Tennessee: GW's certificate limit and the state's pause on new approvals
GW Nursing takes Tennessee residents into its online MSN and DNP programs but not into its post-master's NP certificates. Tennessee has also frozen, for two years, new approvals of nursing schools based in other states, and GW's position under that freeze is not public, so raise any Tennessee site with GW's Clinical Placement Team early.
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Tennessee on GW's State Authorizations page
GW's State Authorizations page bars Tennessee applicants from all four post-master's NP certificates: AGACNP, AGPCNP, FNP and PMHNP. Two other GW sources point elsewhere. A provost page says only that some programs may be unavailable to Tennessee residents, and GW's licensure disclosure for the NP certificates still rates Tennessee as meeting requirements. Treat the State Authorizations page as current and have GW admissions confirm your track.
| Program | Tennessee applicants? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Post-master's certificates: AGACNP, AGPCNP, FNP, PMHNP | No | Excluded on GW's State Authorizations page |
| MSN: FNP, AGPCNP, PMHNP | Yes | 600 precepted hours |
| Post-BSN DNP: FNP, AGPCNP, PMHNP | Yes | 600 precepted hours within a larger practice-hour total |
| MSN or DNP: AGACNP | Only with a DC, Maryland or Virginia home | Rotations stay in the DC region |
| MSN: Nurse-Midwifery; Nursing Leadership and Management | Yes | 840 and 300 hours respectively |
| DNP: Nursing Practice (post-MSN) | Yes | 1,000 practice hours, 500 carried from the MSN |
The 2026 moratorium, in plain terms
SB 2013/HB 1905 bars the Board of Nursing, for two years, from accepting or approving applications by nursing schools headquartered elsewhere that want to operate a program, admit students or place students in Tennessee clinicals. A secondary source dates the pause from April 27, 2026 to April 27, 2028; official enactment status could not be confirmed.
What the bill does and leaves open:
- Pre-licensure, RN-BSN and APRN education are treated alike.
- Schools approved earlier stay approved, though the Board can demand data from them, including preceptor lists and placement statistics.
- By June 30, 2027, the Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement must propose fresh standards for visiting schools that rely on Tennessee preceptors or clinical sites.
- No existing Board rule was found that expressly makes a visiting school win approval before placing students.
The Board posts no list, so whether GW holds or needs Tennessee approval is not public. The bill's findings accuse many out-of-state programs of placing students without adequate oversight, so expect Tennessee sites to ask questions. Before you settle on a preceptor, email the Clinical Placement Team at sonclinical@gwu.edu and ask whether GW can clear a Tennessee rotation for your term.
Physician supervision and the THA incentive
AANP rates Tennessee restricted. Tennessee NPs need a supervising physician, and state law caps both their Schedule II through IV prescribing and the opioid quantities they may supply. Students often begin with Erlanger, Covenant Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare or Ballad Health, across the Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga metros.
The Tennessee Hospital Association's grant-funded Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program pays LPN, RN and APRN preceptors for each cycle in which they give a student 70 hours or more of one-to-one teaching, as long as grant money remains, once they finish the UTHSC preceptor course. Eligible students attend accredited Tennessee programs, or schools in seven named neighboring states, Virginia and Kentucky among them, with the hours done in Tennessee. The District of Columbia, GW's home, is not named, so a preceptor should ask THA before counting on it. The current cycle covers August 1 through December 1, 2026.
Licenses and the metros that cross state lines
Tennessee has issued multistate licenses since the compact took effect there on January 19, 2018, and one from Tennessee or any member state works for a Tennessee rotation under GW's rule. Two metros spill across borders that matter. Greater Memphis reaches into Mississippi, whose residents GW's online programs can't take and whose out-of-state review list omits GW. Greater Chattanooga reaches into Georgia, where no program approval applies but the Board looks for Georgia APRN authorization in clinical teachers; see the Georgia guide and RN licenses for GW clinicals.
Why Tennessee students choose us
The moratorium is part of every Tennessee search we run. Your placement advisor flags the site's state to you at the start, lines up a preceptor who fits your MSN or DNP course, and prepares the license, CV and signatory details GW's review needs, so the question reaches GW with a complete file. If a Tennessee site stalls, we start on a replacement right away. Begin on the contact form.
Questions GW students ask
Can I enroll in GW's post-master's PMHNP certificate from Tennessee?
No. GW's State Authorizations page excludes Tennessee applicants from all four post-master's NP certificates, the PMHNP included. The MSN PMHNP and the post-BSN DNP PMHNP stay open to Tennessee residents. A provost page and GW's licensure disclosure use different wording, so confirm with GW admissions.
Does the moratorium stop GW students from doing clinicals in Nashville?
That is unclear. The bill freezes new approvals for visiting schools that want to place students, yet the Board publishes no list and no current rule expressly demands approval before placement. Schools approved earlier keep approval. Ask GW's Clinical Placement Team whether a Tennessee site can be cleared for your term before you commit.
What happens if I move to Tennessee in the middle of a GW certificate?
GW's restriction is worded around applicants, and GW publishes no mid-program move policy. Its disclosures define an online student's location by current address, and the Bulletin makes keeping your address current your job. Tell GW Nursing about the move before it happens and ask how it affects your clinicals.
Can my Tennessee preceptor collect THA's incentive for precepting me?
That depends on THA. The program counts students of accredited Tennessee programs, plus students of schools in seven listed neighboring states whose hours happen in Tennessee, and the District of Columbia is not listed. The preceptor should ask THA directly; the program also requires the UTHSC preceptor course and depends on remaining grant money.
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
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