Studying with ETSU from Hawaii
On Hawaii, East Tennessee State University (ETSU) says yes and no at once, one of only two states where that happens. The College of Nursing puts Hawaii on its meets list for every nursing program, while the university's consumer information tables find the BSN, MSN and DNP short of Hawaii's requirements. Settle it with the College and the Hawaii Board of Nursing before you apply, and again before any move to the islands.
Studying from Hawaii?
Tell us your island, your ETSU program and your next practicum. We start with the license and board questions Hawaii raises.
What ETSU says about Hawaii
| ETSU page | Program | Result for Hawaii |
|---|---|---|
| College of Nursing MSN page (September 2025) | BSN and MSN | Meets |
| College of Nursing DNP page (April 2026) | ETSU DNP and joint DNP | Meets |
| University consumer information (June 2025) | MSN and DNP | Does not meet |
| University consumer information (July 2024) | Joint DNP | Not determined |
| University consumer information (June 2025) | BSN | Does not meet |
The split runs through every program: the BSN, MSN and ETSU DNP go from meets on the College list to does not meet in the university tables, and the joint DNP slips to not determined. Only Maryland is divided in a comparable way. ETSU names no governing page, so ask the College which statement covers your program and catalog year, ask the Hawaii board too, and keep both replies. Other states' entries are on ETSU's licensure disclosures.
Hawaii's board and students from mainland schools
Under HRS 457-13(2), students may practice nursing incidental to their studies only in programs the Hawaii Board of Nursing accredits. For prelicensure students the board holds that line firmly: in September 2016 its Education Committee agreed that a North Dakota BSN program could not send a pre-license student to Hawaii for clinicals. ETSU keeps its own undergraduate clinicals College-assigned, and LPN to BSN stays in Tennessee.
Post-licensure programs get a lighter touch. According to the board's FAQ, a distance program with no Hawaii campus neither applies for Hawaii approval nor notifies the board, and its faculty need a Hawaii license only when physically teaching or precepting on the islands. The FAQ's examples are LPN to RN and RN to BSN; no Hawaii source found names graduate or APRN programs. Ask the board in writing, alongside ETSU's own review of clinicals outside Tennessee.
Get the board's answer for an MSN or DNP rotation before committing to a Hawaii site.
Practice, preceptors and sites on the islands
Hawaii is full practice in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners' (AANP) ratings, so an experienced Hawaii NP can take on an ETSU FNP or PMHNP student alone. Physicians qualify too; the Intent Form names MD among its credential examples.
Urban Honolulu, close to a million people, dwarfs Hilo-Kailua and Kahului-Wailuku. On Oahu, names NP students weigh include Queen's, Kaiser Permanente's Hawaii region and Hawaii Pacific Health (Straub, Wilcox, Pali Momi, Kapiolani); the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation is another name to know. Listing them says nothing about hosting ETSU students, and any site you pick needs an ETSU contract first.
The Hawaii preceptor tax credit, HRS 235-110.25, is limited to students of programs based or accredited in Hawaii with a Hawaii-resident majority, so an ETSU rotation earns a preceptor nothing under it.
Your license, and the move question
Hawaii has no Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) membership and no legislation in the works to add it, and it has not adopted the APRN Compact. A multistate license from Tennessee gives you no privilege there, so get Hawaii's own RN license well ahead of the first shift. That one license satisfies ETSU's MSN rule; the DNP also wants a Tennessee or compact-state license, so DNP students would carry two. See the RN license for clinicals.
Applying from Hawaii? ETSU wants you to ask your own board first; the university's finding matters most for the Hawaii license you would seek after graduating. Already enrolled and heading to Oahu, Maui or the Big Island? Staying enrolled depends on Hawaii's board allowing it, and ETSU's records office and the College both need to hear about the move; see moving during your program.
Why ETSU students in Hawaii choose us
Hawaii rewards careful groundwork, which is exactly how we work. We confirm your island, your ETSU course and your license, then search your own community for an NP or physician whose patients match that course, gather every detail ETSU's intent paperwork and onboarding submission require, and raise the contract with the College on day one.
ETSU's faculty approve preceptors and its student services staff check credentials; the package that reaches them from us is complete and fits ETSU's rules at first submission. If your preceptor leaves partway, we start the replacement search right away. Begin with a message to us.
Questions ETSU students ask
Does ETSU's online MSN meet Hawaii's licensure requirements?
ETSU answers both ways. Hawaii appears on the meets list of the College's MSN page (September 2025), while the university's MSN disclosure table (June 2025) records does not meet. Neither names itself as controlling, so get written answers from the College and from the Hawaii board.
Does a Tennessee compact license work for ETSU clinicals in Hawaii?
It does not. Hawaii is outside the NLC, so a multistate license from Tennessee or any compact state carries no practice privilege on the islands. Apply for Hawaii's RN license early and keep every license in good standing; ETSU withdraws students whose license is suspended or revoked.
Would a Hawaii preceptor get the state tax credit for teaching an ETSU student?
Per the program's FAQ, no. Eligible rotations serve students of academic programs accredited in or physically located in Hawaii, with over half of their students living in Hawaii. A Tennessee program like ETSU falls outside that definition.
Can I take ETSU's RN to BSN while living in Hawaii?
Look closely first. The College lists the BSN as meeting Hawaii's requirements; the university BSN page says it does not. ETSU adds that RN to BSN students living out of state might need to log clinical hours with a Tennessee institution or agency.
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
Start your placement plan
Program, city and semester is all we need to begin.