West Virginia and Clarkson College Nurse Practitioner Programs
West Virginia is an island in Clarkson College's 2026-27 state workbook: both graduate tabs, Graduate Nursing and CRNA, say Does Not Meet there, while Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky all read Meets. Clarkson's graduate programs, MSN through DNP, are not offered as a route to West Virginia licensure, and no West Virginia site can host their clinicals. For Clarkson students living just over the line, though, every neighbor is open.
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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.
What the workbook shows for West Virginia
| Clarkson tab | West Virginia |
|---|---|
| Graduate Nursing (every MSN, certificate and DNP track) | Does Not Meet Requirements |
| CRNA | Does Not Meet Requirements |
| RN-BSN | Does Not Meet Requirements |
| Licensing contact Clarkson lists | West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses |
One Graduate Nursing answer covers all graduate tracks, so there is no FNP-only or PMHNP-only opening. Clarkson's 2018-19 to 2023-24 catalogs also named West Virginia on their enrollment exclusion list. Kentucky, on that same old list, reads Meets today, a reminder that rows can change; the state authorization guide tracks each version.
West Virginia's rules for graduate programs from elsewhere
On paper, West Virginia asks little of out-of-state graduate programs. The WV RN Board oversees pre-licensure education only, and outside pre-licensure programs must be approved before they bring students into West Virginia facilities. Graduate programs get sent to two other doors: the state's higher education commission, WVHEPC, and whichever national body accredits them.
The commission's nursing education office then sets a threshold. Only two situations put an outside APRN or graduate program in need of its approval for West Virginia clinicals: a school outside NC-SARA's membership, or plans to place ten or more students at one site. Clarkson takes part in NC-SARA, and its workbook still reads Does Not Meet. Clarkson does not publish its reasons, and its answer is the one it applies to its own students.
For an RN weighing any NP program, the practice climate is reduced in AANP's terms. Prescribing in West Virginia starts with three years under a physician collaborative agreement, and each Schedule II narcotic prescription is limited to a three-day supply.
Border metros and five open neighbors
| Neighbor | Graduate Nursing | In the RN compact since | Clarkson note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio | Meets | Jan. 1, 2023 | None |
| Pennsylvania | Meets | July 7, 2025 | None |
| Maryland | Meets | Jan. 19, 2018 | PAs cannot precept Clarkson NP students |
| Virginia | Meets | Jan. 19, 2018 | None |
| Kentucky | Meets | Jan. 19, 2018 | On the older exclusion list; open now |
Two metros straddle the border. Huntington-Ashland reaches into Kentucky and Ohio, both Meets, and Hagerstown-Martinsburg reaches into Maryland, Meets but with Clarkson's PA limit. The Charleston and Morgantown metros lie wholly inside West Virginia. Whoever runs a West Virginia clinic, whether Marshall Health Network, WVU Medicine, or Vandalia Health with its CAMC, Mon Health and Davis Health members, the clinic's state is what Clarkson reads. The Ohio, Kentucky and Maryland guides cover the open side.
Licenses for West Virginia nurses
West Virginia's compact membership dates from Jan. 19, 2018. With Ohio joining in 2023 and Pennsylvania in July 2025, every neighbor now accepts a multistate RN license. Under the state's clinical rotation guide, a graduate student whose primary home is West Virginia trains on a West Virginia RN license, and one who lives in another state brings a multistate license. LPNs answer to a separate board, and the APRN Compact has not been enacted. For what Clarkson itself asks, read the RN license page.
Why Clarkson students near West Virginia choose us
Clarkson students in Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania choose us because we plan around the one line that matters here. Every site we propose is confirmed to sit outside West Virginia, every preceptor is licensed in the clinical state, and Maryland searches leave PAs out from the start. We map all your clinical courses together, beginning with the NRS 830 hours that open after you pass the Graduate Weekend skills check in Omaha, your one trip to campus.
If you live in West Virginia, we open with the workbook's answer and Clarkson's own suggestion: a word with a program director before any application. A current student facing a move into West Virginia needs that conversation before signing a lease, because Clarkson links such moves to possible loss of aid and of the ability to complete the program. Tell the placement desk your county and track.
Questions Clarkson students ask
Can I do Clarkson FNP clinicals in Morgantown or Charleston?
No. Clarkson's 2026-27 workbook closes West Virginia on the Graduate Nursing tab, which covers every NP track and the DNP, so a West Virginia clinic cannot hold your Clarkson hours. The city and the health system make no difference. Ask a Clarkson program director about any West Virginia plan before contacting a preceptor.
West Virginia only reviews non-SARA programs. Doesn't Clarkson qualify?
Those same two triggers, non-membership in NC-SARA or ten-plus students at a single site, are the only ones the state's nursing education office lists for outside graduate programs. Clarkson participates in NC-SARA, but its own workbook still reads Does Not Meet for West Virginia, and that determination is the one Clarkson follows for its students.
My hospital job is in Martinsburg but I live in Maryland. Could my clinical be at my own hospital?
No, because that hospital is in West Virginia, and the clinic's state is what Clarkson reads. A Maryland site can work with a Maryland-licensed MD, DO or NP; Clarkson's clinical sheets rule out PAs as preceptors in Maryland. An employed student must also train outside their usual department.
I live in Ohio near Huntington. Where can my clinicals be?
On the Ohio or Kentucky side, both Meets, with your RN license and your preceptor's valid in the state where you train. Huntington-Ashland covers parts of three states; only the West Virginia part is closed. Ohio's compact membership began Jan. 1, 2023, so confirm which license you hold before choosing a site.
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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