Michigan clinicals at Drexel: licenses first, then preceptors
Drexel admits Michigan residents to its NP programs, and clinical hours can happen in Michigan. The planning starts with licenses: Michigan sits outside the Nurse Licensure Compact, so your Michigan RN license is single-state, and Drexel's rules for students without a multistate license point to a Pennsylvania license as well.
Searching in Michigan?
Share your Drexel track, your clinical quarter and your Michigan city. A placement advisor replies with a search plan and the license checks to make.
Quick facts
- Drexel NP enrollment
- Open to Michigan residents
- Compact status
- Not a member; HB 4246 pending
- Licenses to plan for
- Michigan, plus Pennsylvania under most Drexel pages
- NP practice (AANP)
- Restricted: delegation for controlled substances
Where Michigan stands on Drexel's lists
None of Drexel's exclusion lists includes Michigan. A Michigan resident can start any of Drexel's online nursing options: NP master's tracks, NP certificates for nurses who already hold a master's, the DNP and the RN-to-BSN.
| Program | Michigan | What to plan |
|---|---|---|
| MSN NP tracks | Open | Michigan RN license; Pennsylvania's under most pages |
| NP post-master's certificates | Open | AGPCNP certificate hours in Michigan or Pennsylvania |
| Post-master's DNP | Open | A doctorate-prepared practicum mentor |
| RN-to-BSN | Open | 36 practice hours across three courses |
Every program's list is on Drexel's state authorization page.
Why a Michigan resident usually needs two licenses
Only a compact state can issue a multistate license to its residents, and Michigan isn't one; a bill, HB 4246, is pending. Drexel's compliance page says a student without a multistate license needs a Pennsylvania RN license plus a license in every state where clinical hours happen. Its NP program pages ask for Pennsylvania licensure before clinicals in any case. Both routes land on a Pennsylvania license and a Michigan license.
One drexel.edu page words it more narrowly, requiring Pennsylvania licensure if you will travel to Pennsylvania for clinicals, so ask Clinical Compliance at dhcompliance@drexel.edu before paying for a second license. The Pennsylvania RN license guide compares each version. Pennsylvania joined the compact in July 2025, but that helps only residents of compact states.
Michigan's Board, its licensing steps and out-of-state schools
No Michigan Board of Nursing rule asks a school from another state for approval, or even advance notice, when its students train in Michigan. The Board's program-approval rules, from R 338.10301 on, concern schools inside the state, and so does its education programs page.
If you are new to Michigan and still need a license there, plan for its extras. Michigan asks applicants for a criminal background check, one-time human trafficking identification training and two hours of implicit bias training, the last taken no more than five years before issue.
Restricted practice and checking a Michigan preceptor
AANP lists Michigan as restricted, since an NP there prescribes controlled substances only under physician delegation. The state's NP specialty certification requires both a current Michigan RN license and a national credential from a certifying body the Board recognizes, so a Michigan NP preceptor should be able to show each. Drexel adds its own terms on top: the preceptor practices as an NP, CNM or physician in a specialty the school approves, holds current board certification and has a year of practice behind them. Drexel's preceptor requirements lists the documents.
Michigan's one preceptor incentive, an MDHHS pilot run with Michigan State University for its FNP and PMHNP students, is complete and covered MSU students only. No enacted Michigan preceptor tax credit turned up either.
Where Michigan students look
Henry Ford Health, Corewell Health, University of Michigan Health (Michigan Medicine), Trinity Health Michigan and McLaren Health Care are the big systems, spread across the Flint, Lansing, Grand Rapids and Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metros. They show where NP students ask; none is a Drexel partner. Your neighbors Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin all belong to the compact, but a single-state Michigan license doesn't carry privileges there, so a site across the line means that state's license too.
Why Michigan students choose us
We fold your license plan into the search from day one, so no Michigan preceptor we line up is held back by a missing license when your Drexel quarter opens. A placement advisor searches metro Detroit, West Michigan, Lansing and Flint for NPs, CNMs and physicians suited to your track, confirms their Michigan specialty certification and board certification and assembles what Drexel's contracting team reviews. Drexel approves; it receives a clean, complete file from us. Start your Michigan search.
Questions Drexel students ask
Can I do Drexel FNP clinicals in Michigan?
Yes. Michigan is open to Drexel's FNP and every other NP track. The FNP's 720 hours run through NURS 534 to NURS 538 in the current quarter catalog, with a Michigan preceptor you find and Drexel approves. Budget time for your Pennsylvania license alongside the search.
Why can't my Michigan license work like a multistate license?
Michigan is outside the Nurse Licensure Compact, so every Michigan RN license is single-state and valid only in Michigan. HB 4246 would change that if passed. Until then, Drexel's pages point Michigan residents toward a Pennsylvania license in addition to their Michigan license.
Can I train in Ohio or Indiana while living in Michigan?
Only with that state's license. Ohio and Indiana are compact states, yet compact privileges come from a multistate license issued by your home state, which Michigan can't issue. Drexel requires a license for every state where you log clinical hours, so add Ohio's or Indiana's before a site there.
Will my preceptor get paid through Michigan's preceptor pilot?
No. The state's pilot, run by MDHHS with Michigan State University, is finished and covered only preceptors of MSU FNP and PMHNP students. For a Drexel student, what the preceptor receives comes from Drexel: use of a clinical faculty title, a certificate each term confirming the hours they precepted and reduced-price Drexel CE.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against Drexel's own sources. Your track director, the CNHP Clinical Compliance team and Drexel's current catalog have the final word.
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