North Carolina and EKU: a listing gap to clear up first
EKU's MSN licensure table, which also covers both post-MSN certificates, marks North Carolina as Meets Requirements, and the RN to BSN table agrees. Yet North Carolina appears on neither of EKU's SARA member-state lists, and EKU publishes nothing about DNP enrollment from the state. Treat that as a question to settle with EKU in writing before you apply, not as a closed door.
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What EKU's page shows for North Carolina
Read the licensure tables alone and North Carolina looks fully open, and since EKU's online programs need no campus visits, your clinicals would happen there. The puzzle sits elsewhere on the same page.
| EKU program | Status for North Carolina residents | Licensure table result |
|---|---|---|
| MSN: Family Nurse Practitioner | Open per the licensure table; state absent from both SARA lists | Meets Requirements |
| MSN: Psychiatric Mental Health NP | Open per the licensure table; state absent from both SARA lists | Meets Requirements |
| Post-MSN FNP and PMHNP certificates | Open per the MSN table; same listing gap | Meets Requirements |
| Post-master's DNP | Not published | No DNP table |
| RN to BSN | Open per its own table; same listing gap | Meets Requirements |
The conflict, and how to settle it
EKU sorts SARA member states into two lists: one without restrictions and one with special restrictions. North Carolina has belonged to SARA since June 2016, yet it is on neither list, and EKU offers no explanation. Wisconsin shows the same pattern, as the state authorization guide notes.
For the FNP, PMHNP and certificates, the licensure table is the stronger signal, and it says Meets. The DNP has no licensure table, so its status rests on the SARA lists and state notes, and for North Carolina those are silent. Whatever your program, ask EKU's online advisors to confirm North Carolina by email and file their answer alongside your admission paperwork.
The listing carries weight on the North Carolina side as well. According to the North Carolina Board of Nursing (NCBON), a student enrolled at a SARA-approved school may qualify to do field placements in North Carolina while the coursework comes from that school, so EKU's SARA standing is part of the North Carolina picture.
What the North Carolina Board of Nursing regulates
NCBON's position is that post-licensure graduate programs, whether from inside or outside the state, are not its to approve or reject; RN to BSN, master's and doctoral programs all fall beyond its reach. The out-of-state clinical approval rule it does enforce, 21 NCAC 36 .0233, covers students who are not yet licensed, so it targets pre-licensure schools rather than an RN in EKU's NP tracks.
One NCBON instruction does reach graduate students. A master's or doctoral student without a North Carolina or multistate nursing license is told to write to the Licensure Department, using the Board's Email Us form, and learn the requirements before starting clinicals in the state. The Nurse Licensure Compact has applied in North Carolina from January 19, 2018; the state has no APRN Compact law. EKU also expects each RN license you hold to be unencumbered; see RN license and Nursys.
NP clinicals in North Carolina
North Carolina carries AANP's restricted rating. An NP there practices under a physician agreement for the length of a career, and NP licensure is handled jointly by the nursing and medical boards through a Joint Subcommittee, so any NP who precepts you works within that agreement. Kentucky's preceptor definition is broad enough to cover that physician too, along with APRNs and PAs.
The state's large systems include Duke Health, UNC Health, Novant Health, ECU Health and Atrium Health, a Charlotte-based member of Advocate Health. Its biggest metros are Charlotte, Raleigh-Cary, Greensboro-High Point and Winston-Salem. They mark where NP students tend to look, and none is described here as taking EKU students.
Why North Carolina EKU students choose us
Your placement advisor begins with EKU's page for your program and the North Carolina listing gap, so you know what to confirm with EKU first. We then find a preceptor near you who fits your course, an FNP preceptor in primary care or a PMHNP preceptor in psychiatric-mental health, ready for NSC 800 and the internship that follows, and gather the license details and site documents EKU asks for. You bring EKU a complete North Carolina option; under Kentucky's rule, securing and approving the placement is EKU's job and your input is protected. We stay on call through your internship.
Questions EKU students ask
Is EKU's online FNP available to North Carolina residents?
On the evidence of EKU's own licensure table, yes: it marks North Carolina as Meets Requirements, and no EKU note limits the state. The catch is that North Carolina is missing from both SARA lists on the same page. An email from EKU's online advisors confirming your program settles it, and it is worth having in hand before you apply.
Can I do the EKU DNP from North Carolina?
EKU publishes nothing either way. The post-master's DNP has no licensure table, and North Carolina is absent from the SARA lists and state notes EKU uses for programs that do not lead to a license. Ask EKU directly. If the answer is yes, expect site approval course by course, as EKU's 2020 DNP handbook, now archived, required.
I live in South Carolina near Charlotte. Can my EKU preceptor be in North Carolina?
EKU's page sets no rule on training outside your home state, so check three things with your faculty: EKU's status for both states (South Carolina is on the unrestricted SARA list, North Carolina on neither), a license valid in North Carolina, and EKU's catalog rule that you report any supervised placement outside Kentucky. Both states are compact members. See the South Carolina guide.
Can I do EKU's RN to BSN clinical at my North Carolina hospital?
EKU's RN to BSN table says Meets for North Carolina, and EKU says RN to BSN students can complete the capstone clinical project at their current place of employment. An archived 2023-24 handbook added that an affiliation agreement is needed even at your own employer. The course is NSC 442C; see the RN to BSN clinical guide.
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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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
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