UofM nursing accreditation and state approval
The University of Memphis holds SACSCOC accreditation, reaffirmed in December 2025. CCNE accredits the Loewenberg College of Nursing's baccalaureate, master's and post-graduate APRN certificate programs through June 30, 2030, and the Tennessee Board of Nursing lists the BSN tracks, the MSN tracks and the post-master's certificates at full approval.
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Three bodies, three separate jobs
Accreditation at UofM works on three levels, and each one answers its own question. Together they confirm that the university and its nursing programs meet published standards, and several state boards check exactly that before your clinicals can run in their states.
- SACSCOC accredits the University of Memphis as an institution, including its distance education and the Lambuth campus in Jackson.
- CCNE accredits the nursing programs themselves: the baccalaureate, the master's and the post-graduate APRN certificate.
- The Tennessee Board of Nursing approves the college as a school of nursing in Tennessee, program by program, under its own rules.
UofM also lists memberships in AACN, the NLN and NONPF. Those are professional organizations the college belongs to, and they sit alongside accreditation rather than standing in for it.
SACSCOC: the university's accreditation
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges accredits UofM at every level it teaches, from bachelor's programs through doctoral study, along with graduate certificates. SACSCOC's institution record traces accreditation back to 1927 and shows the latest reaffirmation in December 2025, with the next due in 2035 and a fifth-year review in 2031.
Two lines in that record matter to nursing students. Distance education was approved on December 5, 2003, which is the institutional footing for the online MSN and graduate certificates. And the SACSCOC site list carries The University of Memphis at Lambuth as an open site, so the Jackson campus, where Sprague Hall houses nursing, sits inside the same accreditation.
The record also keeps the university's earlier names: West Tennessee State Teachers College, Memphis State College and Memphis State University. A transcript or an older credential issued under one of those names comes from the same institution.
CCNE: the nursing programs
According to the college's accreditation page, CCNE accredits three of its programs: the bachelor's, the master's and the post-graduate APRN certificate. CCNE's own Tennessee directory confirms all three under the college's Park Loop address and gives the dates below.
| Program | First accredited | Most recent action | Term ends | Next on-site review |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baccalaureate | Sep 28, 2002 | Sep 30, 2019 | Jun 30, 2030 | Fall 2029 |
| Master's | Apr 15, 2005 | Sep 30, 2019 | Jun 30, 2030 | Fall 2029 |
| Post-graduate APRN certificate | Sep 30, 2019 | Sep 30, 2019 | Jun 30, 2030 | Fall 2029 |
The last on-site visit for all three came in September 2019, when the post-graduate APRN certificate was added. The master's listing covers the MSN concentrations delivered online, and the certificate listing covers the FNP, AG-ACNP and PMHNP graduate certificates.
An accreditation term runs for a fixed period. The fall 2029 review comes before this one ends, and CCNE's directory is the place to watch for any change in status.
Two mismatches in UofM's own pages
UofM's university-wide accreditations page lists CCNE only against the BSN. The college's accreditation page and CCNE's directory name the master's and the post-graduate APRN certificate as well, which is the fuller picture. When the two UofM pages disagree, the CCNE directory decides, since it is the accreditor's own record. Point an employer, a clinical site or another state's board to that entry if they ask for proof.
A smaller mismatch sits in the 2026-27 graduate catalog. It ties the 750-hour minimum for nurse practitioner students to national certification requirements and cites the NTF criteria, dated 2022 on the MSN pages and 2021 on the certificate pages. The hour figures themselves, and the plans that disagree with them, are covered in NP clinical hours.
Neither mismatch changes your status as a student. Both are reminders to check the source that owns a fact rather than the page that repeats it.
Tennessee Board of Nursing: full approval
The Tennessee Board of Nursing publishes a Professional Nursing School List that it revises quarterly. In the February 2026 edition, UofM's Traditional, Accelerated and RN-BSN tracks hold full approval under bachelor programs, and the MSN program tracks and post-master's certificates hold full approval under graduate programs.
The list's legend points to Board Rules 1000-01-.13 and 1000-01-.14. Full approval is the third phase, reached after a board survey visit, an annual report and a compliance survey report. The board sets minimum curriculum for programs in every delivery mode, online included, and approves schools each year.
The partnerships office page puts it plainly: the programs are approved and regulated by the Tennessee Board of Nursing. For clinicals in Tennessee that approval is the home-state footing, and the same board's preceptor rules shape who can precept you; see Tennessee NP practice.
Program by program
The table maps each UofM nursing program to the three approvals. UofM offers no DNP. The PhD is a research program that the Tennessee Higher Education Commission approved in May 2018. The programs overview has credits and clinical hours for each track.
| Program | SACSCOC | CCNE listing | Tennessee Board of Nursing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional BSN (Memphis or Lambuth) | Yes, as part of UofM | Baccalaureate | Full approval |
| Accelerated BSN | Yes | Baccalaureate | Full approval |
| RN to BSN | Yes | Baccalaureate | Full approval |
| MSN: FNP, AG-ACNP, PMHNP, Nursing Education, Nursing Leadership | Yes | Master's | Full approval (MSN tracks) |
| Graduate certificates: FNP, AG-ACNP, PMHNP | Yes | Post-graduate APRN certificate | Full approval (post-master's certificates) |
| Graduate certificates: Nursing Education, Nursing Leadership | Yes | Not named separately | Full approval (post-master's certificates) |
| PhD in Nursing | Yes | Not listed | Not on the list; THEC approval |
Why approval follows you into clinicals
Accreditation is not only a line in a catalog. Several state boards ask programs based outside their borders for proof of home-state approval and national accreditation before students train there. Utah's rule asks for both, plus licensed faculty and a plan for preceptors and sites, and Arizona offers a shorter route for accredited APRN tracks approved at home. Nevada's board also wants its approval in place before a distance program's clinicals begin. If you train outside Tennessee, read the state authorization guide and ask LCON whether your state's board has what it needs from UofM before you choose a site.
Inside Tennessee, UofM trains students as a board-approved home program. Tennessee's 2026 legislation pausing new approvals for nursing programs based in other states exempts programs based in Tennessee, so UofM's full approval carries on unchanged while out-of-state online programs face the pause.
Where we fit
UofM owns its accreditation; our work is making sure each practicum measures up to the curriculum those approvals rest on. With or without placement help from UofM, we source a preceptor and a site that fit its rules, built around the track you are in.
- An NP preceptor for at least one rotation, and the settings each track calls for, from family practice to inpatient psychiatric care
- Hours planned across at least seven weeks, never on university breaks unless your faculty arrange it
- Preceptor credentials and site details prepared for the preceptor agreement form, early
Your clinical faculty and the Office of Community Partnerships and Practice approve every preceptor and site, and what we send them arrives whole on the first submission. The rotation rules show what we match against; start with the form below.
Questions UofM students ask
Is UofM's online FNP program accredited?
Yes. The FNP is an MSN concentration, and CCNE accredits UofM's master's program through June 30, 2030. The Tennessee Board of Nursing lists the MSN tracks at full approval, and SACSCOC accredits the university, distance education included. The FNP graduate certificate falls under CCNE's post-graduate APRN certificate listing.
When is UofM's next CCNE accreditation visit?
CCNE's directory places the next on-site review for the baccalaureate, master's and post-graduate APRN certificate programs in fall 2029, ahead of the current term's end on June 30, 2030. The previous visit took place in September 2019. Check the directory for changes before citing the date in an application or report.
Does SACSCOC accreditation cover the Lambuth campus in Jackson?
Yes. SACSCOC's site list for the University of Memphis includes The University of Memphis at Lambuth as an open site. Lambuth admitted its first nursing students in 2012, teaches nursing in Sprague Hall, and offers the Traditional BSN as a home campus alongside Memphis.
Is the University of Memphis nursing college part of UTHSC?
No. The Loewenberg College of Nursing belongs to the University of Memphis, a separate institution from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, even though both are in Memphis. UofM's accreditation records, from CCNE's directory to the Tennessee Board of Nursing list, appear under the University of Memphis name.
Does UofM offer a CCNE-accredited DNP?
UofM has no DNP. Its nursing programs are the BSN tracks, the MSN concentrations, graduate certificates and a PhD. For nurse practitioner preparation, the MSN concentrations and the post-graduate APRN certificates are the CCNE-accredited routes, and both lead to national certification eligibility through the same practicum courses.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against UofM's 2026-27 catalog, the LCON Academic Bulletin, program pages and licensure disclosures. Your clinical faculty and your plan of study have the final word.
Whether UofM helps or you start alone, we find the preceptor.
Tell us your UofM concentration, your next practicum and the town you train near. We find preceptors and sites that fit the course and prepare what the preceptor agreement form needs, early enough for approval before the first clinical day.
- Preceptors matched to the rotation rules: an NP preceptor, family practice for FNP, inpatient and critical care for AG-ACNP
- License, certification and site details ready for the preceptor agreement form, with your Complio items in order
- Across the Mid-South, Tennessee and the states UofM serves
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