Wisconsin and EKU: clear tables, an open question on clinicals
Both of EKU's relevant licensure tables, MSN and RN to BSN, list Wisconsin as Meets Requirements, and no EKU note restricts the state. Two facts keep that from being a simple yes: Wisconsin appears on neither of EKU's SARA lists, and EKU did not appear on the August 3, 2026 edition of Wisconsin's roster of approved out-of-state schools. Settle the clinical question with EKU before you plan a Wisconsin site.
Plan ahead for Wisconsin
Tell us your EKU program, where in Wisconsin you live and your clinical term. Your placement advisor starts with EKU's current answer for the state.
What EKU's page shows for Wisconsin
Read the Wisconsin entry in two layers: the licensure tables give a clear result, and the SARA listing is simply missing.
| Program | EKU status for Wisconsin | Licensure table result |
|---|---|---|
| MSN Family Nurse Practitioner | Yes, but see the cautions below | Meets Requirements |
| MSN Psychiatric Mental Health NP | Yes, but see the cautions below | Meets Requirements |
| Post-MSN FNP and PMHNP certificates | Yes, but see the cautions below | Meets Requirements |
| Doctor of Nursing Practice | Not published | No DNP table exists |
| RN to BSN | Yes, but see the cautions below | Meets Requirements |
EKU sorts SARA members into two lists, those without restrictions and those with special ones. Wisconsin is a SARA member yet is on neither, a gap it shares with North Carolina. The DNP has no licensure table either, so for Wisconsin DNP applicants EKU's page offers no signal at all. The licensure tables answer a narrower question, whether the program meets Wisconsin's educational requirements for licensure; they do not say whether EKU can run clinicals there.
Wisconsin's approval rule for nursing schools based elsewhere
Wisconsin regulates out-of-state schools directly. The Board's form 3067-OEE (revision of April 13, 2026) points to rule N 1.06 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code as the source of approval standards for schools of nursing located in other states, and it says those schools need the Wisconsin Board's approval. The form reaches practical nurse and RN programs from the associate level through graduate study, post-licensure bachelor's programs included, and approved schools file a self-evaluation report to keep their approval.
The Department of Safety and Professional Services posts the resulting roster of approved out-of-state schools. EKU was not on the copy dated August 3, 2026. The roster does not explain absences, and EKU's page does not mention Wisconsin approval, so neither source answers the question for you. Your faculty or the Clinical Placement Coordinator can.
Get EKU's answer on Wisconsin sites before you ask any Wisconsin clinician to precept you. A willing preceptor only helps once EKU confirms it can place students in the state.
Wisconsin's new APRN law and the preceptors it affects
2025 Wisconsin Act 17, the APRN Modernization Act, took effect September 1, 2026. Under it, DSPS licenses APRNs in four roles, one of which is the nurse practitioner, and every former APNP license was switched over to the APRN credential. Going independent, with no collaborating physician, is a separate step the Board has to approve on application. AANP's May 2026 map predates the change and still shows reduced practice with a required physician collaboration, so a prospective preceptor may be working under either arrangement.
Big names include UW Health and Aspirus Health, Froedtert ThedaCare Health, Ascension Wisconsin, and Advocate Health's Aurora Health Care, with care concentrated around Milwaukee-Waukesha, Madison, Green Bay and Appleton. They show where NP practice clusters in the state; listing them implies no EKU placement. See preceptor requirements for EKU's side.
Licensing for Wisconsin clinicals
Wisconsin's compact participation began January 19, 2018. Hold an active multistate license from Wisconsin or any other member state and you can practice as an RN at a Wisconsin clinical site. EKU asks that each license you hold be unencumbered, a point covered further in RN license and Nursys. Wisconsin has not enacted the APRN Compact.
Where we fit for Wisconsin students
Our Wisconsin work starts from EKU's answer. Once EKU confirms it can place you at a Wisconsin site, your placement advisor searches near your home or job for a family or psychiatric NP preceptor licensed in Wisconsin, checks the fit with your EKU course and assembles the preceptor credentials and site paperwork EKU evaluates. While you wait on EKU, we can map likely preceptor options so you are ready to move the day the answer arrives. Kentucky's regulation assigns preceptor placement to EKU and preserves your input (the Kentucky rule), and a fully prepared Wisconsin option is the most useful input you can give. Contact the placement desk.
Questions EKU students ask
Is EKU authorized in Wisconsin under SARA?
EKU's page does not say. Wisconsin belongs to SARA, but it is missing from both of EKU's SARA member lists, while the licensure tables still include Wisconsin and mark the MSN and RN to BSN as Meets Requirements. Ask EKU's online advisors to confirm your enrollment status in writing before you apply, and keep that confirmation.
Can I enroll in EKU's DNP while living in Wisconsin?
Nothing EKU publishes settles it. No DNP licensure table exists, since the degree leads to no license, and Wisconsin's absence from EKU's SARA lists leaves no other signal. EKU's explicit DNP exclusions name Colorado, Louisiana, Tennessee and Washington, not Wisconsin, but that silence is not a yes. Ask EKU directly; see the DNP guide.
What license must a Wisconsin preceptor hold?
Some form of Wisconsin authorization. The state's out-of-state school form requires clinical faculty and preceptors working in Wisconsin to carry either a Wisconsin license or a privilege to practice there. For an NP preceptor, look for a current Wisconsin APRN license, which replaced the APNP credential on September 1, 2026. EKU reviews preceptor qualifications as well.
I am already an EKU student and just moved to Wisconsin. What now?
Talk to your advisor right away. EKU asks students to report any change of location and cautions that a move after admission may cost you your place. Then ask your faculty how EKU handles Wisconsin clinical sites, given the gaps described above, before your next clinical course. The Michigan guide covers a neighboring state.
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
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