State authorization and licensure for APU nursing students

California and SARA

SARA, the multistate reciprocity agreement for distance education, counts every state but one as a member, and the exception is California. The national SARA council's guidance for California students spells out the consequence: California institutions are not eligible for SARA and must satisfy the rules of each state where their students live, one state at a time.

APU's own state authorization page does not mention SARA at all. It names California as the home state, says APU's online programs are not available in every state, and warns that its list of restricted states changes often. For nursing students, that page and APU's licensure disclosure table are the two official places to check.

None of this touches an NP student who lives in Rancho Cucamonga and trains in Fontana. It matters when you study online from another state, plan to move while enrolled, or hope to practice outside California after you graduate.

Where APU is not enrolling distance students

APU's state authorization page lists the places where it is not accepting applicants for distance programs or distance courses: Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming, along with Washington, DC.

The restriction follows where you live, not where APU is. Because APU says the list changes often, read the live page before you apply, and raise any move with your program office before it happens rather than after.

Two catalog notices round out the picture. Students living in Washington State are pointed to the Washington Student Achievement Council's complaint process, and the catalog also refers grievances to California's Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education.

APU's professional licensure disclosures

APU publishes a professional licensure disclosure table that answers one question per program and state: does the program meet that state's educational requirements for licensure? For nursing, the answers follow a single pattern.

"Not Determined" is different from "No." It means APU has not made a determination for that state. The School of Nursing section of the catalog adds that APU cannot confirm that any of its programs satisfies licensure or certification rules in other states, and points students toward NCSBN and the Provost's website for that answer.

The determination date on every nursing entry is May 1, 2021, so a state's rules may have moved since. Your target state's board of nursing is the authority on what it accepts.

What the rules mean for NP and CNS clinicals

No APU document states outright that NP clinicals must take place in California, yet every rule leans that way. The catalog requires MSN APRN applicants to live in Southern California, and the BSN to DNP expects NP-track students to live near a regional center for in-person classes and clinical rotations. APU's recent guidelines (the 2023-24 edition) want a current California RN license on file and ask students not to move mid-program, and even the fully online post-master's DNP asks for California RN licensure at entry.

California adds its own rule for any rotation inside the state. Under 16 CCR 1484, anyone precepting a rotation in California must be licensed by the state in their own field and be clinically current. APU's request forms add the program's own layer, from accepted credentials to the family and own-unit rules, which the preceptor requirements page sets out.

The day-to-day version of the residence rule, and the one-year experience gate beside it, are covered on the RN license and residence page.

Programs that plan for students elsewhere

Two graduate programs are open to applicants anywhere APU enrolls: the online Nursing Education MSN and the Healthcare Administration and Leadership MSN, both asynchronous. They trade the residence rule for a license rule, so your nursing license has to be valid in the state that hosts your practicum. Nursing Education students living beyond Los Angeles give their city and state on the site request form, and leadership students outside California are told to reach the practicum coordinator half a year in advance.

California's regulation moved in the same direction in 2025. Since October 1, 2025, 16 CCR 1484 lets a preceptorship outside California use a preceptor licensed where the rotation happens, and lets the student hold either a California RN license or one from the preceptorship state. APU's public documents do not say whether it uses that flexibility for NP students, so ask the placement team before counting on it.

The Oncology NP Fellowship handles distance another way: applicants from outside California must hold California NP certification before clinicals begin.

Before you move or license in another state

1. Read the live pagesCheck APU's state authorization page and the disclosure row for your program and the state you have in mind.
2. Talk to your program firstAPU's recent guidelines discourage relocating mid-program and treat moves between campuses as generally off the table, so bring any plan to your program director early.
3. Ask the other state's boardAPU points students to NCSBN and the Provost website; the destination state's board of nursing decides what it accepts.
4. Keep California currentYour California RN license stays on file through clinicals, and California NP certification depends on it.
5. Certify in the right orderAPU graduates apply for California NP certification through the BRN; the BRN NP certification page covers the steps.

Where a program is based also matters to health systems, since out-of-state NP programs need BRN approval before placing students in California; the accreditation page explains how APU's approval answers that question.

Why APU students choose us: searches that stay in-state

Every preceptor we propose for an APU NP or CNS course practices in Southern California under a current California license in their field, the standard the state sets for anyone precepting here. We search around your home county, match the preceptor type to APU's request form for your course, and flag early if the clinic still needs an APU affiliation agreement. Each proposal lists the preceptor's credential and license for the Graduate Preceptor Request form, and when a clinic needs a new agreement, we keep a second option near home in reserve.

For online Nursing Education and leadership students, we plan around the rule that your license must match the practicum state. Tell us where you live and which course comes next in the form below.

Questions APU students ask