The Michigan Board of Nursing licenses every RN, LPN, and advanced practice nurse in the state, but it has no website of its own. The board sits inside LARA’s Bureau of Professional Licensing, and all applications, renewals, and license lookups run through one portal: MiPLUS.
Key Takeaways
- Initial RN or LPN license: $212.90, which covers the application and the first two-year license term.
- Renewal: $131.00 every 2 years, filed in MiPLUS, with a 60-day grace period and a $20 late fee.
- 25 contact hours of CE per cycle, including 2 hours in pain and symptom management and 1 hour of implicit bias training for every year of the cycle.
- Michigan is not a Nurse Licensure Compact state. HB 4246 passed the House in June 2025 and has sat in a Senate committee ever since.
- Free license lookup runs through LARA’s MiPLUS search; the Bureau of Professional Licensing answers at (517) 241-0199.
Michigan is an administratively simple state with an expensive habit. One portal handles everything, the paperwork list is short, and the CE load is moderate. But at $65.50 per year of licensure, Michigan renewals cost roughly double Ohio’s and more than twice Indiana’s, and because the state stayed out of the nurse compact, every out-of-state nurse still has to file a full endorsement application to work a single shift here.
| Michigan nursing license | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Licensing board | Michigan Board of Nursing |
| Oversight agency | LARA, Bureau of Professional Licensing (BPL) |
| License types | RN, LPN, plus RN specialty certification (NP, CNM, CNS, CRNA) |
| Initial license fee | $212.90 (RN or LPN, by exam or endorsement) |
| Renewal cycle and fee | Every 2 years, $131.00 |
| Continuing education | 25 contact hours per cycle, min. 2 in pain and symptom management |
| Application and lookup system | MiPLUS |
| Nurse Licensure Compact | No (legislation pending in the Senate) |
| Governing law | Public Health Code, 1978 PA 368, Article 15, Part 172 |
Michigan Board of Nursing contact information
The board has no separate office or phone line. Everything routes through LARA’s Bureau of Professional Licensing in Lansing, which handles licensing questions, document intake, and MiPLUS support for all nursing credentials.
| Licensing questions and MiPLUS help | (517) 241-0199 |
| General email | [email protected] |
| Transcripts, verifications, certifications | [email protected] |
| Mailing address | Bureau of Professional Licensing, PO Box 30670, Lansing, MI 48909 |
| Board page | michigan.gov/lara, Health Professional Licensing, Nursing |
| Applications and renewals | michigan.gov/miplus |
Wondering who sits on the board? Michigan publishes the current roster and the year’s meeting schedule on the Michigan Board of Nursing page, along with meeting agendas, minutes, and the list of board-approved nursing education programs. Meetings are public.
One security note. LARA has flagged fraudulent emails impersonating its officials and asking licensees for signatures or personal data. The bureau will never ask for credit card numbers or personal information by phone, text, or email. If something looks off, verify through michigan.gov/lara before responding.
How to verify a Michigan nursing license (MiPLUS lookup)
Michigan nursing license verification is free and runs through LARA’s public license search, powered by the MiPLUS system. You can look up any RN, LPN, or specialty-certified nurse by name or license number and see current status, expiration date, and any disciplinary action on the record.
The same search covers every version of the question people actually ask: how to check a Michigan nurse license status, how to confirm an RN license is active before a hire, or how to find your own license number when you have lost it.
One boundary worth drawing up front: this page covers nursing credentials only. MiPLUS also holds MD, DO, and physician assistant records, but those sit with a different board, on a three-year cycle and a different fee schedule. For those, see our Michigan medical license guide.
- Open LARA’s license search. Go to the Bureau of Professional Licensing verification portal, or start at the MiPLUS assistant page and choose the verification option.
- Search by name or license number. License number gives you an exact match. If you only have a name, partial spellings work, so try a maiden name or a previous married name if nothing comes up.
- Filter by profession. Choose registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, or the relevant nurse specialty so physician and cosmetology records stop crowding your results.
- Open the record. The profile shows license status (active, expired, lapsed), issue and expiration dates, the license number, and public disciplinary documents if any exist.
- Need it in writing? Order a certification through MiPLUS for $15 per address. Normal processing runs about 3 to 5 business days. Listing both a mailing address and an email address counts as two addresses, so that request costs $30.
MiPLUS or Nursys: which one, and when
This trips people up constantly, so here is the split the board itself draws. Use Nursys when you are sending your Michigan license record out to another state board. Use MiPLUS for everything else.
- Applying by endorsement to another state? Order the verification at nursys.com under Request Verification. The fee is $30 per license type for each nursing regulatory body you are applying to, and Nursys support answers at 866-819-1700.
- Any other official verification request? That comes from the Michigan Board of Nursing through MiPLUS at $15 per address.
- Just checking a status? LARA’s free public search is the primary source of record for a Michigan license.
One caveat worth knowing before you run a national search: Michigan does not issue multistate licenses, so a Michigan RN record will never show compact privileges. If a nurse appears to be practicing in Michigan on a multistate license from another state, that is not authorization to practice here. More on that below.
Credentialing a nurse for a payer file usually means pairing the state check with a federal identifier check. Our free NPI number search covers that side in the same sitting.
How to renew a Michigan nursing license
Michigan nursing license renewal costs $131.00 and happens every two years online through MiPLUS. LARA mails and emails a renewal notice roughly 90 business days before your expiration date, and you attest to your continuing education rather than uploading certificates.
Renewals here run on a fixed board cycle, not on your birthday. Board rules have referenced the March 31 renewal cycle since 2018, and your own expiration date is printed on your record in MiPLUS, so check it there rather than assuming. If you hold an RN license with an active specialty certification, the two renew together in one transaction for $161.40; the specialty box is pre-checked on the renewal form, and unchecking it drops the specialty.
Miss the deadline and Michigan gives you a cushion. There is a 60-day grace period in which you can still renew without going through relicensure, at a $20 late fee. Once that window closes, the license is lapsed and you are into relicensure: $232.90, plus escalating requirements depending on how long the license sat inactive. Lapsed under three years and you submit 25 CE hours. Between three and seven years, you add three hours each in safe documentation, critical thinking, pharmacology, preventing medication errors, professional accountability, and delegation, plus a written certification of skill competency. Past seven years, you retake the NCLEX.
Pro tip: if you are changing your name, renew first and file the name change second. LARA states plainly that a name change bundled into a renewal slows the renewal down, because staff have to review the supporting documents before the renewal clears. Renew, then use the Modification option next to your license number in MiPLUS. A free copy of the license with your new name arrives by email; a printed one costs $10.
What CE does Michigan require for nursing license renewal?
Michigan nursing CE requirements are 25 contact hours in the two years before renewal, including at least 2 hours in pain and symptom management. Separate from that total sit two mandated trainings: implicit bias, repeated every cycle, and human trafficking, which is one time only.
| Requirement | Hours | How often |
|---|---|---|
| General continuing education | 25 contact hours | Every 2-year cycle |
| Pain and symptom management (inside the 25) | 2 hours minimum | Every cycle |
| Implicit bias training | 1 hour per year of the cycle | Every renewal, not one time |
| Implicit bias, initial licensure | 2 hours | Within the 5 years before the license is issued |
| Human trafficking training | One-time training | Once, ever (R 338.10105) |
| Opioid and controlled substance awareness | One-time training | Only if you hold a controlled substance license |
Watch out: implicit bias training is not a one-time box. Michigan requires 1 hour for each year of your license cycle, every single renewal, which means 2 hours before a standard two-year renewal. Nurses who treat it like the human trafficking training (genuinely once, ever) get stuck at the attestation screen.
A few Michigan quirks worth planning around. You cannot earn more than 12 credit hours in any 24-hour period, so a single marathon weekend will not cover the cycle; spread the 25 hours across at least three days. A contact hour is 50 to 60 minutes, and a CEU is ten contact hours, so 25 hours equals 2.5 CEUs. Academic coursework counts at 5 CE hours per semester credit hour. Holding or maintaining national certification as a nurse practitioner, nurse midwife, clinical nurse specialist, or nurse anesthetist earns the full 25 hours on its own.
New graduates used to get a free pass on the first renewal. Not anymore. If your initial Michigan RN or LPN license was issued on or after May 8, 2024, the full 25 hours apply to your first renewal.
You do not submit certificates at renewal, but you do have to keep them. The board audits a random share of licensees after every cycle and expects you to hold documentation for four years. BPL partners with CE Broker, which is the easiest place to park certificates as you earn them.
Michigan does not audit your CE at renewal. It audits it afterward, at random, and the burden of proof sits with you for four years.
Is Michigan a compact state for nursing?
No. Michigan is not a member of the Nurse Licensure Compact. A multistate license from another NLC state does not authorize practice in Michigan, and Michigan nurses cannot obtain a multistate license. Every nurse working here needs a Michigan license issued by the board.
The status of the legislation matters, because it keeps getting misreported. House Bill 4246 would add Michigan to the compact. It passed the Michigan House on June 11, 2025 by a vote of 57 to 52, was transmitted to the Senate the next day, and was referred to the Senate Committee on Regulatory Affairs on June 12, 2025. As of July 21, 2026, that is still the last recorded action. The bill has not been enacted, and its own language provides that it would take effect 90 days after enactment. In practical terms: even on the day a governor signs it, nothing changes for three more months.
There is a wrinkle that confuses a lot of people, and it is worth stating outright. Michigan is a member of the physician compact, the IMLC, whose membership was preserved by Public Act 6 of 2026. Physicians and nurses are governed by two entirely different compacts here, and Michigan’s participation in one says nothing about the other.
Real scenario: an RN who lives in Toledo holds an Ohio multistate license and picks up per-diem shifts across the border in Monroe and Detroit. Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin are all compact members, so her license travels freely in three directions. Michigan is the one border she cannot cross on it. She needs a Michigan license by endorsement, which means $212.90 and a full application file before her first shift.
So what states accept a Michigan nursing license? None automatically. Because Michigan issues single-state licenses only, moving your practice anywhere else means applying by endorsement in that state and ordering a Nursys verification. If you work across state lines regularly, our guide to the multistate nursing license and how the compact works covers the mechanics.
Michigan nursing license requirements: exam, endorsement, and temporary licenses
Every applicant files online in MiPLUS, clears a fingerprint-based criminal background check, completes human trafficking and implicit bias training, provides a Social Security number, and has license verification sent directly to the board from every state or country where they have ever held a nursing license.
Beyond that shared baseline, the path splits.
By examination. Your nursing program has to be Michigan-approved, Canadian and CASN-accredited, or accredited by ACEN, CNEA, or CCNE. Final official transcripts go straight from the school to the board. You then pass the NCLEX-RN or NCLEX-PN, administered through Pearson VUE and reported to Michigan by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. There is no cap on attempts, but there is a clock: you must pass within three years of graduation, with a 45-day wait between tries. Miss that window and you need a written certification of skills competency, or a board extension of up to six months.
By endorsement. This is the route for transferring a nursing license to Michigan. You need an active, unencumbered license in another U.S. state and to have been originally licensed by passing the NCLEX there. Canadian nurses qualify if they are in good standing and were initially licensed by the NCLEX or the Canadian Registered Nurse Examination before 2015. Only your highest degree transcript is required, which surprises people who assemble the full stack. If you have been licensed under five years and your program was not accredited by one of the recognized bodies, expect an extra curriculum review.
Internationally educated nurses. Michigan wants a Credentials Evaluation Service report or certification from TruMerit (formerly CGFNS), or an evaluation from Josef Silny & Associates. Five or more years of active, sanction-free U.S. licensure exempts you from that step.
Temporary license. Michigan’s temporary nursing license is narrower than most states’. It is available to licensed Canadian nurses who still need to sit the NCLEX, is valid for up to one year, and is off the table if you have already failed the exam once.
Watch out: transcripts and verifications will be rejected if you forward them yourself. They must arrive directly from the school or the issuing board, emailed to [email protected] or mailed to the Bureau of Professional Licensing, PO Box 30670, Lansing, MI 48909. In our experience processing endorsement files, out-of-state verifications are the single most common reason a Michigan application sits idle.
LARA does not publish an official average processing time for nursing applications, and we would treat any specific number you see quoted elsewhere with suspicion. What actually sets your timeline is how fast third parties respond: the schools, the prior state boards, and the background check vendor. Order all of them on day one, in parallel, rather than waiting for the board to tell you something is missing.
If a start date is already on the calendar and you would rather not chase six organizations at once, our nurse licensing service files the MiPLUS application, chases the verifications, and handles board follow-up for RNs, LPNs, and APRNs.
Michigan nursing license fees, line by line
Michigan bundles the application fee and the first two-year license fee into one charge, so an initial RN or LPN license is a single payment of $212.90 by credit or debit card. Renewal, relicensure, and specialty certifications are priced separately, and every transaction runs through MiPLUS.
| Fee item | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| RN license, by exam or endorsement | $212.90 | Application plus 2-year license fee |
| LPN license, by exam or endorsement | $212.90 | Same structure as the RN fee |
| RN or LPN renewal | $131.00 | Every 2 years |
| RN with specialty certification, renewal | $161.40 | License and specialty renew together |
| RN specialty certification application | $41.35 or $56.55 | Valid 1 to 2 years from the date issued |
| RN or LPN relicensure | $232.90 | After the 60-day grace period |
| Late fee, inside the grace period | $20.00 | Added to the $131 renewal |
| Nursys verification to another board | $30.00 | Per license type, per destination board |
| MiPLUS license certification | $15.00 | Per address listed; 3 to 5 business days |
How does Michigan compare to neighboring states?
Michigan is the most expensive state in its region to keep a nursing license active. Because renewal cycles are all two years across the Great Lakes states, the comparison is clean: Michigan’s $131 works out to $65.50 per year, against $73 ($36.50 per year) in Wisconsin, $65 ($32.50 per year) in Ohio, and $50 ($25.00 per year) in Indiana. Michigan costs about twice what Ohio does and more than two and a half times Indiana.
The fee gap is the smaller half of the story. All three of Michigan’s land neighbors belong to the Nurse Licensure Compact, and Michigan does not. An Indiana RN pays $25 a year and can practice in more than forty jurisdictions on it. A Michigan RN pays $65.50 a year for authority that stops at the state line. Nurses working the Ohio border often end up holding both, which is where the Ohio nursing board’s requirements become relevant alongside Michigan’s.
Who the Michigan Board of Nursing regulates: the state’s nurse workforce
The board licenses registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, and grants specialty certification to nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, clinical nurse specialists, and nurse anesthetists. Michigan tracks that population annually through a state-run survey, which drew 17,148 responses in 2025.
Two findings shape the licensing picture. Retirement drives departures: it was the leading reason for planning to leave nursing within five years for 70.2% of RNs and 63.7% of LPNs. And roughly half the workforce expects to stay a decade or more, which means renewal volume in Michigan is stable rather than shrinking. That matters for anyone reading the compact debate as a staffing question rather than a fee question.
Michigan’s scope rules sit in the Public Health Code rather than a standalone nurse practice act. As the board puts it in its own licensing guide, Michigan has no act called the Nurse Practice Act; nursing is regulated alongside 25 other health occupations under the Occupational Regulation sections of 1978 PA 368, Article 15, Part 172. Advanced practice sits at MCL 333.17201(a), which defines an APRN as an RN granted specialty certification under MCL 333.17210. One practical consequence: APRNs prescribing controlled substances do so under physician delegation, with both DEA numbers on the prescription, and they do not hold a separate Michigan controlled substance license.
Our team handles Michigan nursing license applications end-to-end: MiPLUS filing, out-of-state license verifications, and transcript follow-up before the file reaches the Board of Nursing. We work with RNs, LPNs, and APRNs across all 50 states.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I verify a Michigan nursing license?
Use LARA’s free public license search, powered by MiPLUS. Search by the nurse’s name or license number, filter by profession, and open the record to see license status, issue and expiration dates, and any public disciplinary action. There is no fee and no account needed.
How do I find my nursing license number in Michigan?
Search your own name in LARA’s public license lookup; the license number appears on your record. If your name has changed, try your previous or maiden name. You can also log in to your MiPLUS account, where the number sits under My Records.
Can I look up a Michigan RN or LPN license by name or license number?
Yes. LARA’s verification portal accepts either. License number returns an exact match; a name search returns every matching licensee, so filter by profession to separate registered nurses from practical nurses and other health professions.
How much does it cost to renew a Michigan nursing license?
The RN or LPN renewal fee is $131.00 for the two-year cycle, paid by card in MiPLUS. An RN with an active specialty certification pays $161.40 to renew both together. Renewing inside the 60-day grace period adds a $20 late fee.
How many CEUs does Michigan require for nursing license renewal?
Michigan requires 25 contact hours, which equals 2.5 CEUs, in the two years before renewal. At least 2 hours must cover pain and symptom management, and no more than 12 hours may be earned in any 24-hour period. Implicit bias training is required on top of that.
Is Michigan part of the compact nursing license?
No. Michigan is not a Nurse Licensure Compact state, so a multistate license does not authorize practice here and Michigan nurses cannot hold one. HB 4246 passed the House in June 2025 and has been in a Senate committee since; it would take effect 90 days after enactment.
Is the Michigan Nurse Aide Registry the same as a nursing license?
No. Certified nurse aides are listed on the Nurse Aide Registry, administered by LARA’s Bureau of Community and Health Systems, not licensed by the Board of Nursing. CNA status is verified through that registry, while RN and LPN licenses are verified through the MiPLUS search.
This article provides general guidance only. Nursing licensing requirements change frequently and vary by state. Always verify current requirements with the Michigan Board of Nursing through LARA’s Bureau of Professional Licensing at michigan.gov/lara before submitting your application or renewal. Last fact-checked: July 21, 2026.
Written by Medicallicensing Team · Reviewed by David Ivaniuk, CEO Medicallicensing · Last updated: July 21, 2026 · Last fact-checked: July 21, 2026
About the reviewer
David Ivaniuk is the CEO of Medicallicensing, a licensing services company that has helped physicians, PAs, nurses, and other healthcare professionals navigate state licensing, DEA registration, and payer enrollment across all 50 U.S. states.
References
- Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). “Michigan Nursing Licensing Guide,” rev. January 26, 2026. Retrieved July 21, 2026. Link.
- LARA, Bureau of Professional Licensing. Michigan Board of Nursing page (board roster, meeting schedule, approved programs). Retrieved July 21, 2026. Link.
- LARA. MiPLUS user assistance (name and address changes, modifications, license reprints). Retrieved July 21, 2026. Link.
- LARA, Bureau of Professional Licensing. License verification portal. Retrieved July 21, 2026. Link.
- Michigan Legislature. House Bill 4246 of 2025, bill history and status. Retrieved July 21, 2026. Link.
- Michigan Legislature. Public Health Code, 1978 PA 368, Article 15, Part 172 (Nursing). Retrieved July 21, 2026. Link.
- Nurse Licensure Compact (NCSBN). Member states and compact rules. Retrieved July 21, 2026. Link.
- Nursys (NCSBN). Nurse license verification for endorsement. Retrieved July 21, 2026. Link.
- Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Nursing Programs. “2025 Survey of Michigan Nurses, Executive Summary,” Sept. 30, 2025. Retrieved July 21, 2026. Link.
- Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Board of Nursing agency fees, ORC 4723.08 (Aug. 20, 2025). Retrieved July 21, 2026. Link.
- Indiana Professional Licensing Agency. Nursing licensing information and renewal fees. Retrieved July 21, 2026. Link.
- Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services. Renewal dates and fees schedule. Retrieved July 21, 2026. Link.
