Your Spring Arbor clinicals in Virginia
Virginia is on SAU's authorized list, and its Board of Nursing stays out of out-of-state and post-licensure programs altogether. What is left for you is licensing, a preceptor search under restricted practice rules, and knowing that Virginia's preceptor payments do not extend to SAU students.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Spring Arbor track and where you live. A placement advisor replies with what your preceptor and site need to look like for Spring Arbor to approve them.
01Virginia and SAU's list
SAU authorizes Virginia on the one state list it keeps for nursing (checked September 24, 2026). It leaves out Louisiana, Arizona, New York and Alabama.
| Program | Virginia | Clinical piece |
|---|---|---|
| FNP, AGPCNP, PMHNP, PNP-PC | Authorized | Virginia preceptor you propose, approved by faculty |
| Nurse Educator, MSN/MBA | Authorized | NUR 780B practicum, 125 hours |
| Post-master's certificates | Authorized | Matches the MSN track |
| DNP | Authorized | Practicum; NUR 880 if under 500 prior hours |
| RN-to-BSN | Authorized | Course-embedded hours |
Course numbers follow the 2023-24 catalog. The current course list in Brightspace is the final word on what they are called today.
02The board steps back; the statute steps in
The Virginia Board of Nursing leaves two kinds of program alone: those based outside Virginia and those for nurses who are already licensed. Its requirement that 80% of clinical hours happen in Virginia, and its site-approval rules in 18VAC90-27, bind Virginia's own pre-licensure schools, not SAU.
Va. Code § 54.1-3001 handles the student side. It lets an RN whose current, unrestricted license was issued by another state, DC or a U.S. territory do the clinical work an advanced nursing curriculum calls for without a Virginia license, for as long as they are enrolled, and for that work only. Most SAU students who live in Virginia hold a Virginia license anyway.
03Restricted practice and Virginia preceptors
AANP classes Virginia as restricted. Until an NP can attest to roughly three years' worth of full-time clinical practice, they must keep an agreement in place with a physician who sits on their patient care team. SAU's NP preceptors can be NPs, physicians or PAs, so both the NP and that physician are worth asking.
Inova, UVA Health, Sentara Health, Carilion Clinic and VCU Health are the major systems. Richmond, Hampton Roads, Roanoke and the Virginia side of the Washington, DC metro hold most residents. Start with SAU's volunteer-provider list and any site with an existing affiliation agreement, then use our preceptor search guide.
04Preceptor payments and licensing
Virginia's Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program rewards clinicians licensed in Virginia (physicians, PAs, APRNs, RNs and LPNs alike) for precepting students of Virginia's own public and private nonprofit nursing schools. A 2026 law, SB 405, signed on March 31, shifted the program from VDH to the Virginia Nursing Workforce Center. Because the student must attend a Virginia school, precepting an SAU student does not qualify.
Virginia's compact membership dates from January 19, 2018. Your Virginia multistate license, or the compact license your own home state issued, covers RN practice during clinicals. The RN license page explains what SAU verifies.
05Why Spring Arbor students in Virginia choose us
We look across Virginia for clinicians who suit your SAU track and region, then help you get SAU's agreement, affiliation and verification forms together with time to spare before the four-week cutoff. SAU faculty sign off on every placement, and yours goes to them with nothing outstanding. Start with the form.
Questions Spring Arbor students ask
Must SAU get the Virginia board's approval first?
No. The board has said plainly that programs based outside Virginia, and programs for already-licensed nurses, fall outside its remit, so SAU files nothing with it for your rotation. The gate is SAU's own: faculty approve your preceptor and site, and the paperwork has to be in four weeks or more before the clinical course.
I live in Maryland. Could my preceptor be in Northern Virginia?
As a Maryland resident, your search belongs in Maryland first; SAU's FAQ describes a home-state preceptor. Both states are on SAU's authorized list and both belong to the compact, so licensing could work; ask the program director before you commit to a Virginia practice.
Why can't my preceptor claim Virginia's incentive payment?
Payments under the Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program are tied to students of Virginia nursing schools, public or private nonprofit, and SAU is in Michigan. The Virginia Nursing Workforce Center now runs it and is accepting applications for precepting done on or after July 1, 2026, but the school requirement is unchanged.
Does the § 54.1-3001 exemption cover the Nurse Educator practicum?
Section 54.1-3001 speaks of advanced nursing study that requires clinical practice, and it covers only the clinical work that study requires. Whether a NUR 780B education practicum counts is not addressed. If you live in Virginia and hold a Virginia or compact license, the question never arises.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against Spring Arbor's own published sources. SAU's nursing faculty and current catalog have the final word.
More preceptor leads, sooner, for your SAU clinicals.
Tell us your Spring Arbor track, where you live and when your clinical course starts. We look for a preceptor and site that fit SAU's rules for your track and help you get the paperwork in on time.
- Matched to your track: FNP, AGPCNP, PMHNP, PNP, Nurse Educator or DNP
- Clinical agreement, affiliation and preceptor verification forms ready early
- In your home state, near where you live
Start your placement plan
A placement advisor replies with what an SAU-ready preceptor and site look like for you.