Renewing through the South Carolina Board of Nursing
Renewal applications, fees, and continuing-education requirements are handled by the South Carolina Board of Nursing. These are board-set and change over time, so we point you to the official source rather than list figures that could go stale. See the general compact license renewal guide for how the compact fits in.
The law that governs this in South Carolina
Renewing a license issued by South Carolina happens under South Carolina’s own nurse practice act — the same act that defines what practice means here — administered by the South Carolina Board of Nursing. That act is S.C. Code tit. 40, ch. 33 (Nurses); discipline at § 40-33-110.
The compact itself is separate law. South Carolina adopted it at S.C. Code Ann. §§ 40-33-1300 to 40-33-1365 (tit. 40, ch. 33, art. 15 — Nurse Licensure Compact), which is what allows a multistate license issued elsewhere to reach South Carolina at all — the practice act still decides what you may do once it does.
Finding your expiration date
Nursys QuickConfirm shows your license type, status, and expiration date — the fastest way to confirm when you need to renew and whether you hold a single-state or multistate license.
Renewal and your compact privilege
If you hold a multistate South Carolina license, keeping it renewed and in good standing is what keeps your compact privilege active in other states. Let it lapse and the privilege lapses with it. You renew only in your primary state of residence, not in every state you practice.
Can renewing in South Carolina get you a multistate license?
Yes — if South Carolina is genuinely your primary state of residence and you meet the compact’s uniform licensure requirements. The South Carolina Board of Nursing has issued multistate licenses since January 19, 2018. If your South Carolina license was issued before that date it was single-state when granted, so renewal is the natural moment to ask about upgrading — it does not convert on its own.
The compact statute in South Carolina: Article 15 of the Nurse Practice Act chapter, opening "The Nurse Licensure Compact is hereby enacted into law and entered into by this State". Fourteen sections, 40-33-1300 through 40-33-1365. The article carries a codifier’s note throughout that 2017 Act No. 41 rewrote these sections "to reflect changes mandated for membership in the Nurse Licensure Compact" — that is the original-to-enhanced changeover, recorded in the code itself rather than inferred. Note for anyone re-checking this: the chapter page is ~199KB and truncates when read through a summarizing fetch, which reports the compact as absent. It is not absent; it is past the cut.