ETSU's two nursing licensure disclosures, side by side
East Tennessee State University (ETSU) publishes two sets of state licensure disclosures for its nursing programs, and they do not match. The College of Nursing's program pages and ETSU's university consumer information pages agree that the MSN meets requirements in 23 states, then part ways, most sharply on Hawaii and Maryland. Read both for your state, then confirm with the College and your state board before you enroll or plan clinicals there.
Check your state with us
Tell us your state and ETSU program. We line it up against both disclosures before your preceptor search starts.
Two disclosures, two offices, two sets of dates
A licensure disclosure is ETSU's statement of whether a nursing program's curriculum meets the educational requirements for licensure in a given state. ETSU keeps two versions, on different parts of its website, with different labels and different update dates.
The College of Nursing version is a narrative list on its program pages: the MSN page (updated September 25, 2025) covers the BSN and MSN, and the DNP page (updated April 15, 2026) covers the ETSU DNP and the ETSU-TTU joint DNP. The university version is a set of consumer information tables, one per program, plus a general statement on the licensure index page (updated September 14, 2026).
| College of Nursing program pages | University consumer information pages | |
|---|---|---|
| Last updated | MSN page Sept. 25, 2025; DNP page Apr. 15, 2026 | BSN, MSN and DNP tables June 17, 2025; joint DNP July 22, 2024 |
| Labels | Meets; not yet determined | Meets; does not meet (joint DNP: has not been determined) |
| MSN marked meets | 25 states | 38 states, DC and the Northern Mariana Islands |
| DNP marked meets | 24 states (Maryland left off) | The same 38 states, DC and the Northern Mariana Islands |
Where your state lands in each (MSN and ETSU DNP)
Lay the MSN and DNP lists next to each other and every state falls into one of four groups. Find yours in the table, then read what the group means below it.
| College of Nursing pages | University consumer pages | States |
|---|---|---|
| Meets | Meets | Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin |
| Meets | Does not meet | Hawaii; Maryland (MSN list only, since the College's DNP list omits Maryland) |
| Not yet determined | Meets | Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Washington |
| Not yet determined | Does not meet | California, Colorado, Louisiana, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming |
Only the first group gets the same yes from both offices. In the third, one page is silent and the other says yes; in the fourth, one is silent and the other says no. The District of Columbia appears only on the consumer pages, marked meets. Every state has its own guide in the state guides.
Hawaii and Maryland: the two direct conflicts
Hawaii sits on the College of Nursing's meets list for the BSN, the MSN and both DNPs. The university consumer pages say the BSN, MSN and DNP do not meet Hawaii's requirements, and the joint DNP consumer page marks it not determined. Hawaii is also outside the Nurse Licensure Compact, so a multistate license from Tennessee carries no practice privilege there. More in the Hawaii guide.
Maryland is on the College's MSN meets list but on neither of its DNP lists. The consumer pages say the MSN and DNP do not meet Maryland's requirements, yet the consumer BSN page says the BSN does. The Maryland Board of Nursing also reviews and approves each NP program before certifying its graduates, and the school files the approval form when a program is not yet on its list. More in the Maryland guide.
| ETSU page | Program | Hawaii | Maryland |
|---|---|---|---|
| College of Nursing (msn.php) | BSN and MSN | Meets | Meets |
| College of Nursing (dnp.php) | ETSU DNP and joint DNP | Meets | Not listed |
| University consumer page | MSN and DNP | Does not meet | Does not meet |
| University consumer page | BSN | Does not meet | Meets |
| University consumer page | Joint DNP | Not determined | Not determined |
For Hawaii and Maryland, one ETSU page says yes and another says no, and ETSU has not said which governs. Get the answer from the College of Nursing and the state board in writing before you enroll or train there.
What the labels mean, and what they leave out
Not yet determined is the College's label for a state where ETSU has made no finding either way about the curriculum. It is not a yes and not a no. The College applies it to 25 states, including Kentucky, West Virginia, South Carolina and Alabama, all close to ETSU's part of the country.
Does not meet, on the consumer pages, is a finding: for that program, ETSU's table says the curriculum falls short of that state's educational requirements for licensure. It bears most on the license you would seek there after you finish, which is why ETSU asks applicants outside Tennessee to check with their own board before applying.
Neither label is a board ruling. ETSU's licensure index says its programs meet Tennessee's requirements but may not meet other states', that its information is not a promise of any board's decision, and that students outside Tennessee should confirm with their own board. Where you may do clinicals is a separate question with its own page.
The joint DNP, the BSN and the certificates
Joint DNP. The College's DNP page gives the joint DNP the same 24-state list as the ETSU DNP. The joint DNP consumer page, the oldest of the set (July 2024), says meets for the same 40 jurisdictions and marks the 12 states the DNP table calls does not meet as has not been determined. For a joint DNP student in Pennsylvania or Colorado, both offices land on an open question rather than a no.
BSN. The College lists the BSN with the same 25 states as the MSN, while the consumer BSN page says it meets requirements in every state except California, Hawaii and Louisiana. BSN, Accelerated BSN and LPN to BSN clinicals are assigned by the College, so for these students the disclosure mostly concerns licensure after graduation.
Certificates. The post-graduate certificates have no consumer table of their own, and the certificate page points to a drop-down that covers only the BSN, MSN, DNP and joint DNP. If you are in a post-graduate certificate, ask the College which disclosure applies.
How to use the disclosures, step by step
- Find your state on both listsUse the tables above, then open ETSU's own pages to confirm nothing has changed.
- Read the row for your programThe MSN, ETSU DNP, joint DNP and BSN answers differ for several states, Maryland above all.
- Ask the College of NursingIf your state is in a conflict group, ask which answer applies to your program and catalog year.
- Check with your state boardETSU tells anyone applying from another state to check with that state's board first.
- Plan clinicals once the answer is clearETSU reviews each graduate placement outside Tennessee individually once you are admitted, and each one needs regulator approval.
- Look again if you moveA move changes which state's board decides whether you may continue; see moving during your program.
Why ETSU students check their state with us first
A placement starts with geography. Before we search, your placement advisor lines up your state against both ETSU disclosures and your board's rules for students in out-of-state programs, and tells you plainly which questions to take to the College early.
Then we find a preceptor and site in your own community that fit your ETSU course and its patient population, collect everything the Preceptor Intent Form and the ProjectConcert entry ask for, flag the contract need on day one, and stay on call through the term. Approval of the preceptor remains with ETSU's clinical faculty, and credential checks with the College. Our contribution is a submission with every field filled and every rule met on arrival. Send us your state and program through the contact form.
Questions ETSU students ask
Does ETSU's online MSN meet licensure requirements in my state?
It depends on which ETSU page you read. Both the College of Nursing and the university consumer pages say the MSN meets requirements in 23 states, including Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina. For the other 27 states the two pages use different labels, and Hawaii and Maryland get a yes on one page and a no on the other.
Why do ETSU's College of Nursing and consumer information pages disagree?
ETSU does not explain it. The lists come from different parts of the university and carry different dates: the consumer tables were updated in June 2025, the College MSN page in September 2025 and the DNP page in April 2026. Treat neither as final for a conflict state, and ask the College of Nursing which determination applies to your program.
Can I enroll in an ETSU online nursing program from a state marked does not meet?
There is no ETSU list of states closed to enrollment. Instead, ETSU puts the question to your board: anyone applying from another state is expected to confirm, before applying, that their board accepts the online program. For a does not meet state, that board conversation matters most, since it speaks to the license you would hold there after graduating.
What does ETSU say about Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina?
Virginia and North Carolina are marked meets on both ETSU disclosures for the MSN and DNP. Kentucky is not yet determined on the College of Nursing pages and meets on the university consumer pages. Each of these states also sets its own rules for clinicals by students in out-of-state programs, covered in its state guide.
Is ETSU part of NC-SARA?
Yes. On the date we checked, NC-SARA's directory showed ETSU as a Participant, with the Tennessee Higher Education Commission as its portal agency, and ETSU's graduate catalog names California as the only non-SARA state. SARA membership concerns the university's authorization across state lines; it does not settle licensure or a nursing board's clinical rules.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against ETSU's own catalog, College of Nursing pages, plans of study and ProjectConcert guides. Your plan of study, your syllabus, your course faculty and the graduate clinical coordinator have the final word.
ETSU asks you to lead the preceptor search. We make it the fastest part of your program.
Tell us your ETSU concentration, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors who fit the course's patient population and prepare everything your Preceptor Intent Form and ProjectConcert entry need.
- Preceptors matched to the course: young and middle adults for
NRSE 5012, older adults forNRSE 5014, women forNRSE 5022, children forNRSE 5024, psychiatric care forNRSE 5405 - Credentials, license numbers, certification dates and the site's patient mix ready for faculty approval
- In your own community, in Northeast Tennessee or wherever ETSU approves your clinicals
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