Where GW's online nursing programs can take you from
GW Nursing's State Authorizations page currently closes its online programs to applicants living in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota and Wisconsin, citing clinical placement restrictions, and accepts New Yorkers only if they do their clinicals in another state. Four more states are shut out of specific programs, and GW's other pages and licensure disclosures do not always tell the same story.
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GW's current list
The list sits on GW Nursing's State Authorizations for Distance Students page. It opens by explaining that GW is subject to state authorization requirements to offer an approved online nursing curriculum, and that those rules can change with each state's nurse licensing board. The wording below matches GW's February and June 2026 captures. The page carries no last-updated date, and GW directs questions to nursing@gwu.edu.
| State | GW's rule | Programs affected |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Wisconsin | No applicants accepted, "due to clinical placement restrictions" | All online programs |
| New York | Applicants accepted only if they agree to complete the clinical portion in another state | All online programs |
| Arizona | No applicants accepted | MSN Nursing Leadership and Management, the MSN/MPH, and every DNP track: AGACNP, AGPCNP, FNP, PMHNP, Executive Leadership, Nursing Practice, Health Policy |
| Tennessee, Utah | No applicants accepted | Post-master's certificates: AGACNP, AGPCNP, FNP, PMHNP |
| Washington | No applicants accepted | Every AGACNP option: MSN, DNP and post-master's certificate |
Reading the program-specific exclusions
The narrower exclusions line up with what state boards publish. Arizona's Board of Nursing listed GW's MSN and post-master's certificate tracks as approved for distance learning in February 2025, with no DNP track on the list, which matches GW turning away Arizona applicants for its DNPs. Washington's board lists GW's primary care, family, psychiatric-mental health and leadership tracks as approved for placements but has no AGACNP track, and GW excludes Washington from all three AGACNP options.
Washington applicants would meet a second wall in any case: GW keeps AGACNP clinicals within DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia, for students who live there, as the AGACNP placements page explains. For Tennessee and Utah, GW bars applicants only from the post-master's certificates, and neither state's board publishes a list that shows GW's standing. The Arizona and Washington guides summarize each board's rule.
GW pages that disagree
Not every GW page carries the full list. The GW Nursing FAQ names only Alabama and Louisiana, plus the New York condition, and then links to the State Authorizations page. The provost's state authorization page, under its Nursing tab, says students in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, New York, North Dakota, Oregon or Tennessee may not have every program available to them. That sentence already appeared on a GW online-programs page in 2017 and no longer matches the School of Nursing's list.
Wisconsin is the live conflict. Wisconsin's licensing department lists GW on its roster of approved out-of-state nursing schools, revised August 3, 2026, while GW's June 2026 page still blocks Wisconsin applicants. The approval may be newer than GW's page, but that is not confirmed. Treat the School of Nursing's State Authorizations page as the deciding source, and ask GW Nursing admissions before applying from any listed state. The Wisconsin guide covers the board's rule.
How the list has changed
- 2017: Alabama, Louisiana and North Dakota applicants could not be accepted or placed, and GW said its New York clinical placements were limited in number.
- March 2025: Alabama, Louisiana and New York applicants could neither be accepted online nor receive clinical assignments, and GW pointed them to the on-campus BSN in Virginia.
- August 2025: today's five-state list and program exclusions, plus a Maryland block on the post-BSN DNP AGPCNP, FNP and PMHNP tracks.
- December 2025 onward: the Maryland block is gone, and the February and June 2026 captures match the current list.
The Maryland episode is worth knowing if you see an older saved copy of the page. For a few months in 2025, Maryland applicants could not enter three post-BSN DNP tracks; that line has since disappeared. The list clearly moves, so check it again before you apply and before any move.
NC-SARA and DC's SARA status
GW participates in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. NC-SARA's directory lists George Washington University, District of Columbia, as a participant that is not on provisional status. DC itself is a SARA member jurisdiction, and its SARA portal agency is the Higher Education Licensure Commission within the Office of the State Superintendent of Education. GW's provost states that the university is authorized or exempt from authorization in all 50 states.
SARA governs distance education, not nursing licensure. GW's provost page says so outright: SARA has no effect on state professional licensing requirements. DC's education office adds that SARA does not cover every activity. So a SARA participant can still be kept out of clinicals in a state whose nursing board runs its own approval process, which fits GW's explanation for its five-state list.
GW's professional licensure disclosures
GW's consumer-information page links to professional licensure disclosures, hosted by GW Libraries, that say whether each licensure program meets a state's education requirements. For online students, GW defines your location as your current address, not a permanent one. Five nursing programs are listed; the RN-BSN, Nursing Leadership and Management and the non-NP DNP tracks are not.
| Program | Does not meet | Not yet determined |
|---|---|---|
| MSN Nurse Practitioner | Alabama, Louisiana, New York | California, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, five territories |
| Post-BSN DNP (Nurse Practitioner) | Alabama | California, Louisiana, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, five territories |
| Post-master's NP certificate | Alabama, Louisiana, New York | California, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, five territories |
| MSN Nurse-Midwifery | Alabama, Louisiana, New York | Arkansas, California, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Wisconsin, five territories |
| Accelerated BSN | None | None |
Every remaining state and DC is marked as meeting requirements: 44 for the NP programs and 39 for midwifery. The disclosures and the admissions list do not always agree. Mississippi, North Dakota and Wisconsin meet requirements on the NP disclosures yet are closed to applicants, and California is "not yet determined" even though California's Board of Registered Nursing lists GW as an approved out-of-state NP program. The disclosure answers a licensure-education question; the admissions list answers a clinical-placement one.
Why GW students choose us
State rules shape a GW placement search before the first phone call to a practice. We start from where you live and which GW program you are in, confirm what that state's board requires, and search for preceptors and sites in places where GW can place you. When the strongest nearby site sits across a state line, your placement advisor raises the license and board questions up front, while there is still time to act. Our guide to clinicals outside the DMV covers training away from the capital region, and the form below starts a search in your state.
Questions GW students ask
Can I apply to GW's online FNP program from Alabama?
Not under GW's current State Authorizations page, which lists Alabama among the five states whose applicants GW's online programs cannot accept because of clinical placement restrictions. GW's nurse practitioner licensure disclosures also mark Alabama as not meeting requirements. The Accelerated BSN, taught on campus in Ashburn, Virginia, is not an online program and its disclosure lists no restricted state.
I live in New York. Where would my GW clinicals happen?
In another state. GW takes New York applicants for online study only when they confirm the clinical portion will happen elsewhere, and its NP and midwifery disclosures mark New York as not meeting requirements. Plan on a license from whichever state hosts your rotations, and on regular travel there across your clinical courses. The New York guide explains the state's side.
What if I move to a restricted state after I enroll?
GW's restrictions are written about applicants, and no public GW policy covers an enrolled student who moves. Its disclosures measure an online student's location by current address, so a move can change which state's status applies to you. Raise it with your program director and the placement team first, while your options are still open.
Does NC-SARA membership let GW place me in any state?
No. SARA lets GW offer distance education across member states, but GW's own provost page says SARA has no effect on professional licensing requirements. Nursing boards in a number of states set their own approval rules for out-of-state programs' clinicals, which is why GW's nursing restrictions exist alongside its SARA participation.
Is Wisconsin open to GW online applicants now?
GW's own page, as last captured in June 2026, still says no. Wisconsin's licensing department, however, lists GW as an approved out-of-state nursing school on a roster revised August 3, 2026. The two may reflect a recent change that GW has not yet posted. Ask GW Nursing admissions directly before applying from Wisconsin.
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.
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