Graceland University practicums in Illinois

Updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the Graceland Preceptor placement team

On paper, Illinois is open to Graceland University's online NP tracks: the June 2020 licensure chart says the MSN meets Illinois requirements. Two things need settling first. Illinois never adopted the Nurse Licensure Compact, so every practicum hour there needs an Illinois RN license, and Illinois must be on Graceland's current approved-practicum list, which the School of Nursing confirms on request.

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June 2020date of Graceland's newest licensure chart

2 yearsterm of Illinois approval for an out-of-state program's clinical placements

Graceland licensure chart (June 2020) for Illinois: the MSN, including the RN-to-MSN and NP certificates, leads to licensure; the DNP and RN-BSN are post-licensure programs. An RN license in the state is needed for practicum hours there. RN license: not in the compact. NP practice: reduced. — Illinois on Graceland's June 2020 licensure chart: MSN leads to licensure; DNP and RN-BSN post-licensure; RN license not in the compact; NP practice reduced (AANP).

What Graceland's Illinois row says

Graceland's licensure charts, all dated June 2020, are the newest it publishes. The Illinois MSN row restates the state's test for advanced practice licensure, a graduate degree suited to national certification in the specialty, and says Graceland's MSN meets it. The row covers every NP track, the RN-to-MSN and the certificates.

Graceland licensure chart, Illinois rows (June 2020)
Graceland program	Chart answer for Illinois	What it means
MSN, including the NP tracks, RN-to-MSN and certificates	Yes: meets Illinois certification-based requirements	The degree fits Illinois's route to advanced practice licensure
DNP	No: a post-licensure program	Expected for a doctorate taken by nurses who are already licensed
RN to BSN	No: a post-licensure program	You bring the RN license; the degree adds education, not a new license

A licensure answer is not the same as Graceland's list of states where it offers practicum experiences, which the School of Nursing shares only on request. The licensure chart guide explains how the two questions differ.

Illinois has a written rule for out-of-state programs

Illinois tells nursing schools based elsewhere what to send before their students train there. Rule 1300.340(n), in Title 68 of the state's Administrative Code, asks for a five-part packet: a letter requesting approval that lists dates plus the agencies and units involved, evidence that the home-state board approves or accredits the program, the syllabus, the executed clinical contract, and qualification forms for faculty and preceptors. Approval is good for two years and is renewable, with a yearly report. Nursing faculty involved must hold Illinois RN licenses.

The provision sits in the section on approving RN programs and never says whether graduate NP practicums fall under it, so raise any Illinois site with the contract coordinators early. It also wants each preceptor approved and oriented by program faculty, on hand whenever the student gives care, and holding an RN license valid where the student is working, much like Graceland's own standards.

NP practice and where Illinois students search

AANP classes Illinois as reduced practice. Depending on the setting, an Illinois NP either works under a written collaborative agreement with a physician or has met the state's practice-hour and continuing education thresholds, and some Schedule II and benzodiazepine prescribing still depends on a consultative relationship. Either half of an NP and physician pair may qualify to precept you.

Most searches begin in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro, home to roughly 8.7 million Illinois residents, then move to the St. Louis suburbs east of the Mississippi, Peoria and Rockford. UChicago Medicine, OSF HealthCare, Northwestern Medicine, Endeavor Health and Advocate Health Care are the large systems. Each runs its own student process, and none is named here as a place that hosts Graceland students.

An Illinois license, even from across the river

Illinois is not a compact state and had no compact legislation in the works, which means a multistate license from Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin or Indiana gives no privilege to practice there. Graceland requires an unencumbered RN license in every approved state where practicum hours happen, proven by a board verification, which makes an Illinois license from IDFPR the entry ticket for any Illinois site.

This catches students on the Missouri side of St. Louis or in eastern Iowa who find a willing preceptor across the Mississippi, so apply before your preceptor starts Appendix B. An Illinois Nurse Practice Act exemption for out-of-state RNs in graduate study is written for programs in Illinois, and Graceland asks for the license regardless.

PMHNP students planning telehealth hours face the same line: a patient joining from Illinois requires your Illinois license, as the telehealth hours page explains.

Why Graceland students in Illinois choose us

We build every Illinois search around the license you hold and the side of the river you live on, so the clinicians we line up for you are ones your license lets you train with. Your placement advisor gathers the site address, contract contact and preceptor credentials that Appendix A and Appendix B ask for, raises any Illinois-specific question with the contract coordinators early, and aims the whole package at Graceland's next paperwork deadline. Tell us your city and track through the form below.

Questions Graceland students ask

Does Graceland accept online NP students who live in Illinois?

Graceland's June 2020 chart places Illinois in its meets column for the MSN. Acceptance, though, rests on Graceland's current list of states approved for practicum experiences, which the School of Nursing gives out only on request. Write to the contact on the School of Nursing page with your track before you apply, and keep the reply.

I hold a Missouri multistate license. Can I do my FNP practicum in an Illinois suburb of St. Louis?

Only after you add an Illinois RN license. Your Missouri multistate license stops at the state line because Illinois never joined the compact. Graceland wants a board verification of each practicum-state license, so apply to IDFPR early and load the verification into Castle Branch once it is issued.

Can an Illinois preceptor earn anything toward license renewal for teaching me?

Yes. Illinois lets APRNs count precepting toward renewal, 10 continuing education hours per APRN student over a semester or quarter, up to 30 per renewal period, with documentation from the student's school. Ask the School of Nursing what it can provide before you mention it.

Will an Illinois AGACNP student need to travel for the program?

Once. AGACNP students attend a single focus session on Graceland's Independence, Missouri campus, lasting two to three full days, and book their own lodging since the campus has no housing. FNP and PMHNP sessions run on Zoom; see the focus sessions page.

GuideGraceland practicums by stateDoing Graceland practicums outside Missouri and Iowa? Fifty state guides: Graceland's licensure chart, RN license needs and how NP preceptors work there.LicensureState licensure disclosuresWhat Graceland's June 2020 licensure chart says for your state: 32 meets, 5 does not, 13 unknown, why the DNP and RN-BSN rows differ, and how to confirm.LicensureRN license for practicumsA Graceland practicum needs an unencumbered RN license at home and in each practicum state, verified by the board. The compact, PMHNP telehealth, past actions.PMHNPPMHNP telehealth hoursGraceland PMHNP students may count up to two terms or 450 hours of telehealth. How the license rule works when your patients sit in another state.Home stateMissouriGraceland's Missouri chart row, the Independence campus, collaborative practice as it affects your search, Kansas City to St. Louis sites and your RN license.Home stateIowaIowa's board approves Graceland's MSN, certificates and DNP. What that means for you, plus Lamoni, 481 IAC 616.16, Des Moines sites and Iowa licenses.

Last checked 2026-09-25

We check these pages against Graceland's own catalog, program pages and Graduate Student Handbook. Your handbook, your track coordinator and the contract coordinators have the final word.

Graceland's practicums are arranged by you, with Graceland's help. We do the searching.

Tell us your Graceland track, your city and your next practicum. We find preceptors who fit the course, line up what Appendix A and Appendix B ask for, and aim everything at Graceland's paperwork deadline for your term.

Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP, hospital and ICU clinicians for AGACNP, psychiatrists and PMHNPs for PMHNP
Site address, contract contact and preceptor details ready before the June 15, October 15 or February 15 deadline
Close to home in your approved state, with a second preceptor planned for Graceland's two-preceptor rule

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