Rivier's State Guide: which states Rivier can accept, program by program
Rivier University's State Guide gives each listed state a color for each nursing program: green means OK to accept, yellow means limiting criteria and a call to the Program Director, and red means Rivier is unable to accept students there. For the FNP and PMHNP, eight states are red and three are yellow, and six states do not appear on the chart at all. It tells you whether Rivier can accept you, not whether you can be licensed, and it has no AG-ACNP column.
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What the State Guide is and how to read it
The State Guide is Rivier's chart titled Overview Out-Of-State Acceptance By Program. Rivier's licensure page says the university cannot take students from some states because higher-education rules differ from state to state, and that programs leading to a license can also meet limits set by individual state boards of nursing. For nursing, that page sends you to this chart.
Each row is a state and each column is a program. The chart shows status only through the color of each cell, so read the color itself.
Rivier's own key
- Green: OK to accept.
- Yellow: limiting criteria; call the Program Director.
- Red: unable to accept; prohibitive barriers.
There are seven columns: the FNP, the PMHNP and Nursing Education (each covering both the MSN and the post-master's certificate, which the chart marks with an asterisk), Leadership in Health Systems Management, the DNP (Professional Practice and Systems Leadership), pre-licensure ASN/BSN, and the RN to BSN.
The red and yellow states for each program
California is red in every column, from the FNP down to the RN to BSN. After that, the lists split by program, so a state that closes one track can stay open for another. The table gives every state that is not green, program by program.
| Program | Red (unable to accept) | Yellow (call the Program Director) | Green states |
|---|---|---|---|
| FNP, MSN and certificate | Alabama, California, Iowa, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington, Wyoming | Colorado, New York, South Dakota | 33 |
| PMHNP, MSN and certificate | Alabama, California, Iowa, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington, Wyoming | Colorado, New York, South Dakota | 33 |
| Nursing Education, MSN and certificate | California, Iowa, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington, Wyoming | Colorado, New York, South Dakota | 34 |
| Leadership in Health Systems Management | California, Iowa, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington, Wyoming | Colorado, New York, South Dakota | 34 |
| DNP, both tracks | California, Iowa, Washington | Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Wyoming | 34 |
| ASN/BSN pre-licensure | California | Every other listed state (39) | 4: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont |
| RN to BSN | California | None | 43 |
The splits matter. Alabama is red for the FNP and PMHNP but green for Education and Leadership and yellow for the DNP. Tennessee is red in all four MSN columns yet green for the DNP. Iowa is red in every graduate column while its RN to BSN cell is green. Each state page, such as New York or Tennessee, shows that state's full row.
What a yellow state asks of you
Yellow means Rivier sees limiting criteria in that state and wants you to call the Program Director before you count on it. The chart does not say what the criteria are. For the MSN tracks and certificates, the conversation is with the Director of Graduate Nursing Education; for the DNP, the Director of Doctoral Nursing Education.
Colorado, New York and South Dakota are yellow across every graduate column. The DNP adds Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon and Wyoming, four states that are red for the NP tracks. For the ASN/BSN column, a footnote asks prospective students outside New England to call the undergraduate program director, and most cells in that column are yellow.
Ask the question early and keep the reply. A yellow answer can depend on the state's board, on the practicum setting or on your license, so it helps to have it on record before you spend a semester looking for a preceptor there.
Yellow is not a softer green. Until the Program Director confirms a yellow state works for your track, plan your practicum as if it does not.
The six unlisted states and the missing AG-ACNP column
Alaska, Delaware, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire and West Virginia have no row on the chart, and neither do Washington, DC or the US territories. New Hampshire is Rivier's home state, and the chart is about out-of-state acceptance. For the other five, the chart gives no color at all, so ask the Program Director or the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies Admissions before you apply from, or move to, one of them.
The chart also has no column for the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP, MSN or certificate, even though the 2026-2027 Nursing Student Handbook names the track and sets its preceptor rules. The RN-to-MSN and Bridge entry paths have no columns either. If you are in the AG-ACNP track, the FNP color for your state is not your answer; the Program Director is.
An acceptance guide, not a licensure determination
The State Guide answers one question: can Rivier accept a student from this state into this program? It does not say whether a Rivier program meets a state's requirements for an RN or APRN license there, and Rivier publishes no state-by-state ruling of that kind. For licensing questions, Rivier's licensure and program pages point to NC-SARA's Professional Licensure Directory as the list of state contacts, and the Handbook tells graduate students who plan to license in another state to check with that state's board, because each state decides eligibility.
Rivier takes part in NC-SARA as a New Hampshire institution in the NEBHE region. California does not appear in the directory's list of member states, which fits with California being red for every Rivier program.
A green state still leaves one rule to meet: graduate students need an RN license valid in the practicum's state. The practicum license page covers how that works.
Two versions online: February 2022 and January 2025
Rivier has two copies of the chart online. The licensure page still links the version updated February 24, 2022. The BSN program page and the Nursing Education post-master's certificate page link a version updated January 2025. The colors in both are identical, so either one gives the same answer today. Because the licensure page links the older file, it is easy to assume the chart has sat untouched since 2022; the January 2025 copy shows a later update, with every color carried over.
If a newer chart appears, go by the latest date and confirm with the Program Director. One quirk when reading either copy: the states run in alphabetical order except that Louisiana sits above Kansas, so scan the whole K and L block before deciding your state is missing.
How the guide shapes your preceptor search with us
Every search we run for a Rivier student starts with the chart. We check your program's color for the state where you live and for any state where you might train, then look only where Rivier can accept you. In a green state we go straight to preceptors who meet your track's rules; in a yellow state or an unlisted one, we line up candidates while you get the Program Director's answer, so no weeks are lost once it comes. For an AG-ACNP student, whose track has no column, we work from the answer the Program Director gives for your state.
From there we gather what the Preceptor Request Form asks for and work back from the August 1 and December 1 deadlines. If you are relocating, the moving guide covers the 90-day notice to the Dean.
Questions Rivier students ask
Can I do Rivier's online FNP or PMHNP from California?
Rivier's State Guide marks California red for both tracks, which means Rivier is unable to accept students there because of prohibitive barriers. California is the one state that is red in every column of the chart, including Nursing Education, Leadership, the DNP and the RN to BSN. If you are thinking of moving there during a Rivier program, raise it with the Dean and the Program Director first.
Is Rivier's State Guide the same as a professional licensure disclosure?
No. The chart shows whether Rivier can accept a student from each state, program by program. It makes no finding on whether a Rivier program meets a state's licensing requirements, and Rivier posts no such finding. For licensing, check the state's board of nursing and NC-SARA's Professional Licensure Directory, which Rivier's pages link to.
Where is the AG-ACNP track on Rivier's State Guide?
It is not there. The chart has columns for the FNP, PMHNP, Nursing Education, Leadership, the DNP, pre-licensure ASN/BSN and the RN to BSN, but none for the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP, MSN or certificate. AG-ACNP students should ask the Director of Graduate Nursing Education about their state rather than borrow another track's color.
Which version of the State Guide should I use, 2022 or 2025?
Either gives the same colors. The licensure page links the February 24, 2022 chart and the BSN and Nursing Education certificate pages link the January 2025 chart, and the status of every state matches between them. If Rivier posts a newer version, use the most recent date and confirm your state with the Program Director.
My state is yellow for my Rivier program. Can I still enroll?
Possibly. Yellow means limiting criteria, not a refusal, and Rivier's key tells you to call the Program Director. Ask what the criteria are for your track and whether your practicum can happen in your state, and keep the answer in writing. For the DNP, the yellow list is longer and includes Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon and Wyoming.
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
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