CUW's online NP programs for Virginia nurses
Concordia University Wisconsin's current disclosure gives Virginia a "Meets" in every nursing table it publishes, RN to BSN included. On the clinical side the Commonwealth is light-touch for a school like CUW: no board sign-off for graduate programs based elsewhere, and a statute that lets enrolled advanced-practice students train on an RN license from another state.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your CUW program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
Virginia in CUW's tables: a clean sweep
Every CUW table agrees on Virginia. It reads "Meets" in each graduate NP table and in the RN to BSN table, so a Virginia RN gets one consistent answer whether the plan is a bachelor's completion now or an NP degree later.
| CUW program (CUW's label) | Answer for Virginia |
|---|---|
| Master of Science in Nursing - Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (FNP and AGPCNP) | Meets Requirements |
| Doctor of Nursing Practice - Post BSN to DNP Program | Meets Requirements |
| Doctor of Nursing Practice - Post MSN to DNP Program | Meets Requirements |
| CAGE (FNP/AGPCNP) and CAGE (PMH NP) | Meets Requirements |
| MSN PMHNP and PMHNP DNP | Not in the table |
| RN to BSN Online Nursing Program (BSN Comp) | Meets Requirements |
Virginia has an older tie to CUW's clinical planning too. Archived CUW MSN pages from 2022 and 2024, and the 2022 Post-MSN DNP page, told students living in Washington, D.C. to complete their clinicals in Virginia. Current program pages refer only to the disclosure list, which the disclosure guide reads program by program.
What the Virginia Board of Nursing oversees
Graduate programs chartered in other states sit outside the Virginia Board of Nursing's approval work; its education page describes oversight that ends with programs it approves itself. Two well-known Virginia rules show the split. The expectation that 80% of clinical hours take place inside Virginia, and the site standards in 18VAC90-27, bind Board-approved pre-licensure programs, which CUW's NP tracks are not. No Board application stands between CUW and a Virginia rotation.
What remains is local. The clinic or health system hosting you runs its own onboarding, and CUW must have a signed agreement with the site before you see a patient; the clinical contracts guide covers timing.
Licensing: compact membership and a statute written for students
Virginia went live in the Nurse Licensure Compact the same January 2018 day Wisconsin did, so any party state's multistate RN license already covers RN work there. The APRN Compact has not passed in Virginia.
The Code of Virginia goes a step further for students. Section 54.1-3001 lifts the licensure requirement for a nurse whose RN license, current and unrestricted, comes from outside Virginia while that nurse is enrolled in graduate-level advanced nursing education with required clinical practice, and only for the clinical work the curriculum sets. For a CUW student whose license is single-state, perhaps from Illinois or Minnesota, neither of them a compact member, that clause is the one to read.
CUW's catalog keeps its focus on an unencumbered RN license held the whole way through and is silent on the clinical state. Check your own case with the Graduate Clinical Coordinator; the RN license guide lays out CUW's side.
How Virginia NPs practice, and who precepts
AANP groups Virginia with the restricted practice states. A physician on the patient care team signs a practice agreement with each NP, a requirement that lifts once the NP attests to three years of clinical work at a full-time pace or its equivalent. The physician on that team may be worth asking too: CUW's 2014-15 handbook counted MDs and DOs among acceptable preceptors. The preceptor requirements page has CUW's standards with dates.
A state Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program exists for Virginia-licensed clinicians, but the student on the other side has to attend a Virginia school of nursing that is public or private nonprofit, so precepting a CUW student sits outside it. A 2026 law, SB 405, moved the program out of the Department of Health; the Virginia Nursing Workforce Center now handles hours precepted from July 1, 2026 onward.
Where to look: the Virginia side of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro, Richmond, Roanoke, and the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk area. Large employers include Inova, Sentara Health, VCU Health, Carilion Clinic and UVA Health; their student rules are their own, and none is named here as a CUW partner.
Why Virginia CUW students choose us
With the state incentive limited to Virginia schools, your request to a Virginia preceptor has to be clear and simple to accept. Your placement advisor brings each candidate an organized picture of CUW's expectations, the hours per course and the evaluation load, then collects the credentials CUW's faculty review. We plan all three primary care courses around the on-campus health assessment intensive in Mequon, and we flag early any site that will need a new agreement. Start with the contact form.
Questions CUW students ask
Must CUW register with Virginia before my rotation?
No Board of Nursing approval applies. Virginia's Board limits its program oversight to schools it approves, and CUW's out-of-state graduate NP tracks sit outside that. What still applies is the clinical site's own onboarding, CUW's signed agreement with that site, and approval of your preceptor by CUW's graduate faculty.
Will I need a Virginia RN license for NP clinicals there?
A multistate license from another compact state already covers RN work in Virginia. A single-state license from elsewhere can still work under Code of Virginia section 54.1-3001, which exempts enrolled advanced-practice students for the clinical hours their curriculum requires. Confirm your own situation with the Graduate Clinical Coordinator before the term starts.
Is my preceptor eligible for Virginia's preceptor incentive?
Not for precepting you, under the program's current terms, which tie it to students of Virginia public and private nonprofit nursing schools. The Virginia Nursing Workforce Center took it over in 2026, and its page would show any change to eligibility.
I'm in Washington, D.C. Where do CUW clinicals take place?
Archived CUW MSN pages from 2022 and 2024 pointed D.C. residents to Virginia sites for clinicals. Program pages have since dropped that line; the disclosure list now marks D.C. as Meets for the MSN primary care NP. Ask the Graduate Clinical Coordinator which rule applies before you commit to a site.
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
Start your placement plan
Track, city and next clinical course is all we need to begin.