GW online nursing from Utah
GW Nursing enrolls Utah residents in its online MSN and DNP programs, yet its State Authorizations page shuts all four post-master's NP certificates to Utah applicants. Utah also regulates programs from other states at every level, graduate study included, so a Utah site brings more state paperwork than most.
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.
The certificate exclusion, in context
GW pairs Utah with Tennessee for this bar. Its licensure disclosures, though, still rate Utah as meeting requirements for the NP certificate, the MSN NP tracks, the NP DNP and midwifery, so the exclusion is an admissions decision rather than a licensure finding. If you hold an MSN and planned to add a specialty by certificate, ask GW admissions which route a Utah resident can take. The post-master's certificates page describes those programs.
| GW program | Open to Utah residents? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Post-master's NP certificates (AGACNP, AGPCNP, FNP, PMHNP) | No | Excluded for Utah and Tennessee applicants |
| MSN FNP, AGPCNP, PMHNP | Yes | 600 precepted clinical hours |
| Post-BSN DNP FNP, AGPCNP, PMHNP | Yes | 600 clinical hours plus DNP practice hours |
| MSN Nurse-Midwifery | Yes | 840 immersion hours |
| Leadership MSN, MSN/MPH, post-MSN DNP | Yes | 300 practicum hours in the leadership MSN |
| AGACNP (MSN, DNP) | No, by residency | Open only to DC, Maryland and Virginia residents |
Utah's rule: R156-31b-609
R156-31b-609 reaches every level of nursing education, so GW's NP tracks sit squarely inside it. Before a Utah agency hosts a student from a school based elsewhere, Utah's licensing division and its nursing board want to see home-state approval and national accreditation, supervising faculty who hold Utah or compact licenses whenever they work with students in person, and a method for vetting sites and preceptors.
The paperwork continues after placement. Every August 1, a school with students in Utah facilities owes the Board a headcount, a sworn statement on the licensure of its in-person faculty and preceptors, and proof that accreditation is current.
No public DOPL list turned up, so GW's standing under this rule for your track is unconfirmed. Ask the Clinical Placement Team before a Utah preceptor sets aside time for you.
Preceptors and systems in Utah's metros
AANP rates Utah full practice. The same Utah rule asks that your preceptor, when you train for a school outside Utah, hold a Utah license or a compact-state license in good standing, a bar most Utah clinicians clear. GW then applies its own test, set out on the preceptor requirements page.
Utah NP students tend to begin with Intermountain Health, MountainStar Healthcare (an HCA system) and University of Utah Health. Salt Lake City-Murray counted about 1.3 million residents in 2025, Provo-Orem-Lehi and Ogden trail it, and St. George is the biggest metro farther south. Every system still needs its own agreement with GW; none is pre-arranged.
Two compacts, one still on the shelf
Utah joined the Nurse Licensure Compact in 2018. For a Utah resident, one multistate RN license therefore works at Utah sites and across other compact states, which is what GW's clearance looks for: a valid license in each state where you rotate.
Utah went further in 2022, enacting the APRN Compact on March 24 alongside Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. Five enacting states fall two short of the seven that compact needs, so NP licensure after graduation remains a state-by-state application. The RN license for clinicals page covers the student side.
Our work for Utah GW students
Your placement advisor looks across the Ogden, Salt Lake City and Provo-Orem-Lehi metros and down to St. George for preceptors who pass Utah's licensing condition and GW's profile, then prepares the preceptor license, bio or CV and signatory details that GW's Site Prospector submission relies on. We raise the Utah approval question with you on day one, not after a preceptor says yes. A short note on the contact form starts the search.
Questions GW students ask
Can I take GW's PMHNP certificate while living in Utah?
GW's State Authorizations page lists Utah among the states it cannot accept for any of its four post-master's NP certificates, the PMHNP included. Utah residents can apply to the MSN PMHNP or the post-BSN DNP PMHNP. Confirm with GW admissions before applying, because GW's state lists have changed several times since 2017.
Is GW approved to place students in Utah?
Utah requires out-of-state programs to satisfy DOPL and the Board before placing students, but no public DOPL list shows GW's status. GW's Clinical Placement Team handles state requirements as part of clearance, so ask them whether a Utah site can be cleared for your term before you commit.
Does my Utah preceptor need a Utah license?
A Utah license, or one in good standing from another Nurse Licensure Compact state, meets Utah's rule for preceptors of out-of-state programs. GW separately asks for a current, unencumbered license and, in its 2021 clinical placement guide, at least two years in advanced practice.
I'm in a GW certificate program and relocating to Utah. Can I finish?
The Utah exclusion speaks only of applicants, and no GW page addresses a certificate student who relocates mid-program. For licensure disclosures, GW goes by an online student's current address. Raise the move with your program director and the Clinical Placement Team before relocating, since your remaining clinical courses would need Utah sites.
Does Utah's APRN Compact mean my NP license will work in other states?
Not yet. Utah enacted that compact in 2022, but it switches on only after seven states join, and five have. Until then you apply for NP licensure separately in each state where you plan to practice, while your multistate RN license keeps covering compact states.
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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