Kent State BSN to DNP: two routes and the practicums along each

Practice Leadership: the MSN comes first

On this route, admission to the DNP comes paired with a seat in one of the MSN's APRN concentrations. You may take some DNP courses once your first two full-time graduate semesters are behind you, but the MSN and national APRN certification must both be in hand before DNP coursework continues. Kent State's DNP page describes the first two years as the MSN, after which you are eligible to certify.

Kent State's sources disagree on who receives this dual admission. The MSN handbook says every BSN-holding DNP admit enters both programs; the catalog limits dual admission to post-baccalaureate Practice Leadership students. A graduate advisor can confirm which version applies to your admission.

According to Kent State, the BSN-to-DNP and its APRN concentrations lead toward national certification exams and an Ohio APRN license, and any other state may layer on conditions of its own. On the Programs Leading to Licensure table, three places are marked not met for the MSN NP concentrations (California, New York, American Samoa), and the AGCNS row also flags Michigan and Pennsylvania.

NAEL: leadership practicums inside the DNP

NAEL is a 30-credit concentration for BSN nurses aiming at management and executive roles, and the full DNP plan around it comes to 64 credits, or 61 when NURS 70016 is waived. Besides the shared DNP core, it includes NURS 70020, NURS 70024, NURS 70101, NURS 70315, NURS 70651, NURS 74002 and a finance course (NURS 70686 or NURS 70089), with four leadership practicums in sequence.

1. NURS 70292 Integration of Clinical Expertise into the Healthcare Management Role Practicum2 credits and 150 hours. It opens after NURS 70621 and NURS 70711, once your clinical compliance is in place.
2. NURS 74292 NAHSL I Practicum2 credits and 150 hours, after NURS 70016 and NURS 70292. Its catalog entry mentions NURS 74202, a course absent from the 2026-2027 inventory, so confirm prerequisites with your advisor.
3. NURS 74302 NAHSL Seminar2 credits. The seminar carries its own practicum in a health care organization, and the catalog gives that practicum no hour figure.
4. NURS 74692 Executive Leadership Practicum3 credits at 10 contact hours a week, again with no printed hour total.

The three DNP project courses come after these. Leadership preceptors for NAEL are not described on a separate Kent State page, so ask your NAEL faculty what profile each practicum expects before you approach anyone.

Planning placements across several years

1. Confirm your state for every stageKent State's approved-states page has no BSN-to-DNP line. It gives the fully online APRN concentrations their own state lists, the post-master's DNP a list of 16, and leaves the hybrid AGACNP, AGPCNP and FNP off entirely, so check each stage with the Office of Student Services.
2. Hold the right RN licensePracticum in Ohio needs an unrestricted Ohio license; outside Ohio, you need the license of the state you live and train in.
3. Run the first practicum search with your coordinatorYour coordinator steps in one term before the opening practicum, and the placement guide sits in the GSN Canvas course.
4. Pick the project site before Project IChoose an organization that can host 150, then 250, then 150 hours of project work, and leave time for any new College of Nursing affiliation agreement.
5. Keep compliance current for years, not monthsAn expired TB test or flu vaccine stops your hours from counting until it is renewed, and a long program crosses many renewal dates.