Studying with GW Nursing from Arizona
If you live in Arizona, GW's online MSN nurse practitioner tracks, Nurse-Midwifery and its post-master's NP certificates are open to you, while the leadership MSN and its MPH pairing, along with every DNP, are closed. The Arizona State Board of Nursing draws the same line on its approval list, which names GW's master's and certificate tracks and no GW doctorate.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your GW program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your GW course.
Arizona's line through GW's program list
The State Authorizations page is GW's current statement of these limits; GW's nursing FAQ names fewer states and an older provost page carries a different list, so check your exact program with GW admissions. One oddity: GW's licensure disclosures put Arizona under "meets requirements" even for the NP DNP, the very program its admissions list closes to Arizonans. The state authorizations guide compares every state.
| GW program | Open to Arizona residents? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| MSN: FNP, AGPCNP, PMHNP | Yes | 600 precepted clinical hours; each track is on AZBN's list |
| MSN: Nurse-Midwifery | Yes | 840 immersion hours; AZBN lists the track |
| Post-master's certificates: AGPCNP, PMHNP | Yes | AZBN lists the PMHNP certificate and the AGPCNP track; FNP certificate not admitting |
| AGACNP (MSN, DNP, certificate) | No, by residency | GW requires residence in DC, Maryland or Virginia |
| MSN Nursing Leadership and Management; MSN/MPH | No | Excluded on GW's State Authorizations page |
| Every DNP, post-BSN and post-MSN | No | Excluded by GW; AZBN's list names no GW DNP |
AZBN approves each out-of-state track before clinicals
Arizona screens programs based elsewhere before their students arrive. Under AZBN's APRN advisory opinion, revised in November 2020, a program must win Board approval before a single student starts clinical work in Arizona. A track already approved by the school's home-state board, at an accredited school in good standing, qualifies for a shorter review.
GW holds that approval for its master's-level work. AZBN's list of approved APRN programs, dated February 10, 2025, shows GW under APRN Distance Learning with full approval for AGACNP, AGPCNP, FNP, Nurse Midwifery and PMHNP, most of them in both MSN and post-master's certificate form, and shows no GW doctorate. A 2026 copy could not be retrieved, so ask the Clinical Placement Team whether your track is still covered for your term.
AZBN also expects GW to track the licenses of its preceptors and students and to record each placement, so expect your Arizona preceptor's license to get a close look when it arrives with your Site Prospector submission in CORE.
Preceptors, full practice and Arizona's grant
AANP rates Arizona a full practice state, and AZBN sets its own bar for anyone teaching an out-of-state program's APRN student. An NP preceptor must hold Arizona APRN certification on top of an unencumbered Arizona or multistate RN license; a physician preceptor needs an unencumbered Arizona medical license. GW's own profile is on the preceptor requirements page.
Most searches start in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler metro, about 5.2 million people in 2025: Banner Health with its Banner - University Medicine academic centers, Scottsdale's HonorHealth, Mayo Clinic in Arizona and Phoenix Children's. TMC Health serves Tucson. These are places to look, not sites committed to GW.
Arizona also created a grant for unpaid preceptors of graduate students under A.R.S. ยง 36-1806, giving rural primary care priority. The Joint Legislative Budget Committee's FY 2027 report lists nothing for FY 2026 or FY 2027, so treat the grant as unfunded when you pitch a preceptor.
An Arizona multistate license, and the California exception
Arizona joined the Nurse Licensure Compact with a January 19, 2018 start date. Because AZBN accepts an Arizona or multistate RN license for out-of-state APRN students, an Arizona resident's multistate license satisfies the Board and GW's license-per-rotation-state rule at once. Keep it current through the last day of each term.
California is the border trap: it is outside the compact, so a site there needs a California license and falls under the BRN rules in the California guide. Arizona has not enacted the APRN Compact either. See RN license for clinicals.
Where our placement desk fits for Arizona students
We work to AZBN's rules from the first conversation. Your placement advisor searches Phoenix, Tucson and Arizona's smaller metros for NP and physician preceptors whose licenses already pass the Board's test, then assembles the preceptor's license and CV (or bio) plus the site's signatory contact, so the program director opens a complete file. See how it works, then tell us your track and start term on the contact form.
Questions GW students ask
Can I enroll in a GW DNP while living in Arizona?
No. GW's current State Authorizations page shuts every DNP option, post-BSN and post-MSN alike, to Arizona applicants. Arizona residents can apply to the MSN FNP, AGPCNP or PMHNP instead, each with 600 precepted clinical hours. Confirm with GW admissions first, since GW's state lists have changed over the years.
Is GW's online PMHNP approved for clinicals in Arizona?
AZBN's February 2025 list names GW's PMHNP track in both MSN and post-master's certificate form, with full approval. The 2026 list could not be checked, so confirm current status with the Clinical Placement Team before your first Arizona rotation. GW's 2021 guide also asks for a PMHNP or CNS preceptor in NURS 6248.
Can an Arizona physician precept my GW FNP hours?
Physicians qualify under GW's 2021 clinical placement guide, which names MDs and DOs next to NPs and CNMs with two or more years of advanced practice. Arizona adds that a physician teaching an out-of-state program's APRN student must hold an unencumbered Arizona medical license. Current GW rules may differ, so check them in your course.
I started a GW DNP in another state and am moving to Arizona. What happens?
GW words its Arizona limits around applicants and has published nothing on DNP students who relocate. Its disclosures place an online student wherever they currently live, and AZBN's list shows no GW DNP. Talk to your program director and the Clinical Placement Team before the move, and hold a license valid wherever you will rotate.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against GW's Bulletin and GW Nursing's own program and clinical pages. Your course, CORE and GW's Clinical Placement Team have the final word.
GW asks you to find your own site and preceptor. Hand that search to us.
Tell us your GW program, where you live and which clinical course is next. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the license, bio and site details GW's review asks for, so your Site Prospector goes in complete.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family practice for
NURS 6230toNURS 6232, older-adult primary care for AGPCNP, psychiatric care for PMHNP - License, bio or CV and the site's agreement signatory ready for your CORE submission
- Close to home, in DC, Maryland, Virginia or wherever you live and hold your RN license
Start your placement plan
Your program, city and next clinical term is all we need to begin.