MSN programs in Illinois prepare registered nurses for APRN licensure as a nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist or certified nurse midwife. You finish an accredited graduate program, earn national certification in your role, then apply to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). New nurse anesthesia students now need a doctorate instead.
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If you’re an Illinois RN thinking about graduate school, start by learning who controls each step. Your program decides what you study, a national board certifies you, and IDFPR issues the license. None of them can stand in for the others, so here’s how the pieces fit for a nurse who’s still working shifts.
Who Licenses APRNs in Illinois
Advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) licenses come from IDFPR’s Division of Professional Regulation, under the Nurse Practice Act (225 ILCS 65). Older guides credit the Illinois Center for Nursing with licensing, but it doesn’t license anyone. It was renamed the Illinois Nursing Workforce Center (INWC) on January 1, 2017, and it studies and plans the state’s nursing workforce.
You’ll also run into two titles. The Act has said “advanced practice registered nurse” since Public Act 100-513 took effect on January 1, 2018. Some IDFPR forms and license names still say “advanced practice nurse” (APN). They refer to the same license.
The Four APRN Roles
Illinois law defines four APRN roles, and your graduate APRN program must prepare you for the national certification in one of them:
- Certified nurse practitioner (CNP)
- Clinical nurse specialist (CNS)
- Certified nurse midwife (CNM)
- Certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA)
NP and CNS programs also train you for one patient population, such as family/individual across the lifespan, adult-gerontology, pediatrics, neonatal, women’s health or psychiatric-mental health. The Act says APRNs may practice only in line with their national certification, so the population you certify in is the population you serve.
What Section 65-5 Requires
Under Section 65-5 of the Nurse Practice Act, you’re eligible for an Illinois APRN license once you have:
- A current Illinois registered professional nurse license
- A graduate degree appropriate for national certification in a clinical APRN specialty, or a graduate degree or post-master’s certificate from a graduate program in one
- Current national certification as a nurse midwife, clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner or nurse anesthetist, which you must keep active
- A criminal history records check under Section 50-35
- A completed application and fees, plus verification of any license you hold in another state, if that applies
One detail trips people up. IDFPR’s requirements page still prints the old Section 15-10 above the current text, so go by Section 65-5, the second section on that page. And because 65-5 asks for an Illinois RN license, a nurse licensed only in another state needs an Illinois RN license before applying.
New graduates don’t always have to sit out while IDFPR reviews the application. Section 65-10 lets a qualifying graduate practice for a limited time while the application is pending, under conditions IDFPR sets.
Choosing MSN Programs in Illinois
Illinois has campus-based graduate nursing programs at public and private universities, and the INWC keeps a list of graduate programs that includes the state’s nurse anesthesia programs. Plenty of working RNs choose an accredited online program instead so they can keep their shifts. If you go that route, compare MSN programs nationwide, then ask each school how it handles clinical placements in Illinois. Online coursework doesn’t remove supervised patient care. Under the 2022 National Task Force (NTF) Standards for Quality Nurse Practitioner Education, approved NP experiences may include telehealth (Criterion III.H). You may suggest sites or preceptors, but the program secures and approves placements (Criterion II.G).
IDFPR doesn’t regulate or approve post-licensure programs like these, as the INWC notes on its graduate education page. What protects your license is program accreditation and a curriculum that makes you eligible for the national certification exam in your role.
Accreditation and Certification by Role
Check the accreditor before you apply. NP and CNS programs are typically accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). Your certification board sets its own accreditation rule, so check it for your program type, including post-graduate certificates. Nurse-midwifery programs are accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME). Our certified nurse midwife guide covers the role itself. Here’s how accreditation and certification line up for each role:
| Role | Program Accreditor | National Certifying Boards |
|---|---|---|
| Nurse practitioner | Typically CCNE or ACEN (check your board’s rule) | NPCB (AANPCB), ANCC, AACN Certification Corporation, PNCB or NCC, depending on population |
| Clinical nurse specialist | Typically CCNE or ACEN (check your board’s rule) | AACN Certification Corporation or ANCC |
| Certified nurse midwife | ACME | AMCB |
| Nurse anesthetist | COA (doctoral programs for new students) | NBCRNA |
Those boards are the Nurse Practitioner Certification Board (NPCB), legally the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB), the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the AACN Certification Corporation, the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board (PNCB), the National Certification Corporation (NCC), the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB) and the National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA). Illinois’s nursing rules list accepted certifying bodies by APRN role (68 Ill. Adm. Code 1300.400). That section isn’t a catalog of exam titles, so confirm IDFPR accepts both your certifying organization and your role-specific certification.
Nurse Anesthesia Is Now a Doctoral Path
If you’re an ICU nurse eyeing anesthesia, plan on a doctorate. The Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA) requires students accepted on or after January 1, 2022 to graduate with a doctoral degree. An MSN isn’t a route to CRNA for anyone starting now.
Clinical Hours and Coursework
The NTF Standards (6th edition) call for at least 750 direct patient care clinical hours in NP programs, and simulation doesn’t count toward them. Certification boards and accreditors set their own minimums, so ask each program which requirement applies to your cohort.
Coursework follows national competency documents: the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials for graduate nursing education, plus role-specific competencies from the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF), the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) and the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS). APRN preparation includes graduate-level advanced health assessment, physiology and pathophysiology, and pharmacology. It pairs them with supervised education in your role and population.
Which MSN Route Fits Your Degree
Your starting degree decides your entry route:
- BSN to MSN: For RNs with a bachelor’s in nursing. You go straight into graduate coursework, full-time or part-time.
- RN to MSN: For associate-degree RNs. Bridge programs build the BSN-level coursework into the graduate track, so you don’t finish a separate bachelor’s first.
- Direct-entry MSN: For career changers with a non-nursing bachelor’s. Direct-entry MSN programs add prelicensure nursing and RN licensure on the way to the master’s. Check whether a program leads to APRN certification or to an entry-level role.
- BSN to doctorate: Takes you from a bachelor’s to a doctorate in one program. For nurse anesthesia, that means a COA-accredited nurse anesthesia doctoral program, a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) or a Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice (DNAP).
Not every MSN leads to an APRN license. Tracks in nursing education, administration and informatics don’t require one. If you’ve always had a knack for teaching new grads, our nurse educator guide covers that path.
Scope of Practice for Illinois APRNs
Illinois APRNs generally practice under a written collaborative agreement, through qualifying institutional privileges, or with full practice authority if they’re eligible. Extra provisions apply to CNMs who provide out-of-hospital birth services. Which applies to you depends on your role, your hours since certification and where you work.
Written Collaborative Agreements
Under Section 65-35, you need a written collaborative agreement for clinical practice until you qualify for full practice authority. The exception is work in a hospital, hospital affiliate or ambulatory surgical treatment center where you hold privileges. Picture an NP who works inpatient at a Springfield hospital and picks up shifts at a private clinic. The hospital work runs on privileges, and the clinic work needs an agreement.
The agreement describes the categories of care, treatment or procedures you provide. Your collaborating physician doesn’t have to be on site, as long as you can reach them in person or by phone or electronic communication as the agreement sets out. Unless you’re the physician’s employee, the agreement can’t restrict your patient categories, the payers you contract with or where in Illinois you practice.
Full Practice Authority
NPs, CNMs and CNSs can eventually practice without a collaborative agreement. You qualify by filing a notarized attestation with IDFPR showing at least 250 hours of continuing education or training and at least 4,000 hours of clinical experience after first earning national certification (Section 65-43). CRNAs aren’t eligible. IDFPR issues a separate APRN-FPA license, and under 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1300.465 your regular APRN license goes inactive when it’s issued.
Full practice authority includes prescribing legend drugs and Schedule II through V controlled substances, with limits. Schedule II narcotics such as opioids require a consultation relationship with a physician, recorded in the state’s Prescription Monitoring Program, and only oral, topical or transdermal forms are allowed. Continued benzodiazepine prescribing also requires a physician consultation. Under Rule 1300.465(e), you must apply for the APRN-FPA Controlled Substance license before you prescribe controlled substances.
Prescribing Under a Collaborative Agreement
When you practice under a written collaborative agreement, your prescriptive authority comes from your collaborating physician, who can delegate it under Section 65-40. IDFPR uses a Notice of Delegated Prescriptive Authority form for this, and you’ll need an APN controlled substance license to prescribe controlled substances. Section 65-40 sets which schedules a physician can delegate, so read it with your collaborating physician before you sign.
Rules for Nurse Anesthetists
For anesthesia services, Section 65-35 requires an anesthesiologist, physician, dentist or podiatric physician to agree to the anesthesia plan and stay physically present and available on the premises. Outside a hospital or ambulatory surgical treatment center, a CRNA needs a written collaborative agreement with an anesthesiologist, a physician or the podiatric physician performing the procedure. With a podiatric physician, you’re limited to services that podiatrist may provide. In a dental office, the agreement is with an anesthesiologist, a physician or the operating dentist, and you’re limited to what that dentist’s permit allows.
Nurse Midwives and Out-of-Hospital Birth
If you’re a labor and delivery nurse weighing midwifery, a 2026 law change matters. Public Act 104-0244, effective January 1, 2026, added Section 65-44. A CNM can now provide out-of-hospital birth services in a licensed birth center without a written collaborative agreement when the birth center’s clinical director grants privileges. In other settings, a CNM can provide them under a collaborative agreement with an APRN who has full practice authority, in a federal primary care Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) with a score of 12 or higher or in a maternity care desert.
The same act lets a collaborative agreement cover home births and bars an agreement from prohibiting them. Under Section 65-35(b-10), if your collaborating physician doesn’t provide home birth services, your home birth services must be in a primary care HPSA scoring 12 or higher or in a maternity care desert. The act also adds Section 65-70, which says a physician isn’t liable for an APRN’s acts just for signing a collaborative agreement. This protection is subject to the competency and willful and wanton misconduct exceptions in Section 65-70(a).
Continuing Education for Illinois APRNs
The 80-hour requirement is waived for your first APRN renewal, but separately mandated training can still apply. After that, 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1300.130 requires 80 hours of approved CE in your specialty per 2-year renewal cycle, completed in the 24 months before your license expires. Those 80 hours also satisfy your RN renewal. IDFPR’s APRN and FPA-APRN CE FAQ (October 2025) breaks them down:
- At least 50 hours from CE programs, including at least 20 hours of pharmacotherapeutics, 10 of them in opioid prescribing or substance abuse education
- Up to 30 hours from presentations in your clinical specialty, evidence-based practice or quality improvement projects, publications, research or precepting
IDFPR’s continuing education page also lists mandated courses. Each can count toward your CE hours rather than adding to them:
- 1 hour of sexual harassment prevention training every renewal cycle, starting with your first renewal
- 1 hour of implicit bias awareness training each renewal period that requires CE
- 1 hour of cultural competency training before your first renewal that requires CE, then every six years
- 1 hour on Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias if you see adults aged 26 and older, before your first renewal that requires CE, then every six years
- Mandated reporter training at least every 6 years if you work with children
Starting July 1, 2026, if you report to IDFPR that you provide maternal health care, your implicit bias training must include maternal health risk content. It isn’t an extra hour. If you hold a controlled substance license, IDFPR also requires 3 hours of safe opioid prescribing CE to renew it, and those hours can count toward your 80.
Illinois APRN Salaries and Job Outlook
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Illinois nurse practitioners earned a median annual wage of $130,680 in May 2025. For nurse anesthetist and nurse midwife pay, job outlook and metro-area figures, see the Illinois MSN salary guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who issues APRN licenses in Illinois?
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), through its Division of Professional Regulation. The Illinois Nursing Workforce Center, once called the Illinois Center for Nursing, plans and studies the nursing workforce but doesn’t license nurses.
Can I still become a CRNA with an MSN in Illinois?
Not if you’re starting now. COA requires students accepted on or after January 1, 2022 to graduate with a doctoral degree. Plan on a COA-accredited nurse anesthesia doctoral program, such as a DNP or DNAP.
Do Illinois nurse practitioners need a collaborative agreement?
Yes, until they qualify for full practice authority, unless they work only where they’re privileged in a hospital, hospital affiliate or ambulatory surgical treatment center. Full practice authority requires a notarized attestation of at least 250 hours of CE or training and 4,000 clinical hours after first national certification.
How many clinical hours does an NP program require?
The 2022 NTF Standards call for at least 750 direct patient care clinical hours, and simulation doesn’t count. Certification boards and accreditors set their own minimums, so ask each program which requirement applies to your cohort.
How much continuing education do Illinois APRNs need?
Eighty hours per 2-year renewal cycle after your first renewal, with at least 20 hours of pharmacotherapeutics. Mandated trainings can apply sooner, since sexual harassment prevention starts with your first renewal. The 80 hours also cover your RN renewal.
- IDFPR licenses APRNs: The Illinois Nursing Workforce Center doesn’t issue licenses, and Section 65-5 sets the requirements.
- Certification comes first: You need a graduate degree or post-master’s certificate in a clinical APRN specialty, then national certification you keep active.
- Accreditation is your check: IDFPR doesn’t approve MSN programs, so confirm the accreditor your certification board accepts, typically CCNE or ACEN for NP and CNS tracks and ACME for midwifery.
- CRNA is doctoral now: COA requires students accepted on or after January 1, 2022 to graduate with a doctorate.
- Full practice authority takes time: NPs, CNMs and CNSs qualify after 250 hours of CE or training and 4,000 clinical hours past certification.
May 2025 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary figures for Nurse Practitioners (Illinois median). Figures reflect state data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed November 2026.
Whether you work nights in a Chicago ICU or days at a rural Illinois clinic, the right program is the one whose clinical placements fit your schedule. Use the school listings on this page to compare how each program places students in Illinois clinicals and which accreditor reviews its NP, CNS or midwifery track.