Delaware and Ohio University: a list and a disclosure that disagree
Delaware is not on the 28-state list Ohio University uses for graduate nursing applicants as of September 2026. One of the provost's licensure disclosures, though, marks the post-master's certificate "Yes" for Delaware with special Board of Nursing approval. Here is how to read that conflict, what Delaware asks of programs based elsewhere, and where the RN-to-BSN stands.
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Where Delaware stands, program by program
The application page decides who may apply, and it leaves Delaware off; the shorter graduate hub list does too. The provost's disclosures are a separate record about state licensure requirements, and they split by program.
| Program | Status for Delaware residents | Delivery | Clinical hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP, PMHNP or AG-ACNP | Off the application list; MSN disclosure "No" | Online | 750 |
| Post-master's certificates | Off the application list; certificate disclosure "Yes, requires special DE Board of Nursing approval" | Online | 750 (Emergency NP: 450 or 500) |
| MSN-to-DNP | Off the application list; DNP disclosure "No" | Online | 1,000 post-baccalaureate |
| MSN Nurse Leader or Nurse Educator | Off the application list | Online | 500 |
| RN-to-BSN | On all four RN-to-BSN state lists | 100% online | 31.5 |
Nothing on the application page makes an exception for Delaware, so treat the certificate "Yes" as an open question for Ohio University to answer, not as permission to apply. Email graduatenursing@ohio.edu for a written answer first. Every state conflict is laid out on the approved states page.
What Delaware asks of programs from other states
Delaware's code shows what a special approval could involve. Its nursing education regulation, rule 1900 in Title 24 of the state's administrative code, requires programs run from another state to give the Board of Nursing notice before any Delaware facility is used, and to send along:
- home-state board approval or national accreditation, shown on paper
- the signed contract with every clinical agency it plans to use
- its written expectations for clinical faculty and for preceptors
- who teaches or precepts, and at which site
- a current Delaware or multistate license for each of them
The Board also approves every facility before a student is placed there, and may send representatives to visit. The rule speaks of every nursing education program, whether pre-licensure, RN-BSN or graduate. It defines a preceptor as a nurse with a valid license and at least a BSN, and online faculty who teach in a Delaware facility must be licensed, or hold privileges, at the student's target level or higher.
Two compacts, one in force
Delaware nurses have held multistate licenses since the compact took effect here on January 19, 2018, and those licenses reach the other member states, neighbors Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey among them. The RN license page explains how that plays out at a clinical site.
On the APRN side, Delaware enacted that separate compact in August 2021, but the agreement needs seven member states to operate and has five, so NP students gain nothing from it yet. AANP rates Delaware as full practice.
Delaware's clinical landscape
Census estimates for 2025 place about 588,000 Delaware residents in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro, some 195,000 in the Dover metro and roughly 277,000 around Seaford, a micropolitan area. The larger systems include ChristianaCare, Bayhealth and Beebe Healthcare, while Nemours Children's Health, a pediatric system operating in several states, keeps its Delaware hospital in Wilmington. They are named to show the terrain, not because any is known to host Ohio University students, and each would need Board approval before hosting a student whose program is based outside Delaware. No state preceptor incentive is on record.
Who this page helps, and how we fit
If you are a Delaware RN in Ohio University's RN-to-BSN, your placement advisor recruits a Delaware-licensed preceptor holding a BSN or more, asks up front whether the facility already has Board approval for out-of-state students and whether it wants an affiliation agreement, and gets your Preceptor Agreement paperwork in order before Ohio University's due date.
If Ohio University confirms a certificate path for you, plan for travel as well: the first FNP and AG-ACNP practicums and the final PMHNP practicum carry short on-campus intensives in Dublin, Ohio. Delaware residents moving to Pennsylvania or New Jersey, both on the approved list, can have the search started for the new address. Your plan can reach us via the contact page.
Questions Ohio University students ask
Could a Delaware resident apply to Ohio University's PMHNP certificate?
The application page says no: as of September 2026, Delaware is not among the 28 states whose residents may apply. The provost's certificate disclosure marks Delaware "Yes" with special Delaware Board of Nursing approval, which conflicts with that list. Ask the School of Nursing at graduatenursing@ohio.edu for a written answer before you plan around it.
What does "special DE Board of Nursing approval" involve?
Ohio University's disclosure does not say. Delaware's code describes a program-level process: an out-of-state school notifies the Board, files its agency agreements, preceptor requirements, faculty and preceptor names and licenses, and uses only Board-approved facilities. Whether Ohio University has completed that for any program is not published, so ask the School of Nursing.
Does the RN-to-BSN accept Delaware nurses?
Every one of Ohio University's four RN-to-BSN state lists names Delaware. The 31.5 clinical hours run through NRSE 4585 and NRSE 4595 at local sites you choose. Because Delaware's out-of-state rule covers all nursing education programs, confirm the facility's Board approval early. The RN-to-BSN page has the course steps.
Does Delaware's APRN Compact help me as an NP student?
Not for now. The APRN Compact Delaware adopted in 2021 is waiting on two more states before it operates. Your student practice rests on your RN license, and the Nurse Licensure Compact, in force in Delaware since January 2018, already carries a multistate license across member states.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
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