Michigan nurses and EKU: open enrollment, a Michigan-only license
EKU's page raises no barrier for Michigan: the state is on its unrestricted SARA list, and both licensure tables say Meets Requirements. What sets Michigan apart is licensing. Michigan never entered the Nurse Licensure Compact, which puts every Michigan clinical on a Michigan RN license, and NP preceptors carry a Michigan specialty certification on top of their RN license.
Start your Michigan search
Tell us your EKU program, where in Michigan you live and your clinical term. Your placement advisor checks license details before anything else.
What EKU publishes for Michigan
EKU's Michigan entry is brief because nothing on the page restricts it.
| Program | EKU status for Michigan | 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 |
| Doctor of Nursing Practice | Yes, via the unrestricted SARA list | No table (DNP leads to no license) |
| RN to BSN | Yes | Meets Requirements |
Since EKU's online programs call for no campus visits, a Michigan student trains in Michigan. The detailed comparison of every state sits in the state authorization guide.
Michigan licensing comes first
Michigan remains outside the Nurse Licensure Compact; a bill to join, HB 4246, is still pending. That means a multistate license from a compact state does not stretch to a Michigan clinical site. If you already work as a nurse in Michigan, you hold the license you need. If you are moving in, apply well before your clinical term.
Getting a Michigan RN license for the first time involves three extras: a criminal history check, a single training session on spotting victims of human trafficking, and a two-hour implicit bias course taken no more than five years before Michigan issues the license. EKU layers its own rule on top: every RN license you hold must be unencumbered (license guide). Michigan is also not an APRN Compact state.
Restricted practice and how to vet a Michigan preceptor
AANP ranks Michigan as restricted practice because an NP prescribing controlled substances needs physician delegation. In your preceptor's practice, controlled-substance prescribing therefore runs through a delegation arrangement with a physician.
Vetting is straightforward here. In Michigan, NP status is a specialty certification added to the RN license, granted only to a nurse holding both a current Michigan RN license and Board-recognized national certification, so a prospective NP preceptor's Michigan record tells you a good deal. EKU's own review is described on the preceptor requirements page.
No Michigan rule on record asks out-of-state schools for approval or notice before clinicals in the state. Michigan's program-approval rules, which begin at R 338.10301 of the administrative code, deal with schools located in Michigan. For licensure, Michigan looks to national accreditation such as CCNE, which accredits EKU's MSN, DNP and post-graduate certificates (accreditation).
Systems, metros and a finished incentive pilot
Michigan's biggest systems include Corewell Health and Henry Ford Health, the University of Michigan's academic system (Michigan Medicine), McLaren Health Care, and Trinity Health Michigan. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn dwarfs the other metros; Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood comes next, then Lansing-East Lansing and Flint. These names mark where Michigan care is concentrated, not places tied to EKU, and a small practice near home can serve you just as well.
A state health department pilot, run jointly with the MSU College of Nursing, gave incentives to clinicians who precepted MSU family and psychiatric NP students. Michigan now describes that pilot as finished; it covered MSU students only, and the state has no enacted preceptor tax credit.
Why Michigan EKU students choose us
Michigan's license rules make preparation count. Your placement advisor confirms your Michigan RN license and your preceptor's NP specialty certification, matches the preceptor to your EKU course, family or psychiatric, and assembles the preceptor information and site details EKU reviews, so EKU receives a complete proposal. Kentucky's regulation puts securing preceptors on EKU and gives you input (the Kentucky rule); we make that input strong. We stay with you all term and find a replacement if a preceptor leaves. Request your Michigan search.
Questions EKU students ask
Is EKU's PMHNP available to Michigan residents?
Yes. One MSN licensure table governs both the PMHNP concentration and the post-MSN PMHNP certificate, and it marks Michigan Meets Requirements with no restriction attached. Your psychiatric clinicals run through NSC 800 and then the NSC 886 internship, so aim for a Michigan psychiatric NP or psychiatrist whose patients fit the course. See the PMHNP program.
Could my Michigan employer be my EKU clinical site?
It has happened before: an EKU Online FNP graduate said in 2021 that EKU would allow her to do clinicals where she worked. EKU's current pages publish no rule on employer sites, such as using a different unit or supervisor, so ask your faculty. Every site still needs EKU's approval. See clinicals where you work.
What changes for EKU students if Michigan joins the compact?
If HB 4246 passes and Michigan implements it, a Michigan multistate license would reach other compact states, and nurses from those states could train at Michigan sites on their home license. Until the Board announces an implementation date, plan every Michigan clinical around a Michigan RN license.
Does the RN to BSN work from Michigan?
Yes. EKU's RN to BSN table puts Michigan under Meets Requirements, and the program has a single clinical course, NSC 442C. EKU news coverage says RN to BSN students can do their capstone clinical project with their current employer, which suits a nurse already working in a Michigan facility. See the RN to BSN program.
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.