Every registered nurse in the United States passes the same exam, the NCLEX-RN, but the license itself comes from a state board of nursing, and each board has its own application, fee, background check and renewal rules. Here are the national steps, how the Nurse Licensure Compact decides whether your license is multistate or single-state, and each state's own steps, checked against the board's pages. NCLEX facts checked October 18, 2026 against NCSBN's NCLEX pages; confirm with your board before you pay a fee.
An associate degree, bachelor's degree, diploma or entry-level master's program approved by a board of nursing. Each program has an NCLEX program code, which you give when you register. After you graduate, your school confirms it to the board, usually with a transcript or a completion letter sent straight from the school.
Apply for licensure by examination in the state where you want your first license, pay the board's fee and do its background check. Most boards take fingerprints for a state and FBI check. Board fees vary widely; your state's page below has the number.
Register online or by phone with your program code and pay NCSBN's registration fee: $200 in the U.S., or $350 for registrations completed on or after February 1, 2027. It is non-refundable. Your registration stays open 365 days while the board decides your eligibility; if the board has not made you eligible in that time, the fee is forfeited. Testing accommodations are requested from the board before you register.
When the board makes you eligible, Pearson emails your ATT. You cannot schedule until you have it, and you must test within its validity dates, which cannot be extended for any reason. Miss them and you register and pay again. Some boards say how long their review takes; where they do, it is on the state page.
It is computer-adaptive: 85 to 150 questions in up to five hours, including breaks, at a Pearson test center. It stops when the computer is 95% sure you are above or below the passing standard, so stopping at 85 tells you nothing by itself. Repeat test takers are offered appointments starting 45 days after their last attempt.
Practice for the NCLEX freeThe NCLEX shut-off simulator: real practice questions under the exam's published stopping rules, 85 to 150 questions. No sign-up.The board issues the license after your pass. Renewal is usually every two years, with continuing education in most states; your state's page has its cycle and hours.
40 states are full members of the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC). If your primary state of residence is a compact state and you meet the compact's uniform licensure requirements, which include a fingerprint-based state and federal background check, your home state issues a multistate license that also lets you practice in every other compact state. If you live in a state outside the compact, or do not meet those requirements, you get a single-state license. A multistate license from another state does not let you practice in a state outside the compact. Move your primary residence to another compact state and you must apply there for a new multistate license within 60 days.
| State | Compact status |
|---|---|
| Alabama | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Alaska | Not a member |
| Arizona | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Arkansas | Member: multistate license for residents |
| California | Not a member |
| Colorado | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Connecticut | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Delaware | Member: multistate license for residents |
| District of Columbia | Not a member (bill pending) (B69) |
| Florida | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Georgia | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Hawaii | Not a member |
| Idaho | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Illinois | Not a member |
| Indiana | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Iowa | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Kansas | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Kentucky | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Louisiana | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Maine | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Maryland | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Massachusetts | Enacted, awaiting implementation |
| Michigan | Not a member (bill pending) (HB 4246) |
| Minnesota | Not a member |
| Mississippi | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Missouri | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Montana | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Nebraska | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Nevada | Not a member |
| New Hampshire | Member: multistate license for residents |
| New Jersey | Member: multistate license for residents |
| New Mexico | Member: multistate license for residents |
| New York | Not a member |
| North Carolina | Member: multistate license for residents |
| North Dakota | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Ohio | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Oklahoma | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Oregon | Not a member |
| Pennsylvania | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Rhode Island | Member: multistate license for residents |
| South Carolina | Member: multistate license for residents |
| South Dakota | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Tennessee | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Texas | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Utah | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Vermont | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Virginia | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Washington | Member: multistate license for residents |
| West Virginia | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Wisconsin | Member: multistate license for residents |
| Wyoming | Member: multistate license for residents |
From NCSBN, nursecompact.com, checked October 18, 2026. Guam has partial implementation, and the U.S. Virgin Islands has enacted the compact and is awaiting implementation.
Every state and DC, each checked against that state's own board of nursing pages and rules: