Kent State practicums for Montana nurses
Montana is approved for all seven Kent State online nursing programs that carry state lists, the NP and CNS tracks through the DNP and RN-to-BSN, and every Montana licensure result on Kent State's disclosure page reads MEETS. Better still, Montana's nursing board leaves graduate and RN-to-BSN clinicals out of its approval process, asking only that each student practice on a license Montana recognizes.
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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.
Every Kent State online list includes Montana
Kent State's approved-states page and its licensure disclosure both give Montana a clean result. The combined view as read on September 24, 2026 is below; other states are on Kent State's approved states.
| Program | Enroll from Montana | Montana licensure disclosure |
|---|---|---|
| PMHNP (MSN, certificate) | Approved | MEETS |
| WHNP (MSN, certificate) | Approved | MEETS |
| AGCNS (MSN, certificate) | Approved | MEETS |
| Nurse Educator (MSN, certificate) | Approved | Leads to no license |
| NAHSL (MSN, certificate) | Approved | Leads to no license |
| Post-MSN DNP | Approved | Not on the disclosure page |
| RN-to-BSN | Approved | Not on the disclosure page |
| FNP, AGPCNP, AGACNP | Not published for any state | MEETS |
The last row is the gap. Those three NP tracks are mostly online but ask for some time on the Kent Campus, and whether a Montanan may take one is not in print; Kent State's student services office can say. The APRN program pages also still describe licensure beyond Ohio as undecided, an odd fit beside the MEETS results, so get yours confirmed before enrolling.
What the Montana Board expects
Montana sorts out-of-state programs into two groups. Pre-licensure programs, the ones preparing students for a first RN or PN license, go through ARM 24.159.608: before a single Montana placement, the board or its executive director must sign off on a written application covering accreditation, preceptors, faculty supervision and more. Post-licensure programs sit in the other group. By the board's own FAQ, RN-to-BSN and graduate programs hold Montana clinicals without that sign-off, and the school's job is to make sure every student carries an active license Montana recognizes, since the patients are in Montana.
Instructors get similar treatment. The board requires a Montana license of out-of-state faculty only when they deliver hands-on patient care; faculty who confer with you and your preceptor are not covered. Kent State describes its practicum faculty as the liaison to your preceptor. Kent State's online programs operate under SARA, which it joined in 2015, while the Board keeps its authority over clinicals; the national picture is on clinicals outside Ohio.
Preceptors in a state of small metros
Metro Billings tops the population list at roughly 194,000 residents; the Bozeman and Missoula metros each hold around 129,000, and Helena about 97,000. Employers to know include Benefis Health System, the merged Billings Clinic-Logan Health system, Intermountain Health (which runs St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Billings) and Providence, whose Montana hospitals include St. Patrick in Missoula. That is a list of employers, not of sites committed to Kent State students, and no site you propose counts for hours until Kent State's College of Nursing has an agreement signed with it, a step the college arranges.
The AANP rates Montana a full practice state. Kent State's own rules still decide who qualifies to precept you: a year or more in your population focus and in the role, plus concentration profiles, such as, for PMHNP students, a clinician with psychotherapy experience in the first practicum and a prescriber in the second. The full list is on preceptor requirements.
Licensing: compact rules keep it simple
Montana's compact membership dates to January 19, 2018. Its RN licensing page tells nurses holding a multistate privilege from another compact state that they may practice in Montana without a separate Montana license. For a Montana resident, the natural answer is a license issued by Montana, since Kent State's catalog pins the practicum license to your home state and wants it unrestricted; license timing is covered on RN license for practicum. Montana has not joined the APRN Compact.
Built for Kent State students in Montana
In a state whose largest metro is under 200,000 people, a well-matched preceptor close to home is worth the effort. We search around your base, whether Billings, Bozeman, Missoula, Helena or a smaller town, for preceptors who fit your concentration's profile, prepare the paperwork faculty and your coordinator use to approve a preceptor, and catch affiliation agreement needs before the term starts. If a preceptor drops mid-semester, we line up the replacement. The form below gets it moving.
Questions Kent State students ask
Does Kent State's online PMHNP accept students from Montana?
Yes. The online PMHNP's 14 approved states include Montana, for the MSN and the certificate, and Montana's NP licensure line reads MEETS. The four practicums run in person in Montana with a different preceptor profile for each, laid out on the PMHNP page. Kent State's APRN pages still waver on licensure outside Ohio, so confirm the result first.
Does Montana need to approve Kent State before my graduate clinicals?
No, going by the Montana Board of Nursing's FAQ. The ARM 24.159.608 approval targets out-of-state programs that prepare students for a first license. Your program is post-licensure, so the remaining condition is a license Montana recognizes, which Kent State confirms. Kent State still needs an affiliation agreement with your site before hours count.
Is Montana approved for Kent State's Women's Health NP?
Yes, Montana is among the 17 states on the online WHNP list, which covers both the MSN and the certificate. The four WHNP practicums, from gynecologic care to a specialty of your choice, all take place in person in Montana. Preceptors can be nurse-midwives, WHNPs, FNPs or OB/GYNs; details are on the WHNP page.
I'm relocating to Montana from Ohio. What should I do first?
Notify the Office of Student Services straight away; the approved-states page requires it of anyone already admitted. Montana's spot on every online list works in your favor, but the college confirms whether you carry on. Then sort out a Montana-valid license, and expect a new site to need an affiliation agreement before your hours count.
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
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