Studying with Clarkson College from Hawaii
For a Hawaii nurse, Clarkson College's 2026-27 state workbook gives the answer that matters most: Meets Requirements on the Graduate Nursing tab, which opens the online FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP tracks from Oahu, Maui or Hawaii Island. You will need an RN license issued by Hawaii itself for clinical hours, while the Board of Nursing has set up no approval process for distance schools of this kind that have no Hawaii campus.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Clarkson program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
What the workbook shows for Hawaii
Hawaii carries no footnote. Clarkson fixes your state by the permanent home address in MyCC (Policy OG-33), so keep it accurate if you divide the year between the islands and the mainland. For bachelor's completion the RN-BSN column reads Does Not Meet, which that student should settle with the program before enrolling. The state authorization guide sets out how the tabs work.
| Tab | Hawaii answer |
|---|---|
| Graduate Nursing: MSN, certificates, DNP | Meets Requirements |
| CRNA | Meets Requirements |
| RN-BSN | Does Not Meet Requirements |
How Hawaii's board treats an online graduate program
Hawaii separates pre-licensure students from licensed nurses who are back in school. For the first group the line is firm: the student-practice exemption in HRS 457-13(2) covers only programs the Hawaii board accredits, and its Education Committee, meeting on Sept. 1, 2016, ruled out Hawaii clinicals for a pre-license student from one North Dakota BSN program.
Licensed nurses studying online meet a lighter touch. The board keeps a short FAQ for post-licensure programs delivered from elsewhere. Its answer for a school without a Hawaii campus: the board approves nothing, offers no application and expects no notification. Faculty from such a school need Hawaii licensure only for time spent in the islands teaching or precepting face to face.
Two cautions. The FAQ illustrates its point with bachelor's completion for RNs and LPN bridge programs, never with APRN education. And because the statutory exemption reaches only Hawaii-accredited programs, your own Hawaii RN license carries weight from the first NRS 830 hour. For anything the board has left unwritten, your Graduate Nursing advisor is the person to ask.
Hawaii's preceptor tax credit, read closely
Hawaii rewards precepting through its income tax. The credit dates to 2018 (Act 43) and sits in section 235-110.25 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes. To claim it, a preceptor must reside in Hawaii, keep a Hawaii primary care practice, and be an MD, DO, APRN or pharmacist; the nonrefundable credit applies per certified volunteer rotation, up to five in a tax year. The state Department of Health must certify each rotation, and the statewide cap is 1,500 credits a year.
Here is the catch for you. The qualifying student must attend a program with a Hawaii campus or Hawaii accreditation, and over 50 percent of that program's students must be Hawaii residents. A preceptor who teaches a Clarkson student earns nothing under the credit for that rotation. Mention it early, so the conversation turns on teaching rather than taxes.
Island by island: where Hawaii NP students look
AANP scores Hawaii full practice for nurse practitioners. Kaiser Permanente's Hawaii region, The Queen's Health Systems, HHSC (Hawaii Health Systems Corporation) and Hawaii Pacific Health, whose hospitals include Straub, Wilcox, Pali Momi and Kapiolani, are among the larger systems a Hawaii NP student might contact; each runs its own student process.
Search one island at a time. The Census Bureau's 2025 estimates put Urban Honolulu near 988,700 people, the Hilo-Kailua micropolitan area on Hawaii Island near 210,000 and Kahului-Wailuku on Maui near 160,700. A Maui nurse gains little from an Oahu preceptor, so the plan starts where you live.
Licensing: a Hawaii RN license from start to finish
Hawaii holds no Nurse Licensure Compact membership, and NCSBN lists no legislation in progress to change that. A multistate license from Nebraska or any member state gives no privilege on Hawaii patients, so Hawaii clinicals call for a Hawaii RN license, which also meets Clarkson's expectation that your license be effective where the clinical happens (see the RN license guide). Clarkson's November 2023 sheets want the preceptor Hawaii-licensed as well, and with no APRN Compact enacted in Hawaii, the NP license you earn later will be Hawaii's own.
Why Hawaii's Clarkson students choose us
Hawaii rewards a plan built on geography, and that is how we work: one island, one search, preceptors with Hawaii licenses whose practice fits your Clarkson course, and a candid word to each of them about the tax credit before they commit. We set all five clinical courses around your Graduate Weekend trip to Omaha, so flights and first hours line up. Send your island and track through the contact page.
Questions Clarkson students ask
Is Clarkson College's online FNP open to Hawaii residents?
Yes. Hawaii reads Meets Requirements on the Graduate Nursing tab of Clarkson's 2026-27 workbook, and that one answer spans every NP track plus the certificates and the DNP. You still find your own preceptor and site, and Clarkson approves both before you register; the find-your-own-preceptor guide explains the model.
Is there a Hawaii Board approval step for Clarkson graduate clinicals?
Hawaii's FAQ for distance post-licensure schools without a local campus describes neither an approval nor a notice. It never mentions APRN programs, though, choosing RN-to-BSN and LPN bridge examples, so confirm with your Graduate Nursing advisor before a Hawaii site signs anything.
Does Hawaii's preceptor credit apply when someone teaches me?
Not for a Clarkson rotation. Eligibility is tied to Hawaii-based or Hawaii-accredited programs whose students are mostly residents, and Clarkson is based in Omaha. A preceptor who also teaches students from a qualifying Hawaii program can still claim for those rotations.
How many trips to Omaha does a Hawaii student make?
One, for the Graduate Weekend attached to NRS 830; in 2026-27 it runs Sept. 19-20, Feb. 6-7 and June 5-6. Pick the weekend that suits your flights, since NRS 830 hours start only after you pass the skills check-off there. The Graduate Weekend guide covers the rest.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Clarkson College's own catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your course faculty and Graduate Nursing advisor have the final word.
Clarkson asks you to find your preceptor. We make the search the easy part.
Tell us your Clarkson track, your city and your next clinical course. We line up preceptors who fit the NRS course and Clarkson's rules, gather the details the site and preceptor agreement asks for, and flag early whether the site needs a new affiliation agreement.
- Preceptors matched to the course: all-ages primary care for FNP, acute care units for AGACNP, psychiatric providers for PMHNP
- License, experience and site details checked against Clarkson's rules before the agreement is filed
- Every clinical course planned in sequence, close to home in a state where Clarkson's graduate nursing meets requirements
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