Clarkson College graduate nursing from Virginia
Yes: Virginia reads Meets Requirements for Graduate Nursing in Clarkson College's 2026-27 workbook, which lets a Virginia resident enroll in any Clarkson online graduate track and complete clinical hours in the Commonwealth. The careful planning happens at the borders, where Maryland, West Virginia and Tennessee each change the picture.
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Tell us your Clarkson program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
Virginia's line in Clarkson's workbook
No footnote attaches to Virginia. Clarkson's licensing link for the state is the Board of Nursing page at the Department of Health Professions. The workbook answer clears the state; each preceptor and site still has to clear Clarkson before you register, which the find-your-own-preceptor guide explains. RN to BSN applicants should note the Does Not Meet on that tab and ask the program about it.
| Clarkson tab | Virginia |
|---|---|
| Graduate Nursing (one answer for MSN, certificate and DNP) | Meets Requirements |
| CRNA | Meets Requirements |
| RN-BSN | Does Not Meet Requirements |
Virginia's board, its code, and out-of-state students
Out-of-state programs and post-licensure programs, in the Virginia Board of Nursing's own statement, sit beyond its regulation and approval. The Board's requirement that 80% of clinical time happen in Virginia, like the site rules of 18VAC90-27, governs the pre-licensure schools it approves, and a Clarkson MSN or DNP is not one of those.
A narrow exemption sits in Virginia Code 54.1-3001 for nurses licensed somewhere else, whether another state, the District or a territory: a current, unrestricted RN license from there covers the clinical work an advanced nursing program demands, and nothing beyond it. Clarkson's own wording asks for a license effective where the clinical occurs, and Virginia is a compact state, so a Virginia resident holding a Virginia multistate license already meets it. The RN license guide covers Clarkson's side.
Patient care teams and the Maryland caution
A Virginia NP works inside a patient care team, under a practice agreement with one of its physicians, until attesting to three full-time years' worth of clinical practice; that team requirement is why AANP rates the state restricted. Your preceptor may therefore be a team NP or an NP who has attested out of the team; either can meet Clarkson's test of license, experience and fitting practice, and a team physician you also see patients with belongs on the agreement form.
The Washington metro spans Virginia, Maryland, D.C. and West Virginia, and Maryland reads Meets. But Clarkson's November 2023 clinical sheets bar PAs from precepting Clarkson NP students in Maryland, one of four such states, so plan on an NP or physician there. The details are on who cannot precept you and the Maryland guide.
Where Virginians search, and the NPIP question
Northern Virginia's portion of greater Washington counts 3,184,545 residents by 2025 Census estimates. Richmond has 1,389,338, Roanoke 316,547, and Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk 1,742,506 within Virginia. Among employers of NPs, Carilion Clinic and UVA Health sit alongside Inova, Sentara Health and VCU Health; each handles students its own way, and this page offers none of them as a Clarkson site.
NPIP, the Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program, does reward some Virginia preceptors, yet eligibility hinges on the student attending a Virginia nursing school, public or private nonprofit, so time spent with a Clarkson student falls outside it. Since SB 405 (signed March 31, 2026), NPIP lives at the Virginia Nursing Workforce Center rather than VDH, taking claims for hours completed on or after July 1, 2026.
Licensing, neighbors, and the one trip west
Virginia joined the multistate license system on Jan. 19, 2018; the APRN Compact is another matter, and Virginia has not enacted it. Around it, Clarkson's workbook reads Meets for Maryland, North Carolina and Kentucky and Does Not Meet for West Virginia and Tennessee. North Carolina's Meets is itself a change: it left Clarkson's catalog exclusion list with the 2020-21 edition. Because the Virginia Beach metro reaches into North Carolina, a southern search can cross that line if the preceptor holds North Carolina licensure (North Carolina guide).
The only travel Clarkson asks of NP students is Omaha's Graduate Weekend during NRS 830; every other clinical hour stays in Virginia or a neighbor Clarkson clears.
Why Virginia students choose us
Clarkson students in Virginia choose us because we work the borders as carefully as the Commonwealth: NP or physician preceptors for any Maryland site, North Carolina licensure confirmed for Virginia Beach-area searches, and West Virginia and Tennessee left off the map entirely. Across Northern Virginia, Richmond, Roanoke and the Norfolk area, every one of your five clinical courses is mapped before the first begins, with agreement details ready for Clarkson. Your placement advisor is one message away on the contact page.
Questions Clarkson students ask
Can I complete Clarkson's BSN to DNP clinicals in Virginia?
Yes. The Graduate Nursing row covers the DNP too. The BSN to DNP NP tracks carry 975 clinical hours for students who started in Spring 2024 or later, plus 125 DNP hours, and you choose an external mentor for your DNP project. The BSN to DNP page explains both parts and the older plan.
Could my clinical be in the District of Columbia instead?
Research does not cover the District's row in Clarkson's workbook, so check the workbook tab and ask your Graduate Nursing advisor first. If Clarkson clears it, the preceptor would need licensure in the District, since Clarkson ties the preceptor's license to the place of the clinical.
Can a PA precept me in Virginia?
In Virginia, yes for FNP and AGACNP students: Clarkson's November 2023 sheets accept PAs in those tracks, and Virginia is not on Clarkson's four-state PA list. For PMHNP students, a PA counts only during NRS 830. Cross into Maryland, though, and PAs are out for every Clarkson NP track.
What if I move from Virginia to West Virginia mid-program?
West Virginia reads Does Not Meet for Graduate Nursing. Change your MyCC address to a state like that and Policy OG-33 has Clarkson send you an individual written notice within two weeks; Clarkson also warns that such a move may put financial aid, and even finishing the program, at risk. Talk to your program director before you move.
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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