Pennsylvania clinicals in Sacred Heart University's online NP programs
Sacred Heart University's disclosures give Pennsylvania a "Yes" for both the FNP and PMHNP (September 2026), and the state serves two kinds of Sacred Heart student. Some live in Pennsylvania and study online; others live in New York, where Sacred Heart allows no NP clinical hours, and cross into Pennsylvania to earn them.
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Pennsylvania's entries, track by track
The State Authorization page lists Pennsylvania as "Yes" for every Sacred Heart NP program (September 2026), and NC-SARA has counted Sacred Heart as a member since January 11, 2017. Your catalog asks you to verify state status yourself, so check once before enrolling and again before any move.
| Track | Pennsylvania | Taught | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP | Yes | Online; two residencies | 540 clinical, plus residency lab hours (15 in the guide, 10 in the catalog) |
| MSN PMHNP | Yes | Online | 540 clinical |
| FNP and PMHNP certificates | Yes | Online; one residency a year | 540 clinical |
| Online MSN CNL | Yes | Online | 420 (guide) or 400/500 (catalog) |
| Post-master's DNP | Not on the licensure table | Hybrid or online | 1,000 practice hours, MSN hours counted |
State-by-state detail: licensure disclosures.
Crossing from New York
Sacred Heart's disclosures let New York residents finish NP hours in a neighboring state, on one condition: an RN license valid in that state. Pennsylvania is one of those neighbors. Its Nurse Licensure Compact membership became fully effective on July 7, 2025, so the license that counts is either a Pennsylvania license or a multistate license that reaches Pennsylvania. Sacred Heart's full New York rule, including which non-NP tracks may still use New York agencies, sits on the New York clinical rule page.
§ 21.118 versus Sacred Heart's own rule
On paper, Pennsylvania is the more lenient of the two. Its visiting-student provision, 49 Pa. Code § 21.118, lets a nurse licensed elsewhere in the United States or in Canada complete the clinical work an accredited graduate nursing program requires without first getting a Pennsylvania license, as long as any money received is a stipend, scholarship or program award. Picking up paid RN shifts in the state during the program is a separate matter: that calls for licensure by endorsement and a temporary practice permit.
Sacred Heart sets its own floor above that: you hold a current, unencumbered RN license in each state where your clinical hours take place. Build your plan on Sacred Heart's rule, and bring § 21.118 to the MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator only if your situation depends on it. We found no Pennsylvania requirement for an out-of-state program to file before its students start clinicals.
For New York residents, the Pennsylvania-valid license comes first; a preceptor found before that license is ready simply waits.
Two collaborating physicians for prescribing
Pennsylvania sits in AANP's reduced-practice group. Nurse practitioners there practice under written collaborative agreements with physicians throughout their careers, and prescribers need agreements with at least two physicians. Clinicians on either side of those agreements can serve as your FNP preceptor when they meet Sacred Heart's criteria: an MD, DO, PA or APRN with a year of primary care, plus board certification for physicians and APRNs. No Pennsylvania preceptor incentive turned up in our research.
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Harrisburg
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington is home to roughly 4.24 million Pennsylvanians (2025 Census estimates); greater Pittsburgh adds 2.42 million, Harrisburg-Carlisle about 617,000, and the Pennsylvania share of Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton near 775,000. Among the state's big systems are UPMC; Penn Medicine, the health system of the University of Pennsylvania; Geisinger; Jefferson Health; and Penn State Health. Treat them as leads, and expect a partnering system to approve its own employee's precepting before Sacred Heart does.
The Philadelphia metro stretches into New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, and Allentown's into New Jersey, so a site across a border carries that state's rules; see the New Jersey guide.
Fairfield trips, and why students choose us
Residencies bring you to Fairfield, Connecticut: twice in the MSN FNP (NU 552 and NU 621) and once a year in the certificates. From eastern Pennsylvania the trip is shorter than from most of the country, but give your preceptor the dates early. More on the residencies page.
Pennsylvania residents and New Yorkers crossing the border both come to us for the same thing: a search that begins in the county they choose and ends with a preceptor matched to the Sacred Heart course. Each match comes packaged for approval, with the clinician's resume, licensure and certification proof and the site's contracting contact, so the approval chain and Contract Request Form keep moving. We watch every week-10 deadline and move fast on a replacement if a preceptor leaves. Reach us on the contact page.
Questions Sacred Heart students ask
As a New York resident, can all my Sacred Heart FNP hours be in Pennsylvania?
Yes, provided your RN license is valid in Pennsylvania and every site and preceptor clears Sacred Heart's approval chain. Sort the license out before you propose a site: a Pennsylvania preceptor cannot start with you until the license, the affiliation agreement and Sacred Heart's clearance email are all in place.
Must Sacred Heart apply to the Pennsylvania Board before I train there?
Nothing in our research says so. Pennsylvania runs a Distance Education Application, but it is meant for programs that already hold Pennsylvania Board approval. Sacred Heart's own steps apply either way: advisor sign-off, NP coordinator approval, the CRF, a signed affiliation agreement and then clearance.
Could I work paid RN shifts in Pennsylvania while training there?
Section 21.118 covers unpaid clinical practice the program requires, nothing more. Paid RN work in Pennsylvania during the program calls for endorsement licensure with a temporary practice permit, unless you already hold a license valid there, such as a multistate compact license.
Will Pennsylvania's overhaul of its nursing education rules affect my clinicals?
Unlikely. Regulation package IRRC #16A-5141 was finalized on September 8, 2026, is due before the commission on October 15, and keeps § 21.118 mostly as it is. Whatever the outcome, Sacred Heart still expects an RN license that is valid in Pennsylvania.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Sacred Heart's own catalog, program pages and 2026-27 student guides. Your student guide, your academic advisor and your course faculty have the final word.
Sacred Heart asks you to secure your clinical placement. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Sacred Heart program, your city and your next clinical course. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare what your advisor, the NP clinical coordinator and the Contract Request Form ask for, early enough for the affiliation agreement.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care of adults, women and children for FNP, psychiatric care across the lifespan for PMHNP
- Preceptor CV, license, board certification and the site's contract contact ready before your week-10 deadline
- Close to home in any state where Sacred Heart's program meets licensure requirements, with New York's rule planned around
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