State guide: Kansas

Kansas clinicals for Spring Arbor students, and the check at the finish line

Updated September 24, 2026 · Reviewed by the Spring Arbor Preceptor placement team

You can study any SAU nursing program from Kansas, and KSBN asks nothing of an out-of-state APRN program before you enroll or start clinicals. Kansas does its checking later, when a graduate seeks a Kansas APRN license, and that review includes a clinical-hour minimum worth comparing with SAU's published hours now.

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750role-specialty clinical hours KSBN looks for if you were admitted after March 1, 2025

Spring Arbor nursing clinicals in Kansas: possible for MSN NP tracks: FNP, AGPCNP, PMHNP, PNP, Nurse Educator and MSN/MBA, Post-master's certificates, DNP (Strategic Leadership), RN-to-BSN. RN license: in the compact. NP practice: full. — Kansas on Spring Arbor's nursing state authorization list: authorized; RN license in the compact; NP practice full (AANP).

Kansas and your SAU track

Every SAU nursing program had Kansas on its authorized list when we looked on September 24, 2026. For NP students, the preceptor rule and the licensure review below matter most.

SAU programs and Kansas clinicals (SAU state authorization page, checked 2026-09-24)
SAU program group	Clinicals in Kansas?	Kansas point
NP tracks: FNP, AGPCNP, PMHNP, PNP-PC	Yes	KSBN prefers a Kansas APRN preceptor in your role (K.A.R. 60-17-104)
Nurse Educator and MSN/MBA	Yes	No KSBN approval step described
Post-master's certificates	Yes	The Kansas APRN preceptor expectation applies to NP certificates too
DNP (Strategic Leadership)	Yes	No KSBN process described for this practicum; confirm with SAU
RN-to-BSN	Yes	No KSBN placement process described; hours sit in coursework

KSBN reviews at licensure, not at enrollment

According to KSBN, an online APRN program based in another state faces no formal board approval before Kansas residents enroll. KSBN's first look at such a program comes when one of its graduates applies for a Kansas APRN license. That review wants at least 45 credit hours, national accreditation, at least 3 credit hours in each advanced area (health assessment, pharmacology and pathophysiology), and a floor of role-specialty clinical hours set by admission date: 500 for students admitted prior to March 1, 2025, and 750 for admissions after that date.

Here is why that matters. SAU's live pages list 625 clinical hours for the FNP and 500 for the AGPCNP, PMHNP and PNP-PC. SAU's March 2026 disclosure names only Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana and New York as states where its FNP, AGNP and PMHNP fall short, so the two sources do not obviously agree. If you started after March 1, 2025 and plan to hold a Kansas APRN license, ask SAU's program director and KSBN, in writing, how your hours will be counted. Our clinical hours page lists SAU's figures.

Who can precept you in Kansas

Under KSBN's guidance for APRN clinicals in Kansas (K.A.R. 60-17-104), your preceptor is oriented, signs an agreement, and carries a Kansas APRN license whose role is the one you are studying; KSBN also treats clinical supervision of APRN students as work that needs a Kansas APRN license. SAU accepts physicians and PAs for NP tracks too, so ask the program director before relying on either in Kansas.

AANP lists Kansas as full practice. KSBN adds that faculty teaching online need no Kansas license and that Kansas does not require faculty site visits; faculty who do come are there as visitors.

Kansas City's Kansas suburbs and Wichita are the biggest markets, then Topeka and Manhattan. On the system side, look at Stormont Vail Health and Ascension Via Christi, at The University of Kansas Health System, and at Wesley Healthcare in Wichita.

Licensing for Kansas clinicals

Kansas's Nurse Licensure Compact membership dates from July 1, 2019. In KSBN's view, when you train in Kansas as an APRN student you are working on an RN license Kansas recognizes, Kansas-issued or multistate, and K.S.A. 65-1124 is the statute that covers you as an advanced practice student. SAU separately requires your RN license to be unrestricted in your practice state; details are on our RN license page.

Why Spring Arbor students in Kansas choose us

We look for Kansas APRNs licensed in your role, assemble the agreement and documents SAU faculty review, and carry on searching whenever a preceptor pulls out. SAU faculty approve every preceptor and site, licensure questions belong to SAU and KSBN, and the Kansas packet we help build is started well before the deadline. Start here.

FAQ

Questions Spring Arbor students ask

Does SAU need KSBN approval before I enroll or start clinicals in Kansas?

No. KSBN says online APRN programs from other states have no formal board approval step before Kansas residents sign up. The review comes afterward, when a graduate applies to Kansas for APRN licensure, so the checks that matter during your program are SAU's own faculty approvals and deadlines.

Do SAU's clinical hours meet Kansas's APRN licensure check?

It depends on when you were admitted. With a pre-March 1, 2025 admission, KSBN's floor is 500 role-specialty hours; for anyone admitted after that date it rises to 750. SAU's pages list 625 hours for the FNP and 500 for its other NP tracks, so ask SAU and KSBN to confirm your case in writing.

Is a physician an option as my Kansas preceptor?

SAU's NP tracks accept physicians, but KSBN's guidance expects APRN preceptors to have Kansas APRN licensure matching the student's role, and it ties supervision of APRN students to that license. Ask SAU's program director how a physician preceptor would be handled in Kansas before you commit.

Will SAU faculty visit my Kansas clinical site?

Kansas does not require it: KSBN says faculty site visits are not mandatory and online faculty need no Kansas license. SAU has not published whether its faculty visit sites, so check your course materials in Brightspace or ask your clinical faculty how oversight of your practicum will work.

Keep going

GuideBy stateWhere Spring Arbor University nursing students can do clinicals: not authorized in AL, AZ, LA and NY, Washington for residents only, and a guide for every state.LicenseRN license for clinicalsSpring Arbor asks for an unrestricted RN license in your state of practice. What that means for your clinical state, compact licenses and moving mid-program.FNPMSN Family NP (FNP)Spring Arbor's online MSN FNP needs 625 clinical hours in NUR 680. Who can precept, what comes first, SAU's 2026 support line and where we help.SearchFinding your own preceptorSAU says online NP students choose their own preceptor in their home state. What that means day to day, how the wording changed, and the help SAU lists.State guideColoradoSpring Arbor nursing students in Colorado: SAU authorization, the board's rules on outside programs, compact licenses, and where students find preceptors.State guideMissouriMissouri is authorized for Spring Arbor nursing and is a compact state. What collaborative practice means for preceptors, border metros and where to look.

Last checked 2026-09-24

We check these pages against Spring Arbor's own published sources. SAU's nursing faculty and current catalog have the final word.

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