Hawaii and UTA: what's open and how practice work runs
Three UTA programs are open to Hawaii residents, all online: the RN-to-BSN plus master's degrees in Nursing Education and in Nursing Administration. Nurse practitioner tracks, post-master's NP certificates and the DNP are not listed. Hawaii sits outside the Nurse Licensure Compact, so no multistate license from another state lets you practice in the islands; UTA practice work there calls for a license Hawaii itself issues.
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UTA programs for a Hawaii address
UTA sorts its programs for Hawaii residents as below, using the state in your MyMav mailing address.
| UTA program | Hawaii | Practice work |
|---|---|---|
| RN-to-BSN | Listed | Application-based assignments at your workplace or in the community across four courses, then a capstone; no preceptor |
| MSN Nursing Education | Listed | 135 hours of precepting from someone in nursing education (NURS 5362) |
| MSN Nursing Administration | Listed | 90 hours in NURS 5339, 90 in NURS 5340 with a community partnering project, 45 each in NURS 5341 and NURS 5342 |
| Nurse practitioner tracks and NP certificates | Not listed | Unavailable to Hawaii residents |
| DNP | Not listed | Unavailable to Hawaii residents |
Planning to relocate, take a travel contract or find a preceptor on the mainland? UTA's handbook asks you to email NursingSOA@uta.edu first; the out-of-state clinicals page explains the stakes.
Post-licensure and pre-licensure programs get different answers
For post-licensure programs the Hawaii Board of Nursing is hands-off. Its FAQ on out-of-state, online and distance post-licensure programs, which gives LPN-to-RN and RN-to-BSN as examples, explains that without a Hawaii campus such a program gets no Board approval, has nothing to apply for and owes the Board no notice.
Pre-licensure students are another matter. HRS 457-13(2) exempts only students in programs accredited by the Hawaii Board, and at its September 1, 2016 meeting the Board's Education Committee agreed: Hawaii was off limits for a pre-license student of a North Dakota BSN program.
UTA's RN-to-BSN fits the post-licensure FAQ. No Hawaii source addresses graduate programs by name, so ask UTA's state authorization team to confirm an Education or Administration practicum in Hawaii.
Honolulu, Kahului-Wailuku and Hilo-Kailua
The major systems include The Queen's Health Systems, the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific Health, which runs Straub, Wilcox, Pali Momi and Kapiolani. Urban Honolulu is the dominant metro at close to a million people, with the Hilo-Kailua and Kahului-Wailuku areas far smaller. A system's appearance here is orientation only, not a sign it takes UTA students.
A NURS 5362 preceptor in Hawaii has to be a working nurse educator, and Nursing Administration hours happen where senior nurse leaders work. For RN-to-BSN community assignments, the Hawaii State Department of Health is the state agency; RN-to-BSN practice experiences describes the courses.
Hawaii's preceptor tax credit won't cover a UTA rotation
Hawaii has a preceptor incentive, set up by Act 43 of 2018 and codified at HRS 235-110.25: the Healthcare Preceptor Income Tax Credit. It is a nonrefundable state income tax credit per volunteer supervised rotation, capped per preceptor each year, for physicians, APRNs and pharmacists living in Hawaii with a primary care practice there. The Department of Health certifies rotations, up to 1,500 credits statewide a year.
Qualifying students attend an academic program accredited in or physically based in Hawaii, where Hawaii residents are more than half of enrollment. UTA is a Texas program, and its NP tracks aren't open to Hawaii residents in any case, so a preceptor for a UTA student would not qualify.
Don't offer a Hawaii preceptor the state tax credit as a reason to take you on; a UTA rotation does not qualify.
Licensing: a Hawaii-issued license
The compact's own map shows no pending Nurse Licensure Compact legislation in Hawaii, and a Texas multistate license, or one from any other member, confers no practice privilege on the islands. Under UTA's handbook the license must match the state of your clinical work, and a non-compact license is yours to obtain and pay for. Any practicum in Hawaii therefore runs on a Hawaii license; see RN licensing for clinicals. Hawaii has not enacted the APRN Compact.
UTA NP students weighing a move to Hawaii
AANP rates Hawaii a full practice state, but that has no bearing on UTA's map, which excludes Hawaii from every NP track, NP certificate and the DNP. Under the MSN handbook, an NP student living in an unlisted state risks graduating late or not at all, being withdrawn, finishing clinicals back in Texas or in another listed state, or seeing a placement denied or delayed. Raise the move with NursingSOA@uta.edu while it is still only an idea. California is the nearest state on UTA's NP list, and it is outside the compact too.
Why Hawaii MSN students choose us
Island geography makes a local search matter, and that is our focus for Hawaii's two MSN practicums: a working nurse educator for NURS 5362 or a senior nurse leader for Administration, on your own island, suited to your UTA course. We prepare the documents UTA's clinical team checks, so its decision rests on a complete request. Send your course and island.
Questions UTA students ask
Does UTA have to notify the Hawaii Board about my RN-to-BSN?
The Board's FAQ says no. Out-of-state online post-licensure programs lacking a Hawaii campus, RN-to-BSN programs included, sit outside its approval process and have no duty to notify it. What matters for you is your own Hawaii RN license, which a nursing job in Hawaii already requires.
Could a UTA pre-licensure BSN student do clinicals in Hawaii?
No. UTA's BSN is listed for Texas only, and its state authorization page limits online BSN clinical sites to select Texas cities. Hawaii's Board has also taken the position, at a 2016 Education Committee meeting, that an out-of-state program could not place a pre-license BSN student in Hawaii.
Does my UTA faculty member need a Hawaii nursing license?
Only in a narrow case. The Hawaii Board's FAQ on out-of-state post-licensure programs says program faculty need a Hawaii nurse license if they are physically teaching or precepting a nursing student in Hawaii. Faculty guiding you from Texas would not meet that description, but confirming it is UTA's job, not yours.
Can I take a UTA NP track from Hawaii if I do my clinicals in California?
No. UTA reads your state from MyMav, and living in an unlisted state is itself one of the situations UTA's handbook warns about, even if the clinicals happen elsewhere. California is on UTA's NP list but outside the compact, so clinicals there would also need a California license. Ask NursingSOA@uta.edu before planning around it.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-23
We check these pages against UTA's own sources. UTA's current handbook and your course faculty have the final word.
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