Kent State practicum for Illinois nurses
Illinois is on all seven of Kent State's online nursing lists, so Illinois nurses can enroll from home in any of them, from the RN-to-BSN through the psychiatric and women's health NP tracks to the post-master's DNP. The Illinois details are what take planning: an administrative rule that may ask the school to file before clinical placements, an Illinois-only RN license, and collaborative agreements for many NPs.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Kent State program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Kent State course.
Illinois on Kent State's lists
| Kent State program | Illinois residents may enroll online | Illinois licensure disclosure |
|---|---|---|
| MSN PMHNP and PMHNP certificate | Yes | MEETS |
| MSN WHNP and WHNP certificate | Yes | MEETS |
| MSN AGCNS and AGCNS certificate | Yes | MEETS |
| MSN Nurse Educator and certificate | Yes | No row (no license) |
| MSN NAHSL and certificate | Yes | No row (no license) |
| Post-master's DNP | Yes | Not listed |
| RN-to-BSN | Yes | Not listed |
| FNP, AGPCNP, AGACNP | Not on the page; ask Kent State | MEETS |
Those MEETS results come from Kent State Online's program listing, while the concentration pages hedge on licensure beyond Ohio, so get the Illinois answer confirmed in writing before you enroll. Illinois eligibility for the partly on-campus FNP, AGPCNP and AGACNP has not been published. Compare other states on Kent State's approved states guide.
Illinois's filing rule for out-of-state clinical placements
Illinois is one of the states whose rules ask something of the school itself. Under Section 1300.340(n) of Title 68 of the Illinois Administrative Code, a nursing school from another state submits five items before placing students at Illinois clinical sites:
- proof that its home-state board approves or accredits it
- a request letter giving the time frame, the clinical agencies and the units
- the syllabus for the course
- its signed contract with the clinical facility
- qualification forms for faculty and preceptors
The approval runs two years at a time, renews, and brings a yearly report, and program faculty must be Illinois RNs. The provision sits in the RN program section and is silent on bachelor's completion and graduate programs. The practice act's student exemption for out-of-state RNs refers to programs 'in this State', which does not clearly fit an Ohio school. Whether Kent State files is Kent State's call, so raise it early with your concentration coordinator; the facility contract parallels Kent State's rule that hours count only under a College of Nursing affiliation agreement.
Who can precept you in Illinois
Illinois writes preceptor terms into the same code section. Faculty sign off on and orient every preceptor, the preceptor is on hand whenever the student cares for patients, and the preceptor holds a current RN license valid where the student practices. Kent State adds a year of practice, an active, unrestricted license and certification, and employer approval, set out on our preceptor requirements page.
AANP rates Illinois reduced practice. Depending on the setting, Illinois NPs work under a physician collaborative agreement, or clear practice and CE thresholds and keep a consultative relationship to prescribe certain Schedule II drugs and benzodiazepines. For a PMHNP student in NURS 62592, the medication-management practicum, that arrangement is part of what the preceptor models.
Illinois APRN preceptors also earn 10 continuing education hours for each academic term spent precepting an APRN student, capped at 30 in a renewal cycle, documented by the school.
Chicago and downstate: where Illinois students search
The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro counts about 8.7 million residents on its Illinois side, and Peoria, Rockford and Illinois's share of the St. Louis metro are the larger downstate markets. Northwestern Medicine, UChicago Medicine, Endeavor Health, OSF HealthCare and the Illinois arm of Advocate Health are the major systems. They mark where Illinois NP students tend to look, not sites arranged for Kent State students.
Your Illinois license
Illinois has joined neither the Nurse Licensure Compact, with no bill pending, nor the APRN Compact, so a multistate license from Ohio carries no weight there. Under Kent State's rule the license must be unrestricted and issued by your state of residence and practicum, which for Illinois means IDFPR, the state's professional regulation department. See our RN license page for when Kent State wants proof.
Why Illinois students choose us
Illinois students choose us because we plan for the Illinois layer from the first conversation. We look for in-person preceptors where you live, from the collar counties to downstate, confirm each one's Illinois license and schedule, and put together the preceptor and site packet your faculty and coordinator approve. A site new to Kent State is flagged at once, giving the college time for its agreement and any Illinois filing. Start your Illinois search.
Questions Kent State students ask
Is Kent State's post-master's DNP open to Illinois nurses?
Yes, Illinois is on the 16-state list for the post-MSN DNP. Practicum time is built into three project courses, NURS 72692, NURS 72792 and NURS 72892, done in your own community, and locating a site and preceptor is mainly your job, with faculty and the DNP program director helping.
What does an Illinois preceptor gain from teaching a Kent State student?
Illinois lets APRN preceptors apply 10 continuing education hours to renewal for each term they spend teaching an APRN student, with 30 as the cap per cycle and the school providing documentation. Kent State adds continuing education through PreceptED and recognition such as the Barbara Donaho award.
Can I use my Ohio compact license for clinicals in Illinois?
No. Because Illinois has not joined the compact, a multistate license carries no practice privilege there. Hold an Illinois RN license issued by IDFPR before your first practicum day and keep it current, since Kent State re-checks licenses at admission and at every renewal.
Can I complete Kent State's online WHNP from Illinois?
Yes, Illinois is among the 17 WHNP states. For the WHNP rotations Kent State looks to certified nurse-midwives, WHNPs, FNPs and OB/GYNs in practices with steady gynecologic or obstetric patients; for women's primary care, family practice physicians and adult or family NPs also fit.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against Kent State's own catalog, handbooks and program pages. Your MSN or DNP handbook, your syllabus, your practicum faculty and your concentration coordinator have the final word.
Kent State says the preceptor search is yours. We make it the fastest part of your practicum.
Tell us your Kent State concentration, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare everything your practicum faculty and coordinator review before they approve.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for
NURS 61292, acute care forNURS 61092, psychiatric care forNURS 61592, women's health forNURS 66192 - Credentials, license and site details ready for your practicum faculty and coordinator
- In your own community, in Ohio or wherever you live and hold your RN license
Start your placement plan
Program, city and semester is all we need to begin.