Tennessee and Ohio University nursing: the straight answer

Updated September 24, 2026 · Reviewed by the Ohio Preceptor placement team

Tennessee residents cannot apply to Ohio University's MSN, certificate or DNP programs today: as of September 2026 the state sits on neither the graduate approved list nor any RN-to-BSN list, and it is tightening up on programs based elsewhere. Six of its eight neighbors are on Ohio University's list, which is where this page helps most.

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6 of 8states bordering Tennessee on Ohio University's graduate list

Ohio University state lists for Tennessee: graduate NP programs not on the approved list; RN-to-BSN not listed on the program page list. RN license: in the compact. NP practice: restricted. — Tennessee on Ohio University's published state lists (September 2026): MSN, certificate and DNP applicants not on the approved list; RN-to-BSN not listed; RN license in the compact; NP practice restricted (AANP).

Tennessee on Ohio University's state lists

Ohio University's MSN application page names 28 states whose residents, with a valid, unrestricted RN license there, may apply to graduate nursing. Tennessee is absent, and the provost's disclosures mark it "No" for the MSN, certificate and DNP. All four RN-to-BSN lists omit it too, and the RN-to-BSN disclosure note reads "Must apply to the Board of Nursing for approval."

What Tennessee residents can enter at Ohio University (September 2026)
Program	Status for Tennessee residents	Delivery	Clinical hours
FNP, PMHNP or AG-ACNP, as MSN or post-master's certificate	Closed: Tennessee is not an approved state	Online, with brief intensives in Dublin, Ohio	750
Emergency NP certificate	Closed	Online, two intensives	450 by the catalog, 500 by the program page
MSN-to-DNP	Closed	Online, with intensives	1,000 post-baccalaureate
Nurse Leader or Nurse Educator MSN	Closed	Online	500
RN-to-BSN	Closed: on none of the four lists	Online	31.5

Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi and Missouri are approved; Georgia and Alabama are not. Lists change, so confirm with Ohio University first.

A proposed freeze on out-of-state clinical placements

Tennessee's Nursing Education Integrity and Oversight Act (SB 2013/HB 1905) directs the Board of Nursing to set a two-year moratorium: no accepting or approving applications from programs located outside Tennessee that seek to run a program, enroll students, or send students for clinical experience there. Any program not "based in this state" is covered, RN-to-BSN and APRN study included.

Programs approved earlier would keep that status but owe requested data, including preceptor lists and placement figures, to the Board and the Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement, whose recommended standards for such programs fall due June 30, 2027. The act starts the day it becomes law; one secondary source names April 27, 2026, though official confirmation could not be found, and no existing Board rule plainly requires approval before a placement.

Physician supervision, and a preceptor payment Ohio schools miss

AANP rates Tennessee restricted. NPs there practice under physician supervision, and prescribing carries limits for Schedule II to IV drugs and on opioid supply. With any NP preceptor there, confirm the supervising arrangement along with the credentials.

Tennessee also pays preceptors. The THA Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program, grant-funded by the state and run by the hospital association with its partner, the Tennessee Center for Health Workforce Development, rewards a cycle's worth of one-on-one precepting (at least 70 hours) while funds last. LPN, RN and APRN preceptors qualify with an unrestricted Tennessee or multistate license and UTHSC's preceptor course, which has an NP track. The student must attend an accredited Tennessee school, or one in Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, Virginia, Kentucky or Alabama with the hours worked in Tennessee. Ohio is missing.

Four metros, five systems, one compact

Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin leads with about 2.2 million residents in 2025 Census estimates, then Memphis (1.34 million, some 1.02 million in Tennessee), Knoxville (near 968,000) and Chattanooga (about 595,000, roughly 438,000 in-state). NP students there weigh Erlanger and Covenant Health, Ballad Health, the Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare system and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, each with its own student process.

Licensing is the easy part. Compact membership for both Tennessee and Kentucky dates to January 19, 2018, so a Kentucky nurse's multistate license reaches RN practice in Tennessee. The APRN Compact is another matter: Tennessee is not among its five enacting states. The license guide goes further.

Where we help Tennessee-connected students

The clearest fit is an Ohio University student living just across the line in Kentucky, Virginia or North Carolina, and the Tennessee nurse who might relocate to one of them before applying. Nothing on ohio.edu ties graduate clinicals to the home state or authorizes crossing the line, so ask your faculty first; with the freeze pending, a site at home is steadier. Anyone moving into Tennessee mid-program should write to graduatenursing@ohio.edu beforehand.

Your placement advisor searches your area for a preceptor suited to your Ohio University course, checks licenses against the site's state, flags Tennessee's supervision rule where it applies, and readies what faculty review before the clinical packet deadline. Approval is faculty's call; what they receive from us is whole and in order. See clinicals outside Ohio, then send your details below.

Questions Ohio University students ask

Can I apply to Ohio University's online nurse practitioner program from Tennessee?

Not today. Tennessee is absent from the 28 approved states, and living in one of them, with an unrestricted RN license issued there, is a condition of every Ohio University graduate nursing program as of September 2026. Kentucky and Virginia are on the list. Recheck before any move.

Is Tennessee's out-of-state nursing program moratorium in force?

Unclear at the time of writing. It starts on becoming law, and one secondary source names April 27, 2026, but official enactment could not be confirmed. The freeze covers new applications from programs based outside Tennessee, clinical placement requests included. Ask the Tennessee Board of Nursing directly.

Could a Tennessee preceptor claim the THA incentive for an Ohio University student?

On the program's published terms, no. Qualifying students attend an accredited Tennessee school or one in seven named states (Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama) with their hours in Tennessee. Ohio University is based in Ohio, which the program does not name.

I live in Kentucky near the Tennessee line. Can my clinicals be in Tennessee?

Ohio University's public pages neither require nor rule out a clinical across a state line, so your faculty decide. Your Kentucky multistate license covers RN practice in Tennessee, but the pending freeze and the physician supervision rule make a Kentucky site the simpler route.

GuideOhio University clinicals by stateDoing Ohio University clinicals outside Ohio? Fifty state guides: the approved-state list, RN license rules, boards of nursing and where NP students look.StatesThe 28 approved statesThe 28 states Ohio University accepts graduate nursing applicants from, the 22 left off, where its own lists disagree, and what to do if you move mid-program.StatesClinicals outside OhioDoing Ohio University nursing clinicals in another approved state: the license you train under, state rules for out-of-state programs, and the Dublin OCIs.LicenseRN license and the compactThe RN license Ohio University requires, how the Nurse Licensure Compact covers clinicals across state lines, and which license your site's state expects.State guideKentuckyKentucky nurses in Ohio University's online programs: the KBN license rule for preceptors, the KRS 314.101 exemption, Louisville and Lexington, and Ohio sites.State guideVirginiaVirginia is on Ohio University's graduate list, yet its DNP disclosure says No. What that means, Virginia's student license exemption and where NP students look.

Last checked 2026-09-24

We check these pages against Ohio University's own catalog, program pages and Nursing Knowledge Center. Your syllabus, the Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and your faculty have the final word.

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