Pennsylvania for Clarkson College NP students
In the state workbook Clarkson College issued for 2026-27, Pennsylvania's Graduate Nursing answer is Meets Requirements, so Pennsylvania nurses can study online with Clarkson and do their clinical hours in the state. Three things make Pennsylvania worth a closer read: a student-license rule few states have, a young place in the Nurse Licensure Compact, and six neighbors that Clarkson sorts three different ways.
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Where Pennsylvania stands with Clarkson
| Clarkson tab | Answer |
|---|---|
| Graduate Nursing: MSN, post-graduate certificates and DNP | Meets Requirements |
| CRNA | Meets Requirements |
| RN-BSN | Does Not Meet Requirements |
Pennsylvania has no footnote, and the licensing link Clarkson prints for it is the State Board of Nursing's page on the Department of State site. The workbook guide explains all three tabs.
Six neighbors, three answers
Clarkson's workbook sorts Pennsylvania's borders sharply. Ohio and New Jersey read Meets. Maryland reads Meets as well, with a twist: Clarkson's November 2023 clinical sheets say PAs cannot precept its NP students there. New York, Delaware and West Virginia read Does Not Meet for Graduate Nursing, and the catalog notes that rules set by some state boards keep Clarkson's graduate preceptorships out.
In practice, a nurse in greater Pittsburgh might weigh an Ohio practice; someone near Allentown or Philadelphia might weigh New Jersey; nobody should plan hours in New York, Delaware or West Virginia without a clear answer from the program director. Any site over a line needs a preceptor licensed in that state and your RN license effective there. The New Jersey and Maryland guides cover those sides.
Section 21.118, and why Clarkson's rule still leads
Pennsylvania's Board carves out graduate students in 49 Pa. Code § 21.118. Picture a nurse licensed in Canada or another U.S. jurisdiction who enrolls in an accredited BSN or graduate nursing program: the rule lets that nurse care for patients in whatever clinical settings the program calls for, with no Pennsylvania license, as long as nobody pays for that clinical work beyond program scholarships or awards. Holding a Pennsylvania RN job at the same time is different; that takes endorsement into a Pennsylvania license, with a temporary practice permit in the meantime.
Clarkson sets its own bar, though: an unencumbered RN license effective in the state of practice or where the clinical experience will occur. Since July 7, 2025, when Pennsylvania fully joined the compact, any other compact state's multistate license is effective there, and that settles most cases. Hold only a single-state license issued somewhere else? Ask Clarkson whether § 21.118 satisfies its rule instead of assuming it does. A broad rewrite of the Board's education rules, in final form since Sept. 8, 2026, leaves § 21.118 largely intact.
Collaborative agreements and your preceptor
The AANP counts Pennsylvania as reduced practice. A Pennsylvania NP never outgrows the written physician agreement, and the right to prescribe hinges on collaborative agreements with no fewer than two physicians. For FNP and AGACNP students, an MD or DO can precept directly; PMHNP students need a psychiatrist or PMHNP once NRS 830 is behind them.
Whoever precepts you needs a Pennsylvania license and at least two years of experience, and more than two preceptors in one course takes written faculty approval. Clarkson's full standard sits on the preceptor requirements page; how the compact interacts with Clarkson's license rule is on the license guide. We found no Pennsylvania registration step for out-of-state schools; the Board's Distance Education Application covers only programs it approved.
Where Pennsylvania NP students look, and why they call us
About 4.2 million Pennsylvanians live on the state's side of the Philadelphia metro. Pittsburgh follows at 2.4 million, then the Pennsylvania part of Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton near 775,000 and Harrisburg-Carlisle near 617,000. Penn State Health and Geisinger are two systems students approach; UPMC, Jefferson Health and Penn Medicine are others. Each handles student requests its own way, and none is a Clarkson channel.
We keep your search on the Pennsylvania side first, screen any Maryland lead against Clarkson's PA limit, set aside New York, Delaware and West Virginia, and verify each Pennsylvania license before you file the site and preceptor agreement. Apart from one Graduate Weekend in Omaha during NRS 830, your program happens at home, and we keep your clinical hours there too. Tell us your metro and track.
Questions Clarkson students ask
Does § 21.118 let me skip a Pennsylvania license for Clarkson clinicals?
Pennsylvania's own rule lets an out-of-state RN handle unpaid, program-required clinical work in the state without a local license. Clarkson's own rule is separate: your license must be effective where you train. A multistate compact license meets that in Pennsylvania today. With a single-state license from another state, get Clarkson's answer in writing before you plan on § 21.118.
I live near the Maryland line. Can a Maryland PA precept me?
No. Maryland reads Meets in Clarkson's workbook, but Clarkson's November 2023 sheets list it with Florida, Oklahoma and Arizona as states where PAs cannot precept its NP students. An MD, DO or NP in Maryland could still work, licensed there, with your RN license effective in Maryland. Inside Pennsylvania, PAs remain acceptable for FNP and AGACNP courses and for PMHNP students in NRS 830.
Do Pennsylvania hospitals need anything from Clarkson before I start?
Often an affiliation agreement. Clarkson's Compliance office confirms whether one is in place or starts a new one, and Clarkson's 2024 DocuSign instructions warned that can take up to two months. Start with the site's own requirements, then give Clarkson time.
Is Clarkson's RN to BSN open to Pennsylvania nurses?
Clarkson's workbook marks the RN-BSN tab Does Not Meet for Pennsylvania, as it does for every state outside a group of seven: Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota. Ask the RN to BSN program directly before applying, since the graduate answer does not carry over.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Clarkson College's own catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your course faculty and Graduate Nursing advisor have the final word.
Clarkson asks you to find your preceptor. We make the search the easy part.
Tell us your Clarkson track, your city and your next clinical course. We line up preceptors who fit the NRS course and Clarkson's rules, gather the details the site and preceptor agreement asks for, and flag early whether the site needs a new affiliation agreement.
- Preceptors matched to the course: all-ages primary care for FNP, acute care units for AGACNP, psychiatric providers for PMHNP
- License, experience and site details checked against Clarkson's rules before the agreement is filed
- Every clinical course planned in sequence, close to home in a state where Clarkson's graduate nursing meets requirements
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