Kansas and Drexel: the DNP, the RN-to-BSN and Kansas APRN rules

The rule on Drexel's State Regulations page is Drexel's own: it can't enroll Kansas residents in its NP tracks for now. Its other program groups read differently for a Kansas address.

Minnesota and Oregon are the only other states closed to NP study yet open to the DNP. Questions about a specific program go to sara@drexel.edu.

Drexel's online post-master's DNP runs two years, with Fall 2027 as its only upcoming start, so new students enter the semester version. By graduation you must reach 1,000 or more post-baccalaureate precepted clinical hours. The 2027–28 catalog sorts students by the hours they bring: Pathway A, with 640 or more, adds no practicum hours; Pathway B, with 500 to 639, adds NURS 8005; Pathway C, under 500, adds NURS 8005 and NURS 8006.

The practicum-intensive courses call for a doctorate-prepared Practicum Mentor, who can come from your own workplace or from elsewhere, though Drexel strongly encourages going beyond your job. The pages say only that a mentor “will need to be assigned,” so ask the DNP program how it wants a candidate put forward. Drexel's post-master's DNP covers the courses.

Kansas lets its residents enroll in an out-of-state online APRN program without the school first clearing anything with the Board. KSBN's scrutiny comes at the end, when you apply to practice as a Kansas APRN. Its checklist then: national accreditation; 45 credit hours or more; at least three credit hours apiece in advanced pathophysiology, pharmacology and health assessment; and enough role-specialty clinical hours, meaning 500 for anyone admitted to the program before March 1, 2025 and 750 for anyone admitted later.

When the clinical itself is in Kansas, KSBN's guidance points to K.A.R. 60-17-104: an orientation for the preceptor, a signed agreement, and a Kansas APRN license held in the same role you're training for. You practice on an RN license Kansas honors, Kansas-issued or multistate. Faculty teaching online need no Kansas licensure, and Kansas has no faculty site-visit requirement.

Clinicians practice around Kansas City, Wichita, Topeka and Manhattan, at systems such as Stormont Vail Health, HCA's Wesley Healthcare in Wichita, Ascension Via Christi and The University of Kansas Health System. No Kansas preceptor incentive appeared in our research.

If you study in a Drexel NP track from a state Drexel admits and expect a Kansas APRN license later, compare KSBN's hour floor with your track early. The 2026–27 quarter catalog lists 720 clinical hours for FNP; 640 each for AGPCNP, PMHNP, PNP primary care and WHNP; 800 for AGACNP and PNP acute care; and 1,140 for FNP with Emergency Specialization. Several of those fall below 750.

KSBN makes its decision at licensure, so ask the Board how it would read your transcript before you count on a Kansas license, and confirm your track's totals on Drexel clinical hours.

For the DNP, we build a shortlist of doctorate-prepared clinicians and leaders in Kansas whose work fits your project and pathway, so the mentor you propose arrives with credentials ready for Drexel's review. For the RN-to-BSN, we match a Kansas setting to each course with clinical practice hours. For Nursing Education or Leadership, we find your practicum preceptor. Drexel gives the final approval, and the file it receives from us has nothing missing; how it works shows each step.