Where Liberty can't place your practicum, program by program

The list, program by program

This table comes from Liberty's own state licensure pages, checked for each online nursing program across all 50 states, DC and the five territories. Closed here means Liberty won't place or approve practicum there. It doesn't mean you can't enroll.

Every other state shows as approved for practicum for these programs. Approved means Liberty can place you there, not that a preceptor is already waiting. Our state pages cover each state in turn.

What Liberty's pages say, and when they changed

For the NP programs, the California, New York and Washington pages say LUSON is "unable to place students in practicums" there, because of that state board's rules for nurse practitioners. They add that students may be able to complete practicum in an approved state. Liberty last updated those pages on June 18, 2025 (California), May 15, 2026 (New York) and June 29, 2026 (Washington).

The DC page for NP programs says Liberty isn't approved to offer clinicals in the District, and tells DC residents to plan their practicum in an approved state. It was updated June 23, 2025. For non-NP programs the DC wording reaches further, ruling out a practicum, mentorship or shadow experience in the District.

Washington is where the MSN splits. Community Health, Health Policy and Informatics students aren't approved for practicum there, while Nurse Educator, Nursing Administration, MSN/MBA and MSN/MSHA students are, as long as they hold an active Washington RN license. The post-master's DNP and RN-to-BSN are closed in Washington too.

Territories: practicum happens in the 50 states

If you live in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa or the Northern Mariana Islands, Liberty's pages say your practicum must be completed within the 50 states. That applies to every online nursing program in the lookup, NP and non-NP alike.

In practice, that means planning travel and a state RN license well ahead. Liberty's rule is that you hold an RN license for the state where the practicum takes place, or a multistate license where that state accepts one. Our page on the RN license for practicum explains how that works state by state.

Raise it with the practicum team before your Gate course opens. You'll need both a site and a license in a state you don't live in, and each takes time to arrange.

Living in a closed state doesn't close enrollment

No Liberty nursing program is closed to enrollment in any state or territory. The California, New York and Washington pages for the NP programs still say Liberty meets education requirements there. The limit is on where practicum happens, not on who can apply.

What changes is the plan. Liberty's DNP pages require an RN license in the state where the practicum will occur, so a California, New York or Washington resident on an NP track needs a license and a site in an approved state. Liberty's placement wording already warns that students may travel longer distances, and a student who declines an offered site because of distance is asked to find a new one. Read practicum site distance before you decide how far you can go.

Liberty's pages don't say directly whether a resident of a closed state can enroll and complete every hour elsewhere. Put that question to admissions and to the practicum team at APRN.DNPPracticum@liberty.edu before you commit.

How to check your state in Liberty's lookup

1. Open the lookupGo to Liberty's State Licensure page and choose your program and state. Each result has its own address, following the pattern liberty.edu/statelicensure/{program code}/{state}/.
2. Match your program codeDFNP-DNP-D is the FNP; DPMB-DNP-D and DPMH-DNP-D are the Post-BSN and Post-MSN PMHNP; CTMH-CTG-D is the PMHNP certificate; DRNP-DNP-D is the post-master's DNP; MNNE, MNNA, MNCH, MNHP and MNNF are the MSN tracks; NURP-BSN-D is RN-to-BSN.
3. Read the practicum lineFind the sentence saying whether students are approved for practicum in that state, then the license rule below it. Note the page's last-updated date.
4. Look for extra stepsSome pages add a state condition, such as a board notice, a workers' compensation rule or a preceptor rule. Our page on state board notices walks through them.
5. Report a moveIf you move, file Liberty's State Change Notification form. Changing your address in myLU isn't treated as an official change of state.

An older Liberty page says something different

A search can land you on the School of Nursing's DNP admission requirements page, last modified August 31, 2023. It says the DNP was approved for practicum only in Maryland, Tennessee and Virginia, and not in Washington. It also describes the post-BSN FNP as residential only, in Lynchburg.

Treat that page as older material. It conflicts with the current state licensure pages, updated between 2025 and mid-2026, and with the current program pages, which describe online NP tracks with practicum approved in most states. When the two disagree, follow the current lookup and confirm with the practicum team. The same caution applies to any Liberty page you find through a search: check when it was last updated before you plan a term around it.

Every lead in a state that is open to you

Every search we run stays in states Liberty approves for your program, so each lead that lands on your desk is one you can use. If you live in California, New York, Washington, DC or a territory, we look in an approved state you can reach and hold a license for, and a placement advisor gives you a clear read on the options there.

Within those states, Liberty approves each site and preceptor. To begin, use the form below or read how it works.