact law, which keeps APRN authorization specific to Georgia, for your preceptor now and for you after graduation. EKU asks for an unrestricted license record wherever you are licensed and has you consent to Nursys e-Notify at admission; see RN license and Nursys.
Why Georgia EKU students choose us
We search Georgia with the Board's instruction rule in mind from the first conversation. Your placement advisor looks for a nurse practitioner with Georgia APRN authorization near your home, a primary care NP if NSC 876 is next or a psychiatric-mental health NP if NSC 886 is, verifies the license and authorization, and gathers the site documents EKU reviews.
You then raise a complete Georgia option with EKU, which carries the responsibility for securing and approving placements under Kentucky's rule and welcomes your input. We stay reachable until your last clinical hour is logged.
Questions EKU students ask
Does EKU accept Georgia residents into its online FNP?
Yes. EKU's MSN licensure table marks Georgia as Meets Requirements and the state has no EKU nursing note, so Georgia residents can enter the FNP or PMHNP, or either post-MSN certificate. The FNP's clinical requirement, 750 direct patient care hours with the final 300 used for synthesis, would be met at Georgia sites.
I live in Columbus, Georgia. Can my EKU preceptor be across the state line in Alabama?
Possibly, but Alabama adds steps. EKU must file a yearly notice with Alabama, fee included, before January 1 of a year with Alabama placements, and the Alabama Board wants the program's letter of intent filed at least 15 days before your start, plus an Alabama or multistate RN license. Read the Alabama guide and ask your faculty first.
Is EKU's DNP open to nurses in Georgia?
Yes. With Georgia on EKU's unrestricted SARA list and no DNP limit published, the doctorate is open. EKU's program page says DNP projects can happen in your organization or community, and under the archived 2020 DNP handbook a site had to be approved for each course before any hours counted.
Can my preceptor be an NP licensed only in another state?
Not for clinical hours in Georgia. The Board applies the student licensing test to preceptors too, and APRN students must be taught by a nurse holding Georgia APRN authorization. A nurse practitioner licensed only in another state would need Georgia authorization first, so check that before you put a name forward to EKU.
Related pages
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.
EKU secures your preceptor. Your input decides how well it fits your life.
Tell us your EKU program, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors in your community who fit the course and prepare everything EKU reviews, so the option you put forward is ready to approve.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family primary care for
NSC 800andNSC 876, psychiatric care forNSC 886 - Preceptor, license and site details organized for EKU's preceptor information form
- In your own community, wherever EKU enrolls students and you hold your RN license
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.