Studying with Rivier University from Arkansas
Living in Arkansas does not stand between you and an online nurse practitioner track at Rivier University: the State Guide gives Arkansas a green cell for the FNP, the PMHNP and every graduate program Rivier lists. What shapes the practicum is Arkansas practice law, which binds each NP to a physician agreement in some part of practice, so both professions belong on your preceptor list.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Rivier program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Rivier course.
Arkansas, program by program
Rivier grades each state program by program; Arkansas reads like this.
| Program | Arkansas color | In plain terms |
|---|---|---|
| Family Nurse Practitioner, MSN and PMC | Green | Rivier can accept you |
| Psychiatric-Mental Health NP, MSN and PMC | Green | Rivier can accept you |
| Nursing Education, MSN and PMC | Green | Rivier can accept you |
| Leadership in Health Systems Management | Green | Rivier can accept you |
| Doctor of Nursing Practice | Green | Rivier can accept you |
| ASN or BSN (pre-licensure) | Yellow | Limiting criteria; call the program director |
| RN to BSN | Green | Rivier can accept you |
That chart settles whether Rivier takes students living in Arkansas and leaves licensure to Arkansas. It has no AG-ACNP row, so acute care applicants should ask the Program Director.
Reduced practice and what it changes
On AANP's map, Arkansas is reduced practice. In plain words, each Arkansas NP works under a regulated physician agreement for some part of the job, and certain drugs are prescribed only through a physician protocol. The practical upshot: every NP you approach already has a collaborating physician, and either of the two could end up as your preceptor.
Rivier decides who qualifies. For the FNP, the primary preceptor is an MD, DO or FNP working in outpatient family practice with two or more years behind them; a PA may cover the odd day but never holds the primary role. PMHNP students look for a psychiatrist or a nurse with PMH certification and two years of practice, as the PMHNP preceptor rules explain.
What the Arkansas board expects of out-of-state schools
Arkansas's board writes its program rules for schools operating inside the state. Its prelicensure standards (17 CAR Part 125) concern an outside institution only if that institution sets out to open a new program in Arkansas, and the APRN program rules lean on national accreditation for programs new or established. Neither text lays out a filing for a school that simply sends a student to an Arkansas clinic.
The student exemption in Arkansas's Nurse Practice Act is limited to programs the Arkansas board approves, which is why a Rivier student practices on an RN license, just as Rivier requires. Because the rules are quiet rather than explicit on clinical-only placements, have the Program Director or the Board confirm before the placement is final.
Where Arkansas NP students look
Population centers first: Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, then Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers up in the northwest, then the smaller hubs of Fort Smith and Jonesboro. The systems students usually research are UAMS Health, Arkansas Children's, Baptist Health in Little Rock, CHI St. Vincent, and Mercy, with hospitals at Fort Smith and in Northwest Arkansas. Each publishes its own student terms.
Independent family practices and community mental health groups deserve calls too. Any new site needs a signed agreement with Rivier before you start, which the affiliation agreements page covers.
Licensing and campus visits
Rivier checks that you hold an RN license good in the practicum state. The compact sits inside Arkansas's Nurse Practice Act as Subchapter 6 and has been in force since January 2018, so an Arkansas multistate license works for Arkansas sites and follows you into New Hampshire. The separate APRN Compact has no Arkansas statute behind it, so your NP license after graduation comes from the Arkansas board alone; the RN license guide has more.
Campus time is part of every NP track and needs a place on your calendar before clinical days do. FNP students attend three intensives in Nashua, nine days all told, PMHNP students come as a cohort for weekends, and AG-ACNP students spend ten days on campus; details sit on the campus intensives page.
Why Arkansas students work with us
Our outreach speaks to the NP and the collaborating physician together and frames the ask around Rivier's track rules. We collect the preceptor's license, credentials and CV, confirm the site is willing to sign with Rivier, and pace everything to the four-month lead time Rivier suggests. The final word on each site belongs to Rivier's graduate faculty, and our packet reaches them ready to review. The form below is where it starts.
Questions Rivier students ask
Can an Arkansas physician precept my Rivier FNP practicum?
Yes, if the physician meets Rivier's bar: an MD or DO in outpatient family practice with at least two years in practice. Since Arkansas law already pairs each NP with a collaborating physician, one practice may offer you either. A PA can step in on some days, but Rivier's Handbook keeps PAs out of the primary FNP preceptor role.
Which RN license covers clinicals in Arkansas?
Any RN license Arkansas recognizes. An Arkansas-issued license does it, and because Arkansas belongs to the Nurse Licensure Compact, a multistate credential issued by the compact state you call home does too. Rivier collects proof of that license with your clinical documents before any practicum time begins.
Does Arkansas make Rivier register before I train there?
Arkansas's nursing rules describe approval for new programs set up inside the state, not for out-of-state schools placing a student for clinicals only. That silence is worth confirming, so ask Rivier's Program Director, or the Arkansas State Board of Nursing directly, how it applies to your placement before you finalize it.
Is Rivier's AG-ACNP open to Arkansas residents?
Rivier's State Guide has no AG-ACNP column, so the green Arkansas cells for the FNP and PMHNP do not settle it. Ask the Program Director before you apply. The acute care track also needs hospital preceptors: a hospitalist first, then an intensivist or AG-ACNP in critical care.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against Rivier's own Nursing Student Handbook, program sheets, catalog, academic calendar and State Guide. Your program of study, your course faculty, your Program Director and the Clinical Practicum Coordinator have the final word.
Rivier asks you to identify a qualified preceptor. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Rivier track, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors who meet your track's rules, check early whether the site can contract with Rivier, and prepare everything the Preceptor Request Form asks for, well ahead of August 1 and December 1.
- Preceptors matched to the track: an MD, DO or FNP in outpatient family practice for
NURS 511, a psychiatrist or PMH-certified NP forNURS 521, a hospitalist or intensivist forNURS 638P - Preceptor license, credentials and CV ready for the Preceptor Request Form, with the site's contact details for the contract
- In your own area, in New Hampshire or any state Rivier's State Guide accepts
Start your placement plan
Track, city and semester is all we need to begin.