Liberty practicum in Hawaii: license first, then the island search

Liberty tracks in Hawaii, with their practicum courses

A Hawaii RN license applies across all six rows. Course-by-course detail starts at FNP practicums.

What the Hawaii board says about schools from elsewhere

The Board's position depends on the kind of program, and none of its sources speaks to graduate or APRN programs directly.

• Pre-licensure: under HRS 457-13(2), the exemption covers only students of Board-accredited nursing programs. The Board's Education Committee decided in 2016 that Hawaii could not host a pre-license student from a North Dakota BSN program.
• Post-licensure: per its FAQ, the Board neither approves nor expects notice from out-of-state online or distance programs that lack a Hawaii campus, and it keeps no application for them. LPN-to-RN and RN-to-BSN are the examples it gives.
• Faculty: a Hawaii nurse license is needed only by faculty present in the state while they teach or precept a nursing student there.

The pre-licensure ruling doesn't describe Liberty's online students, who already hold RN licenses, though it may explain why a Hawaii facility asks questions about an out-of-state school. Because no Hawaii source addresses APRN programs, FNP and PMHNP students should ask Liberty's practicum team whether any Hawaii step applies before a start date.

The preceptor tax credit, and why it likely skips Liberty

HRS 235-110.25 now holds the Healthcare Preceptor Income Tax Credit that Hawaii's Act 43 of 2018 established. A preceptor earns one nonrefundable credit against state income tax for every uncompensated, volunteer supervised clinical rotation, with at most five rotations credited per preceptor each year. Eligible preceptors live in Hawaii, practice primary care in the state, and work as a physician, osteopathic physician, APRN or pharmacist. Rotations are certified by the Department of Health, and no more than 1,500 credits are issued statewide each year.

The limit that matters is on the student's program. For APRN students, the credit applies only when the academic program is accredited in Hawaii or physically located there and more than half its students are Hawaii residents. Liberty is a Virginia university teaching online nationwide, so a preceptor shouldn't expect to claim it for your rotation. Leave it out of your pitch and lead with fit and complete paperwork instead, as our outreach guide suggests.

Full practice, Honolulu and the neighbor islands

Hawaii is full practice in AANP's ratings, with no added note. Liberty still approves every preceptor; see preceptor requirements.

The Urban Honolulu metro held about 989,000 people in the 2025 Census estimates, the Hilo-Kailua area about 210,000 and Kahului-Wailuku about 161,000. For employers, look to four systems: Hawaii Pacific Health, owner of Wilcox, Straub, Pali Momi and Kapiolani; The Queen's Health Systems; Kaiser Permanente Hawaii; and the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation. Nothing in our research ties any of them to Liberty. MSN Community Health students could begin with the Hawaii State Department of Health.

Licensing: Hawaii issues its own

No compact legislation is pending in Hawaii, and the state remains outside the Nurse Licensure Compact. A multistate license from the mainland counts for nothing clinical here. Liberty's Hawaii NP pages name only a Hawaii RN license, and its other tracks ask for the same. Hawaii hasn't adopted the APRN Compact either.

Apply through the Hawaii Board of Nursing, part of the state's Professional and Vocational Licensing Division, early enough to hold the license by the time your Gate course opens. The RN license guide explains Liberty's rule.

Why Hawaii students choose us

Our desk looks for Hawaii-licensed clinicians on the island where you live and gets the preceptor's documents in order for the Gate course. Each lead we find strengthens the practicum team's own search, and Liberty gives the approval.