Graceland University students in Pennsylvania
Graceland University's licensure chart, dated June 2020 and still its newest, puts Pennsylvania in the "Unknown" column for the MSN. The label records a missing state approval, not a verdict against the degree. Settle your status with the School of Nursing first; after that, practicums here run on a compact license and a physician-collaboration practice model.
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Pennsylvania on Graceland's June 2020 chart
| Graceland program | Answer for Pennsylvania | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| MSN (every NP track, the RN-to-MSN, the certificates) | Unknown | No Pennsylvania board approval, so Graceland makes no call on the state's licensure requirements |
| DNP | No | Post-licensure doctorate: it adds no license anywhere, as expected |
| RN to BSN | No | Post-licensure: you arrive already holding the RN license it builds on |
Behind the MSN answer is a short argument. Graceland built the degree around Iowa's approval (in its words, "designed to prepare students to pursue licensure in Iowa"), Pennsylvania's board has not approved it, and so Graceland declines to judge whether it satisfies Pennsylvania's educational rules. The row sends future Pennsylvania NPs to the board before they enroll.
What the chart leaves out is whether Graceland takes students from Pennsylvania at all. The School of Nursing decides that by where it holds approval to offer practicum experiences and publishes no list, so ask through the contact on its page and save the reply. One quirk: Pennsylvania's DNP row mentions an "RN-BSN program", a slip that runs through that whole chart.
Precepting under Pennsylvania's physician-agreement model
AANP rates Pennsylvania reduced practice. An NP there stays in a written collaboration with physicians for as long as they practice, and needs two collaborating physicians to prescribe. Your NP preceptor works inside that arrangement, so one practice can supply both preceptor types Graceland takes, the NP and a board-certified or board-eligible physician; the preceptor requirements page has the details.
The state's clinical-student rule is unusually generous. Under 49 Pa. Code § 21.118, nurses holding an RN license from another state who are enrolled in an accredited graduate or BSN program may perform that program's required clinical work with no Pennsylvania license, provided they are not paid for it. A paid Pennsylvania nursing job during school is different and calls for licensure by endorsement plus a temporary practice permit. No rule was found that makes a school based elsewhere apply before sending students to Pennsylvania sites.
Metros and systems where the search happens
The obvious places to look are Pittsburgh (about 2.4 million people), Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Harrisburg-Carlisle and the roughly 4.2 million Pennsylvanians counted in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro. Penn State Health, Geisinger, UPMC, Jefferson Health and Penn Medicine are large systems in the state, each with its own student intake; they are named to orient a search, and none is described here as open to Graceland students.
Large networks carry a catch: Graceland's contract with one clinic does not extend to its sister clinics, so each address where you see patients needs its own affiliation agreement. No state preceptor incentive is on record for Pennsylvania. AGACNP students chasing hospital sites should also keep a few days open for the focus session on the Independence, Missouri campus.
Licensing for Pennsylvania practicum hours
Graceland's handbook outruns § 21.118. It wants an unencumbered RN license in your home state and in the approved state where each practicum site sits, proved by a board verification rather than a copy, so treat a Pennsylvania-valid license as required even though the state would excuse you.
The compact makes that simple for most students. Pennsylvania's membership took full effect in July 2025, so the multistate license your compact home state issued now reaches Pennsylvania too. For PMHNP telehealth, each patient's location decides the license; patients joining from New Jersey or Delaware, both compact states, are covered the same way. Pennsylvania has not joined the APRN Compact. More in the RN license guide.
Why Graceland students in Pennsylvania choose us
We work with three groups here: residents who have the School of Nursing's written answer on their status, students moving to Pennsylvania mid-program, and DNP or RN-BSN students in post-licensure degrees. Your placement advisor searches around your county and schedule, vets each preceptor against Graceland's rules and the state's collaboration model, and hands you the site and credential details Appendix A and Appendix B need.
The file is timed to the next paperwork deadline, a second preceptor is lined up early, and a replacement search starts the day anyone drops. Start with the contact form.
Questions Graceland students ask
Can I study in Graceland's online FNP program while living in Pennsylvania?
The chart cannot settle that. Its Pennsylvania MSN answer is Unknown, and admission turns on whether Graceland holds approval to offer practicum experiences in your state. Put the question to the School of Nursing before applying, and ask Pennsylvania's board how it would treat the degree when you later seek NP licensure.
Does § 21.118 mean I can skip a license for Pennsylvania practicum hours?
Not for Graceland. The state rule excuses unpaid student clinical work, but the handbook still expects an unencumbered license valid wherever the practicum takes place. A multistate license from another compact state has worked in Pennsylvania since July 2025; check with the contract coordinators that it meets Graceland's standard.
Does the Unknown row affect a Graceland DNP student in Pennsylvania?
That answer sits on the MSN row. The DNP chart shows No only because a doctorate earned after licensure creates no new license. Practice hours happen near home with a practice mentor, so ask whether Pennsylvania counts as an approved state for them; the DNP guide lists the hours.
Will Pennsylvania's new nursing education rules change my practicum?
Probably not on this point. The board's rewrite of its education rules (IRRC #16A-5141) reached final form in September 2026, with the review commission meeting in mid-October, and the final version leaves § 21.118 substantially as it was. Recheck the board's page if your first practicum falls in 2027.
Related pages
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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