Registered Nurse (RN) License Renewal in Minnesota
Minnesota RNs renew every 2 years with 24 contact hours of CE and an $85 fee. Minnesota is not a Nurse Licensure Compact state.
| Renewal cycle | Every 2 years |
|---|---|
| CE hours required | 24 hours 24 contact hours per 24-month registration period, a ratio of one contact hour for each month of registration. Your first period after licensure can run 6 to 29 months, so the required hours scale with its length. |
| Renewal fee | $85.00 |
| Mandatory CE topics | None prescribed |
| Licensing board | Minnesota Board of Nursing |
Sourced from Minnesota Board of Nursing, verified July 25, 2026. Requirements change. Confirm with your board before relying on this.
Minnesota keeps its rule proportional, and that’s the detail worth understanding. Twenty-four contact hours of continuing education for a full two-year cycle, which the Board frames as one contact hour for every month you’re registered. For most nurses that’s simply 24 hours every two years. For a nurse whose first cycle is short or long, the number moves with it.
Twenty-four hours, tied to the length of your cycle
An active Minnesota RN completes 24 contact hours of continuing education during a 24-month registration period. The Board expresses it as a ratio, one contact hour per month of registration, and that framing matters for your first cycle after initial licensure or reregistration, which can run anywhere from 6 to 29 months depending on your birth date and when you were licensed. A short first period owes proportionally fewer hours; a long one owes more. After that first cycle, you’re on the standard 24-hours-per-24-months footing every renewal.
You attest to your continuing education at renewal rather than submitting certificates, and you keep your documentation for two years after using it for a renewal in case the Board audits you. Minnesota also recognizes that CE can be met through more than classroom hours, current nursing certification and certain professional activities can count, so check whether what you already do qualifies before buying a course package.
The cycle runs on your birthday
Minnesota ties your renewal to the month and year of your birth. Your first licensure period is set by that birth date relative to when you were licensed, which is why it can be as short as 6 months or as long as 29. After the initial period, your license runs two years and renews on that birth-anchored schedule. Renew online through the Board’s services, and keep the deadline in view, it’s personal to you rather than a shared statewide date.
The fee
Renewal is $85, set directly in Minnesota statute (148.243). That’s mid-pack nationally, matching Missouri and below Michigan’s $131, and because it’s fixed in statute rather than a board-adjusted schedule, it’s stable from cycle to cycle.
Minnesota is not a compact state
This is the one that surprises nurses in the Upper Midwest, because Minnesota is surrounded by compact states. Minnesota is not a Nurse Licensure Compact state, it has not implemented the compact. A Minnesota RN license is a single-state license. To practice in another state, including compact neighbors like Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Iowa, you apply for a license by endorsement there, one state at a time, and a nurse holding a multistate license from another state cannot practice in Minnesota on that license alone. If you work across the border, or a travel assignment takes you out of state, that single-state status is the thing to plan around. Use the compact checker below to confirm Minnesota’s status and see how the surrounding states connect.
Add your renewal deadline to your calendar
Enter your expiration date and download a calendar file. Your own calendar will remind you at 90, 60, 30, and 7 days out. We don't ask for your email, we store nothing, and the date never leaves your device.
Works with Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, and Outlook. This is a convenience, not a compliance service. Confirm your exact deadline with the Minnesota Board of Nursing.
How many CE hours do you have left?
Minnesota requires 24 CE hours this cycle. Enter what you've completed and see what's left. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.
A convenience, not a compliance service. Confirm your exact requirement with the Minnesota Board of Nursing. This is not legal advice.
Continuing education hours per renewal cycle
Minnesota asks for 24 hours. That is below the median of 30 across the 37 states that set a flat hour count, which run from 8 to 40. Ranked lowest to highest, Minnesota is 15 of 37.
Renewal fee
Minnesota charges $85. The median across the 49 states that publish a figure is $100, running from $50 to $245. Ranked cheapest to dearest, Minnesota is 15 of 49.
Each mark is one state. The taller line is the median, the filled dot is Minnesota. States that set no flat hour count, or publish no fee, are left out of that comparison rather than counted as zero.
Where can you practice with your license?
The Nurse Licensure Compact lets a nurse who lives in a compact state hold one multistate license and practice in every other compact state. Pick where you live to see whether that's you, and where it reaches.
Member data from the NCSBN Nurse Licensure Compact map, verified July 2026. A multistate license requires the compact state to be your primary residence. This is a convenience, not legal advice. Confirm your status with your board or at nursecompact.com.
What will this renewal cost?
Minnesota's renewal fee is filled in from the board below. Add what you expect to spend on CE courses, plus a late fee if you're past due, for a running total. Nothing you type is stored.
The renewal fee is from the Minnesota Board of Nursing and dated on this page; the CE and late-fee figures are your own estimates. A convenience, not a compliance service, and not legal advice. Confirm fees with your board.