Louisiana: EKU is not enrolling online nursing students
EKU's state authorization page is plain about Louisiana: "EKU is not accepting nursing students into online programs." The note covers all five online nursing options (the MSN FNP and PMHNP, the post-MSN certificates, the RN to BSN and the post-master's DNP), and both licensure tables list Louisiana as Does Not Meet Requirements. If you live in Louisiana, speak with EKU's online advisors before you apply or plan anything.
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Tell us where you will live and when your EKU clinical courses start. Your placement advisor can begin mapping preceptor options there.
EKU's Louisiana entry, program by program
| Program | EKU enrollment | Licensure table |
|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP | Not accepting | Does Not Meet Requirements |
| MSN PMHNP | Not accepting | Does Not Meet Requirements |
| Post-MSN FNP and PMHNP certificates | Not accepting | Does Not Meet Requirements (MSN table) |
| Post-master's DNP | Not accepting (the note covers all online nursing programs) | No DNP table |
| RN to BSN | Not accepting | Does Not Meet Requirements (RN-BSN table) |
EKU files Louisiana under SARA member states with special restrictions. Because the note names online nursing programs as a whole, Louisiana is one of only four states closed to EKU's DNP, with Colorado, Tennessee and Washington. The page states no reason for the Louisiana decision and no date for reviewing it.
What it means while you live in Louisiana
EKU's decision turns on where you are located. Under the current page, a nurse living in Louisiana cannot start any EKU online nursing program from home, whatever other licenses they hold. EKU mentions an attestation process for students planning licensure in a state where a program meets requirements; whether it has any bearing beside Louisiana's broader note is for EKU to say.
Ask EKU's online advisors directly, including whether the Louisiana note still stands, because EKU revises its page during the year. The state authorization guide sets Louisiana beside the other seven closed states.
Moving to or from Louisiana
A move into Louisiana during an EKU program meets the same note. EKU warns that relocation after application or admission could result in removal from the program, and the graduate catalog asks you to report any change of location and tell your advisor before moving out of state. Raise a planned Louisiana move with your advisor before you commit to it.
Leaving Louisiana changes the picture. Texas and Arkansas both show Meets Requirements for the MSN and RN to BSN, with no nursing restriction. Mississippi differs: EKU says it is not currently authorized to enroll students living there because of clinical placement restrictions. Settle your new home state and your start term with EKU before you apply.
Louisiana's board rules for out-of-state programs
Under LAC 46:XLVII.3539, a nursing program run from another state, graduate or undergraduate, must win Louisiana State Board of Nursing approval before it offers courses or clinicals there. Its request lists the clinical agencies and units along with curriculum, syllabi, faculty qualification forms and exam pass data, and must reach the Board six months or more ahead. Approval runs for up to three years.
Faculty teaching in Louisiana for such a program must hold Louisiana RN or APRN licensure, a nursing graduate degree and at least two years in clinical practice, and in precepted clinicals they check in with the preceptor and the student every week and visit at least once a term. These are program-level duties, and EKU's page does not connect them to its Louisiana note. If you live in a neighboring open state, treat any Louisiana site as EKU's call and ask your faculty before proposing one.
Louisiana licensing facts that still matter
Louisiana's compact membership began July 1, 2019, so its multistate RN licenses are honored in other compact states, Kentucky included. That helps if you later enroll from an open state: EKU expects every RN license you hold to be unencumbered, and valid where your clinicals happen. AANP rates Louisiana as reduced practice: an NP there must hold a regulated collaborative agreement with a physician covering at least one element of practice. RN license and Nursys has more.
Who we can help
For a nurse living in Louisiana today, EKU's note settles the question, and the right first call is to EKU. Our help fits once you are an EKU student, or about to become one, in a state EKU enrolls from. If you are relocating to Texas, Arkansas or another open state before you start, your placement advisor can map preceptor options near your new home and get preceptor and site details in order before your clinical courses arrive. EKU still secures and approves every placement, with your input, under Kentucky's preceptor rule.
Questions EKU students ask
Can I apply to EKU's online FNP from Louisiana?
Not while you live there, based on EKU's current page. Its Louisiana note says EKU is not accepting nursing students into online programs, and the MSN licensure table lists Louisiana as Does Not Meet Requirements. If you are moving to a state EKU enrolls from, tell EKU's online advisors your timeline and confirm the right start term before applying.
Is EKU's online DNP open to Louisiana nurses?
No. The DNP has no licensure table, but EKU's Louisiana note covers online nursing programs in general, so the post-master's DNP is closed to Louisiana residents as well. That puts Louisiana in a small group on EKU's page: Colorado, Tennessee and Washington are the only other states where the DNP is closed.
Could I live in Texas and do EKU clinicals in Louisiana?
EKU publishes no policy on clinical sites outside your home state, and Louisiana's board requires an out-of-state program to hold its approval before offering clinical experiences there, with the request due six months ahead. Whether EKU would place anyone in Louisiana is its decision alone. Ask your faculty before naming a Louisiana site, and plan on Texas clinicals unless EKU says otherwise.
Does a multistate license let me enroll in EKU from Louisiana?
No. EKU's restriction follows where you are located, not which license you hold. A Louisiana multistate license is valid in other compact states, which is useful for clinicals once you enroll from an open state, but it does not change EKU's Louisiana note or the Does Not Meet result in its tables.
Will EKU start accepting Louisiana students again?
EKU's page gives no timeline. It was last modified on September 23, 2026, and EKU changes it during the year, as it did for Mississippi in 2026. Check the page before you apply and ask EKU's online advisors for the current position.
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.
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