UofM's online nursing programs for Virginians
Virginia leaves programs from other states alone. Its Board of Nursing neither approves nor regulates them, and a state statute lets an RN licensed in another jurisdiction train in Virginia, for required advanced-practice clinicals, without a Virginia license. The open question sits with UofM, whose partnerships office list skips Virginia while its licensure disclosures say yes.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your UofM program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your UofM course.
Virginia's hands-off approach to outside programs
Virginia's nursing board draws its line at the programs it approved itself for first-time licensure. Education from other states, and anything taken after licensure, is outside its oversight, so a UofM practicum triggers no Board process. Its in-state clinical minimum of 80 percent, along with the site approvals in 18VAC90-27, binds only Virginia's own pre-licensure schools.
State law adds a helpful piece. Under Virginia Code section 54.1-3001, a registered nurse licensed without restriction somewhere else in the U.S., DC and the territories included, is spared Virginia licensure for whatever supervised clinical hours the advanced program mandates. That relief ends where the required clinical work ends, and the parallel exemption for pre-licensure students helps only programs Virginia has approved.
Where UofM's own records disagree
UofM's graduate tracks run online, with in-person practicums near the student's home, so a Virginia resident would train in Virginia. Here is how UofM marks each option.
| Option | UofM's mark for Virginia | Note |
|---|---|---|
| NP tracks in the MSN (FNP, AG-ACNP, PMHNP) | Mixed | Disclosure yes; Virginia absent from the 16-state list |
| NP graduate certificates | Mixed | Certificate disclosure also yes |
| Nursing Education or Leadership | Unconfirmed | No APRN disclosure; the list governs |
| RN to BSN | Online | UofM's exclusion names California only |
| Traditional or Accelerated BSN | Campus in Tennessee | BSN clinical placements are assigned in West Tennessee and north Mississippi |
Because UofM's residency rules admit online students only from states cleared for LCON's distance education, the Virginia gap is worth closing: request LCON's written word on your track; the state authorization guide has the full comparison.
Licensure on both ends of the program
On the RN side, Virginia is a Nurse Licensure Compact state. Virginia-based nurses can carry a multistate license that opens Tennessee too, and that squares with UofM's rule, which looks for a license good in Tennessee or wherever your approved clinical state is. How the compact plays out for UofM students is covered in the RN license guide.
The NP license comes later and state by state, because the APRN Compact is not law in Virginia. On AANP's scale Virginia is restricted: the practice agreement with a patient care team physician stays mandatory until the NP files an attestation covering clinical experience equal to three full-time years. Your Virginia preceptor may practice under either arrangement.
From Northern Virginia to Roanoke
Northern Virginia's share of the Washington metro is the state's biggest population center, followed by Hampton Roads around Virginia Beach and Norfolk, then Richmond and Roanoke. Inova, Carilion Clinic, Sentara Health, UVA Health and VCU Health rank among the major systems. Each handles outside students in its own way, so they mark where NP practice gathers, not UofM sites. Your local-area practicum belongs near home.
SB 405, signed on March 31, 2026, handed Virginia's Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program to the nursing workforce center within the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority. Its rules still require the student to be enrolled at a Virginia school, so rotations for UofM fall beyond it.
The long road to campus
Expect as many as three campus visits during the program, one to three days apiece, with half a year's notice or more; January 2027 is the session every NP track must attend. The host campus goes unnamed on UofM's pages, and LCON teaches in both Memphis, its main home, and Jackson, at Lambuth. Even from southwest Virginia, where the state meets Tennessee, Memphis lies at the far end of a long trip, so fold travel days into your clinical calendar. The intensives guide covers the rest.
What Virginians get from Memphis Preceptor
Once LCON confirms Virginia for your track, we find a Virginia preceptor and site that meet UofM's rules, regardless of how much UofM helps with your placement. We verify the preceptor's license and NP role, prepare what UofM's preceptor agreement form asks for ahead of the term, work your schedule around campus sessions and keep another option ready if plans change. Tell us where you live.
Questions UofM students ask
Will Virginia's board review UofM before my practicum?
It has no role there. Virginia's board regulates neither out-of-state programs nor education taken after licensure, by its own account. Its site approvals and 80 percent rule govern Virginia's pre-licensure schools, so a UofM graduate practicum in Virginia involves no Board filing.
Is Virginia on UofM's list of authorized states?
Not on the partnerships office's list of 16. UofM's MSN and certificate licensure disclosures still mark Virginia as meeting requirements for the NP tracks, so the two sources conflict. LCON is the place to resolve it; ask for a written answer naming your track before you apply.
What does Virginia's licensure exemption cover?
It covers the clinical practice your advanced nursing curriculum requires, for an RN holding a current, unrestricted license issued outside Virginia. Nothing more: it cannot stand in for a Virginia or multistate license when you work as a nurse outside the program.
Can my Virginia preceptor join the state's preceptor incentive program?
Not for a UofM student. Only preceptors teaching students of Virginia nursing schools qualify for that program, and UofM is a Tennessee school. After SB 405 moved it, the Virginia Nursing Workforce Center began accepting applications for precepting hours completed from July 1, 2026 onward.
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
Start your placement plan
Your concentration, your town and your next clinical semester is all we need to begin.