Liberty practicum in West Virginia: who regulates what
Every Liberty online nursing program can hold practicum in West Virginia. West Virginia's RN board oversees only pre-licensure programs. It sends graduate programs to the Higher Education Policy Commission, and that commission's nursing office lists two situations where its approval is needed. What's left to you is the license, a preceptor and a site, and Liberty approves the last two.
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Liberty programs open in West Virginia
West Virginia borders Virginia, Liberty's home state. Liberty's licensure lookup lists it as approved for practicum in each online nursing program, and its West Virginia page names no extra state step.
| Liberty track | Status | Practicum hours (2026-27 catalog) |
|---|---|---|
| DNP: FNP | Allowed | 1,050 (750 NP + 300 DNP) |
| DNP: PMHNP, both entry points | Allowed | 1,050 (750 NP + 300 DNP) |
| PMHNP post-graduate certificate | Allowed | 504 per the catalog |
| Post-master's DNP | Allowed | At least 560 |
| Each MSN track and dual degree | Allowed | 300 |
| RN-to-BSN | Allowed | Observation in NURS 440 |
Two regulators, and which one reaches a Liberty student
What each body says about out-of-state clinicals
- West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses: its oversight covers only pre-licensure programs. When a pre-licensure program from another state wants clinical rotations in West Virginia facilities, it first files the Out-of-State Prelicensure Nursing Education Program Approval Application. Liberty's online tracks are post-licensure, so this form isn't their route.
- Graduate and advanced-degree programs: the board sends these programs elsewhere for clinical placement requirements, naming WVHEPC (in full, West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission) alongside each program's national nursing accreditor.
- WVHEPC's Office of Nursing Education and Workforce Development: WVHEPC approval enters the picture for a graduate or APRN program from outside West Virginia under just two conditions: the school has no NC-SARA participation, or a single site takes 10 or more of its students.
Both of those conditions are institutional, so they're Liberty's to answer, not yours. If a West Virginia facility asks about state approval, forward the question to the practicum team at APRN.DNPPracticum@liberty.edu. The state board notices page explains how Liberty handles the states that do require filings.
The license rule turns on where you live
The same state guide links an APRN or graduate student's license to where they live. Per the guide, a student who calls West Virginia their primary state of residence needs a valid RN license from West Virginia, while one residing anywhere else needs a multistate RN license. Compact implementation in West Virginia started January 19, 2018, and Liberty accepts either a West Virginia license or a multistate one. West Virginia hasn't enacted the APRN Compact.
Two metros cross state lines: Huntington-Ashland reaches into Kentucky and Ohio, and Hagerstown-Martinsburg into Maryland. A site's address, not the metro's name, decides whose rules apply. More on the licensing side is on RN license for practicum.
Reduced practice and three-year collaboration
West Virginia falls in AANP's reduced-practice category. An NP's prescribing sits inside a physician collaborative agreement over a three-year span; Schedule II narcotic prescriptions, meanwhile, stop at a three-day supply. For FNP and PMHNP students, the prescribing you see in a West Virginia practice happens inside those limits.
Liberty's own criteria decide who can precept you, and they're only partly public; see preceptor requirements.
Charleston, Morgantown and the border metros
West Virginia's metros are small. The Census Bureau's 2025 estimates count about 200,000 people in Charleston, about 185,000 in the West Virginia portion of the Huntington-Ashland metro, about 158,000 in the West Virginia part of Hagerstown-Martinsburg and about 142,000 in Morgantown. Large systems here include WVU Medicine and Marshall Health Network; a third, Vandalia Health, has Mon Health, CAMC and Davis Health among its members.
Liberty already warns NP students that scarce preceptors can mean longer travel, and turning down an offered site for distance leaves the replacement search to you. Read site distance before you answer an offer. Our research recorded no West Virginia preceptor incentive.
Why West Virginia students choose us
We search West Virginia and, if you want, its neighbors for the preceptor and site your Liberty track calls for, then pull together the CV, license and site details your Gate course needs. Liberty approves every placement. Start with how it works or the form below.
Questions Liberty students ask
Does Liberty need WVHEPC approval for my West Virginia practicum?
Under the state nursing office's guide, only if Liberty isn't an NC-SARA institution or has 10 or more students placed at a single site. Our research doesn't record Liberty's SARA status, and Liberty's West Virginia page names no added step. The practicum team is the right place to confirm it for your placement.
I live in Virginia near the state line. Can my practicum be in West Virginia?
Yes, if Liberty approves the site. West Virginia wouldn't be your primary state of residence, and for non-residents the state guide names a multistate RN license. If your home-state license is multistate, that fits. If it isn't, talk to the practicum team before you commit to a West Virginia site, and tell them which state the site is in.
Does the West Virginia RN board's application apply to my RN-to-BSN observation?
No. That form belongs to pre-licensure programs from outside West Virginia, and the state's nursing education office says the RN board doesn't regulate post-licensure programs. Liberty's RN-to-BSN observation hours sit in NURS 440 and can be done at an approved location near you, with an active West Virginia or multistate RN license.
Can PMHNP students in West Virginia count telehealth hours?
Yes, up to half of practicum hours, which is Liberty's rule for every PMHNP track; FNP students can't count telehealth at all. West Virginia's recorded rules add nothing to either limit. In a state of small metros, telehealth can widen a PMHNP search, but the remaining hours still need an in-person site Liberty approves. See telehealth hours.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-23
We check these pages against Liberty's own published sources. The practicum team and Liberty's current handbook have the final word.
More leads, sooner, for your practicum.
Tell us your Liberty program, your county and when your practicum starts. We look for a preceptor and site that fit Liberty's rules for your track, and help you get the Gate-course paperwork right.
- Matched to your track: FNP, PMHNP, DNP or MSN
- Paperwork ready for the Gate course and the site contract
- In person near you, or telehealth where your track allows it
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