Kent State practicum outside Ohio: SARA, host-state boards and moving
Kent State's online graduate students complete practicum in person in their home state, under the RN license they hold there, and Kent State's SARA membership lets it teach them where they live. SARA stops short of the nursing board, though: a host state's board can require its own approval before a clinical begins, and the College needs to know where each placement outside Ohio will be.
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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.
Who does a Kent State practicum outside Ohio
Kent State's online nursing programs place students close to home. Program pages put practicum courses in your state of residence, under the valid RN license you hold there, with preceptors in person near you, even though the coursework is online. For online AGCNS, PMHNP, WHNP, Nurse Educator, NAHSL and post-master's DNP students living beyond Ohio, an out-of-state practicum is the normal case.
Whether you can enroll from a given state is a separate question, answered program by program on Kent State's approved-states list, which the approved states page sets out. The mostly online FNP, AGPCNP and AGACNP concentrations are missing from that list, and Kent State does not publish their out-of-state status; if you are in one of them and live beyond Ohio, ask the College before planning a placement there.
Everything below assumes your state is approved for your program and that you hold the license that state requires.
What SARA covers, and what it leaves to nursing boards
Kent State has belonged to the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) since 2015, joining through the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE). Membership reaches the 49 SARA states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and it settles the institution-level question of whether Kent State may offer online education to someone living there. Kent State Online notes that California sits outside SARA but does not regulate out-of-state public universities.
SARA does not reach professional licensing boards. Kent State Online warns that licensed fields work differently: in nursing, a clinical placement may need a green light from the host state's board before it begins. Where that step exists, it runs between Kent State and the board, which is one reason the College wants your practicum state long before the first practicum.
Licensure after graduation is a third question, answered on Kent State's disclosure pages. A state can be approved for enrollment yet appear in the does-not-meet column for licensure, as Pennsylvania does for the AGCNS. The licensure disclosures page sorts that out by program.
Rules a host state can add to your placement
Kent State Online's state authorization pages list the ways a placement outside Ohio can differ from one at home:
- Board approval: some host-state nursing boards sign off on a clinical before day one.
- Facility caps: some SARA states limit how many students one facility may host.
- Workers' compensation: Colorado requires student coverage that Kent State cannot add to its own policy.
- Reporting: Kent State reports out-of-state learning placements from all its campuses to NC-SARA; virtual placements are not reported.
- Your license: outside Ohio, Kent State looks for an active, unrestricted RN license from your home state, the same state where you precept. The RN license page covers timing and monitoring.
The College has to be told which state hosts each field experience outside Ohio, and Kent State Online's state authorization office handles the university's side. Give your concentration coordinator your practicum state as early as you know it, so any host-state step runs alongside your preceptor search instead of after it.
Affiliation agreements with sites beyond Ohio
State lines leave the agreement rule unchanged. Hours at a site count only after the College of Nursing and that facility have an affiliation agreement in force, and the college, not the student, negotiates that document. Most partners Kent State names are Northeast Ohio systems, so a site in another state is more likely to start without one, and Kent State gives no typical turnaround.
Plan around that. Identify two or three candidate sites, check the GSN Canvas course for any agency that bars students from contacting preceptors directly, and hand your coordinator the site details as early as the semester before your first practicum. The affiliation agreements page explains the college's side of the process.
If you move during the program
Kent State's rule for a move is prompt notice. If you relocate, or begin practicing in another state, after admission, tell the College at once; the rule covers RN-to-BSN, MSN and DNP students alike. In some states the law rules out practicum courses entirely, so the move itself can settle whether your plan still works.
- Tell the College before you go.Reach the College's advising and student services office (the catalog's name for it is the Office of Student Services) the moment a move looks likely.
- Check both lists for the new state.Confirm the state appears on your program's approved-states list, then see where it falls in the licensure disclosure.
- Line up the new license.Practicum in the new state calls for that state's unrestricted RN license, and the office verifies it.
- Restart the placement.Practica follow your residence, so the search begins again in the new state, with new approvals from your practicum faculty and coordinator and an agreement with the new site.
- Adjust your plan.Ask the office to update your GPS plan if the move shifts a practicum to a later term.
Complaints and help when you study from another state
Out-of-state students have extra routes if a problem cannot be settled inside Kent State. ODHE, as Ohio's SARA portal agency, takes non-instructional complaints from students in SARA states. Instructional complaints go to ODHE for Ohio residents and to the home-state consumer protection agency for students in other SARA states, while students in states outside SARA send every complaint to their home state. The Higher Learning Commission is also available.
Start inside Kent State, though. Academic complaints follow the Policy Register process, beginning with the instructor, and Student Ombuds gives confidential help with any concern. The who does what page shows which Kent State role owns each practicum question.
Why out-of-state Kent State students choose us
Kent State's online students live across many states, and every search has to happen where the student lives. We look for a clinician in your own area whose practice matches your Kent State course, and we surface host-state questions, such as a facility cap or a board step, early enough for the College to act on them.
The approval call is made by your practicum faculty together with your concentration coordinator, and we assemble what they weigh: the preceptor's credentials, license and practice details and the site's onboarding steps. We also check at the outset whether the site is already under contract with the College of Nursing, which matters most for sites far from Northeast Ohio. If your preceptor leaves partway through a term, we find a replacement in your state. Start with the contact form.
Questions Kent State students ask
Can I live in Ohio and do my Kent State practicum in Pennsylvania?
Kent State's published license rule covers two cases: an Ohio license for Ohio courses or Ohio practicum, and a license from your own state when you both reside and precept outside Ohio. Living in Ohio and precepting across the border is not addressed, and Pennsylvania adds its own wrinkle in the AGCNS licensure disclosure. Ask your concentration coordinator before you approach a site.
Does SARA mean I can do clinicals in any state?
No. SARA lets Kent State offer online education in member states, but it leaves nursing boards out, and the board in the host state can require its own approval first. Enrollment is also limited by Kent State's approved-states list, which differs by program and leaves out the mostly online NP concentrations.
Does Kent State report where I do my practicum?
Yes, when the placement is outside Ohio. Kent State reports out-of-state learning placements from all its campuses to NC-SARA, and the College expects to hear which state hosts each field experience beyond Ohio. Virtual placements are not part of that reporting. Share your practicum state with the College as soon as you know it.
Can I do a Kent State nursing practicum in Colorado?
Colorado stands out on Kent State Online's list: it requires workers' compensation coverage for students that Kent State cannot add to its own policy. Colorado also does not appear on any of the College of Nursing's approved-states lists, so check your program's list and ask the College before planning anything there.
What if I move to a state Kent State has not approved?
Tell the College right away. Kent State cautions that some states' laws block practicum courses outright, and it wants to hear immediately from any admitted student who relocates or starts practicing elsewhere, so the College can say whether the program can continue there. The answer turns on your program's list and your new state's rules.
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.
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