How to Get Your South Carolina Nursing License

How South Carolina Issues Nursing Licenses

The South Carolina Board of Nursing sits within the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR) in Columbia and regulates RNs and LPNs statewide. Applications are submitted through the LLR online portal at llr.sc.gov. The application fee is $90 for RN licensure by examination ($100 with a temporary permit), $70 for LPN licensure by examination ($80 with a temporary permit), and $100 for licensure by endorsement from another US jurisdiction ($110 with a temporary permit) — the same endorsement fee applies to RN and LPN. NCLEX itself costs an additional $200 paid directly to Pearson VUE. Every initial applicant — examination or endorsement, RN or LPN — must complete a fingerprint-based criminal background check through SLED and the FBI before a license is issued.

South Carolina and the NLC

South Carolina is a full Nurse Licensure Compact member. SC joined the original NLC in 2006 and transitioned to the enhanced NLC (eNLC) on January 19, 2018, alongside the rest of the country's compact rollout. RNs and LPNs whose Primary State of Residence (PSOR) is South Carolina are eligible for a multistate license that authorizes practice in every other NLC state without separate licensure. PSOR is established by South Carolina driver's license, voter registration, or federal tax return. If you move to South Carolina from another compact state, you must apply for an SC multistate license and the prior state's multistate license is deactivated — holding two compact licenses simultaneously is not permitted.

Where Most South Carolina Applications Get Stuck

Four South Carolina-specific issues drive most delays:

• SLED/FBI fingerprinting. South Carolina requires fingerprint-based criminal history checks through SLED and the FBI, captured by an IdentoGO-authorized livescan vendor. Out-of-state fingerprint cards are generally not accepted, and the Board will not issue a license — or in most cases a temporary permit — until SLED/FBI results are on file.
• The LLR online portal. Applications, renewals, and supporting-document uploads all route through the LLR portal. Mismatched email addresses across portal accounts, NCLEX registration, and Nursys records are a common source of stalled files. Document uploads that do not meet portal format requirements are silently rejected and require resubmission.
• Character and fitness review. Any criminal history, prior board action, or mental health/substance use treatment triggers a separate Board review. That review runs on its own track and routinely adds 30-90 days on top of the standard application timeline. Late or incomplete disclosure is treated as a separate Practice Act violation.
• License verification routing. For endorsement applicants, verification from the originating state must come directly through Nursys or via paper from the issuing board. Applicants who upload their own license copy are routinely delayed.

What You'll Pay

South Carolina application fees are moderate by national standards. RN examination applicants pay $90 to the Board ($100 with a temporary permit) plus $200 to Pearson VUE for NCLEX, for an application-side total of about $290. LPN examination applicants pay $70 to the Board ($80 with a temporary permit) plus $200 for NCLEX. Endorsement applicants pay $100 to the Board ($110 with a temporary permit) — same fee for RN and LPN. Add about $51.50 for SLED/FBI fingerprinting through the contracted livescan vendor (subject to change). Biennial renewal is $75 for both RNs and LPNs. Reinstatement of a license lapsed under five years is $135; lapsed five years or more is $145; reinstatement of a previously disciplined license is $225.

Realistic Timeline

The Board does not publish a fixed business-day target for issuance. In practice, end-to-end timing for endorsement applicants runs 4-8 weeks because SLED/FBI fingerprint clearance, license verification routing through Nursys, and any character/fitness review all sit ahead of issuance. Examination applicants are eligible to schedule the NCLEX only after the Board confirms eligibility with Pearson VUE — most graduates take 3-6 weeks from application to NCLEX seat. A temporary permit ($10 add-on) can authorize practice while the permanent license is pending if all eligibility steps except originating-state verification are complete. Plan to submit at least 8-10 weeks before you need to practice; longer if you have any criminal history, out-of-country training, or character/fitness issue in play.

Renewal and Continued Competency

South Carolina runs on a biennial renewal cycle with all RN and LPN licenses expiring on April 30 of every even-numbered year. Unlike most states, South Carolina does not mandate a fixed CE hour count — instead, licensees pick one of four continued competency options per renewal:

• 30 contact hours of continuing education from a Board-recognized provider.
• Current national nursing certification from a Board-recognized certifying body.
• Academic program of study in nursing or a related field completed during the renewal period.
• Employer certification of competency along with documented practice hours.

CE Broker is the Board's official continuing education tracking system. Active-duty military personnel are exempt from continued competency requirements during their service. Renewals submitted after April 30 are subject to reinstatement requirements and additional fees; the online renewal portal closes May 31, after which a paper reinstatement with a new background check is required.

Single State Versus NLC

If South Carolina is your Primary State of Residence, your SC RN or LPN license can be issued as a multistate license at no extra fee, authorizing practice in every other NLC state. If your PSOR is a non-compact state (California, New York, Oregon, etc.), the SC license must be issued as a single-state license — same fee, same fingerprint check, but it only authorizes practice in South Carolina. PSOR rules are strict: you cannot hold two multistate licenses simultaneously, and a move from one compact state to another deactivates the prior state's multistate privilege.

How White Glove Helps

We manage South Carolina RN and LPN applications end-to-end with particular focus on getting all four prerequisites — SLED/FBI fingerprinting, originating-state Nursys verification, LLR portal account hygiene, and any character/fitness disclosure — running in parallel rather than in series, which is the usual cause of stalled files. We coordinate fingerprint capture through an IdentoGO livescan vendor, push originating-state verification through Nursys, normalize email addresses across portal/NCLEX/Nursys records, and pre-screen for character and fitness triggers so disclosures and supporting documentation are filed up front rather than discovered mid-review. For nurses establishing South Carolina as their Primary State of Residence, we coordinate the PSOR documentation and the deactivation of any prior compact-state multistate license so the SC multistate is clean from issuance.