Studying with Rivier from Massachusetts
Rivier University's State Guide shows green for Massachusetts in every column, on-campus ASN and BSN study included, and the Nursing Student Handbook lets undergraduates relocate there without the usual 90-day notice. Graduate students face one local hurdle: the state's compact licensing is still being switched on, so an out-of-state multistate license stops at the border for now.
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Tell us your Rivier program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Rivier course.
Massachusetts on Rivier's State Guide
| Rivier program | Massachusetts | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| FNP, MSN and certificate | Green | Rivier can take Massachusetts applicants |
| PMHNP, MSN and certificate | Green | Accepted |
| Nursing Education, MSN and certificate | Green | Accepted |
| Leadership in Health Systems Management | Green | Accepted |
| DNP, both tracks | Green | Accepted |
| ASN/BSN pre-licensure | Green | One of four green states here |
| RN-BSN | Green | Accepted |
Rivier lists Massachusetts hospitals such as Beth Israel Deaconess, Boston Children's and Lowell General among its BSN and ABSN clinical partners, for rotations it assigns; see the BSN and ABSN guide. Graduate students find their own preceptors, and AG-ACNP applicants, whose track has no column, confirm with the Program Director. The State Guide page decodes the colors.
The Massachusetts exception to Rivier's move rule
Rivier normally wants the Division's Dean told in writing, 90 days or more in advance, when a student relocates to another state. Page 38 of the Handbook, in the undergraduate section, excuses one destination from that notice: Massachusetts.
Read it narrowly. Online and hybrid NP, Leadership, Nurse Educator and certificate students fall under the graduate policy on page 72, which carries its own notice requirement, so a graduate student heading to Massachusetts writes to the Dean unless told otherwise; moving during your program lists what else to update.
Why your multistate license stops at the border for now
Massachusetts adopted the compact by statute in November 2024. Its nursing board holds that nothing changes until implementation is finished, and it is aiming for May 2027 now that conditional FBI clearance for background checks arrived in May 2026; NCSBN's own table still shows TBD. For now, a compact license from New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont or elsewhere does not authorize practice in Massachusetts.
A Massachusetts clinic or hospital means a Massachusetts RN license before your first hour there. And since no Massachusetts license is multistate yet, a nurse licensed only there who lines up a preceptor in Nashua or Manchester needs a New Hampshire license too; the license guide covers that and the FNP campus days. There is no APRN Compact in Massachusetts either.
Board approval before a Massachusetts placement
Under 244 CMR 6.03(2), any nursing program whose parent institution is based outside Massachusetts needs Board approval for classroom or clinical learning in the state. It works in two parts: an annual Part A for the institution, due at least six months before any clinical placement, and a Part B for each placement, due 30 days before it begins. Changes are due at least two weeks before the start, and no student starts until an approval letter is issued.
The Board ties the process to programs that prepare candidates for the NCLEX, RN or PN, and says nothing about RN-BSN, graduate or APRN study. For Rivier's BSN and ABSN, any filing is the program's job; for a graduate practicum, put the question to the Program Director before you and a site settle on dates.
Who precepts in Massachusetts, and where
AANP counts Massachusetts as full practice, but only after an NP's first two years under a qualifying APRN or physician supervisor, with equivalent experience sometimes accepted instead. Rivier also wants FNP and PMHNP preceptors with two years in practice, so look for NPs past that supervised stage.
Greater Boston's Massachusetts portion held about 4.58 million people in 2025, far more than the Worcester or Springfield metros. Health systems in the state include Boston Medical Center, as well as Baystate Health, UMass Memorial Health, Beth Israel Lahey Health and Mass General Brigham. Massachusetts General Hospital's own page says every nursing placement request, graduate or undergraduate, travels through the Massachusetts Centralized Clinical Placement system, so a clinician's yes starts that process rather than finishing it.
Why Rivier students in Massachusetts choose us
In Massachusetts we start with the licensing question: which license each candidate site requires, and whether the Board's Part B timing could touch your start date. Then we recruit preceptors who fit Rivier's course rules, wherever you live in the state, and hand you a Preceptor Request Form packet well before the fall or spring deadline. Rivier's graduate faculty decide on the site; we see that what they receive is complete and correct. Begin with the form below.
Questions Rivier students ask
Will my New Hampshire compact license let me train in Massachusetts?
Not until Massachusetts finishes implementing the compact, which its Board is aiming to do in May 2027. Until then, other states' multistate licenses do not reach Massachusetts, so a Massachusetts site means applying for a Massachusetts RN license, which Rivier needs to see before your practicum there begins.
Is a move to Massachusetts exempt from Rivier's 90-day notice?
For pre-licensure undergraduates, yes: the Handbook's undergraduate rule names Massachusetts as the exception. Graduate students follow the separate page 72 policy: tell the Dean in writing no later than 90 days before the move, and check with the Dean's office if unsure.
Does a Rivier graduate practicum in Massachusetts need Board approval?
The Board's rule for schools based elsewhere, 244 CMR 6.03(2), is written around programs leading to the NCLEX and does not mention graduate study. Ask the Program Director how Rivier reads it for your placement, and allow for the 30-day Part B lead time if it applies.
Can I attend Rivier's BSN while living in Massachusetts?
Yes. Rivier's State Guide shows Massachusetts green for ASN and BSN pre-licensure study, a status shared by only three other states. Classes meet on the Nashua campus, Rivier arranges the clinical placements, and its partner list names Massachusetts sites, Lowell Community Health Center and Lowell General Hospital among them.
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.