Arkansas and CUW's online NP programs: every graduate table says meets
Arkansas appears under "Meets Requirements" in every one of Concordia University Wisconsin's graduate NP tables: from the primary care MSN through both doctorates and both CAGE certificates. Arkansas's nursing board publishes no sign-off for schools from other states that send students only for clinicals, so an Arkansas RN's real task is lining up primary care preceptors in a state where NPs work under physician agreements.
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CUW's answer for Arkansas
No split and no footnote: Arkansas is among the 23 states where all five graduate tables line up, so the FNP and AGPCNP master's, the two doctorates and the two certificates point the same way. The RN to BSN table agrees.
| CUW program (disclosure label) | CUW's answer for Arkansas |
|---|---|
| Master of Science in Nursing - Primary Care Nurse Practitioner | Meets |
| Doctor of Nursing Practice - Post BSN to DNP Program | Meets |
| Doctor of Nursing Practice - Post MSN to DNP Program | Meets |
| Certificate After Graduate Education in Nursing (CAGE) (FNP/AGPCNP) | Meets |
| Certificate After Graduate Education in Nursing (CAGE) (PMH NP) | Meets |
| MSN PMHNP and PMHNP DNP | Not in the table |
The gap is at the newest programs. Neither PMHNP program, the MSN or the DNP, has a table, so an Arkansas student aiming at psychiatric practice should get CUW's confirmation for the state before enrolling; the PMHNP master's page covers what those programs involve. Compare other states on CUW's full disclosure breakdown.
What the Arkansas State Board of Nursing asks of schools elsewhere
The Arkansas State Board of Nursing's rulebook is written around its own schools. Its prelicensure standards, 17 CAR Part 125, touch an outside institution only if it wants to launch a program inside Arkansas, and Subpart 10 of 17 CAR Part 123, the chapter on APRN programs, handles schools by way of national-accreditation "deemed status." Neither asks a Wisconsin school to file before a student logs clinical hours in Arkansas. That reading rests on the rules alone, not on word from board staff, so have the Graduate Clinical Coordinator confirm it before your term.
The practice's own paperwork applies either way. CUW needs a clinical contract with each Arkansas site before you see a patient, and a hospital-owned clinic may add orientation or system training once CUW approves it.
Reduced practice, and where Arkansas students search
Under AANP's labels Arkansas is reduced practice: every NP needs a regulated physician agreement for at least part of their practice, and some drugs stay off limits without a physician protocol. So each NP you approach works alongside a collaborating physician, and a single practice may give you both kinds of preceptor, a mix CUW's archived handbooks accepted.
For sheer number of practices, start in central Arkansas: Little Rock and its neighbors North Little Rock and Conway are home to UAMS Health, to Baptist Health and to CHI St. Vincent, with Arkansas Children's for pediatrics. Mercy, a St. Louis-based system, has hospitals in Fort Smith and in Northwest Arkansas, home to the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers metro, and Jonesboro covers the northeast. Each system handles student requests its own way, so treat the names as search starting points.
The Fort Smith metro spills into Oklahoma, a "Does Not Meet" state in every CUW graduate table, so keep that clinical on the Arkansas side; see Oklahoma.
Licensing for Arkansas clinicals
Arkansas's compact membership sits inside its Nurse Practice Act and has run since January 19, 2018, matching Wisconsin's start date, so a multistate RN license from either state covers RN practice in the other. Arkansas has no APRN Compact law.
The Act's student exemption covers nursing done as part of study in a program Arkansas's board has approved. Read literally, that describes Arkansas's own schools, so count on your Arkansas or multistate RN license, which CUW requires you to keep unencumbered, as the license you train under. Anything beyond that comes from the Graduate Clinical Coordinator; see your RN license for clinicals.
Why Arkansas CUW students choose us
Arkansas students come to us for a search shaped by the state's map and its physician-agreement rules. Your placement advisor looks for primary care practices near home, whether that is Little Rock, Northwest Arkansas or Jonesboro, confirms the NP or physician who will precept you fits CUW's standards, and assembles license, certification and site details so the proposal lands complete in front of CUW's graduate faculty. We plan the three clinical courses as one sequence and tell you at the start which practices would need a fresh contract with CUW. Your first step is the contact form.
Questions CUW students ask
Is CUW's online FNP open to Arkansas residents?
CUW's disclosure says yes. Arkansas meets in the MSN primary care NP table, where CUW files both the FNP and the AGPCNP. Under CUW's model you find the Arkansas preceptors and sites, the School of Nursing's graduate faculty vet them, and no patient care starts until the practice has a contract with CUW.
Does Arkansas make CUW register before I start clinicals?
Nothing in Arkansas's rules requires it of a school that sends students only for clinicals; the standards mention outside schools only when one opens a program in the state. Since board staff have not confirmed that, ask the Graduate Clinical Coordinator whether anything is needed for your term.
Can a physician be my preceptor in Arkansas?
CUW's archived 2014-15 NP handbook allowed MD and DO preceptors alongside NPs, physician assistants and midwives, if 50 or more of your program hours happened with an NP. In Arkansas, where NPs work under a physician agreement, a practice with both can cover that mix. Today's rules come from CUW's graduate faculty.
Can my Fort Smith-area clinical be in Oklahoma?
CUW's disclosure lists Oklahoma as not meeting requirements for any graduate NP program, while Arkansas meets for all of them. If you live around Fort Smith, pick a site on the Arkansas side, and clear any Oklahoma practice with the Graduate Clinical Coordinator first.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against CUW's own academic catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your course faculty and the Graduate Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
CUW asks you to secure your preceptors. We make the search the easy part.
Tell us your CUW track, your city and your next clinical course. We line up preceptors who fit the NURS course, gather the license, board certification and site details CUW's graduate faculty review, and flag early whether the site needs a new clinical contract.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP and AGPCNP, mental health settings for PMHNP, an agency mentor for DNP projects
- Preceptor license, certification, CV and site details ready for CUW's approval
- All three clinical courses planned together, close to home in a state CUW's disclosure lists for your program
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