North Carolina residents and Graceland University's nursing programs
Graceland University's June 2020 chart marks its MSN "NO" for North Carolina and, unlike the other four states with that answer, explains itself by quoting the state board. Its DNP and RN-BSN rows simply describe post-licensure degrees. Below: what the board's statement means, which North Carolina rules touch clinical hours, and how Graceland students living in or moving to the state can plan.
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The one "NO" row that quotes a board
North Carolina's MSN row reads, in full: "The North Carolina Board of Nursing does not approve/accredit nursing education programs which are outside of their jurisdiction, including out-of-state online programs programs/correspondence courses." The doubled word is Graceland's.
| Program | Chart answer | Plain meaning |
|---|---|---|
| MSN: FNP, AGACNP, PMHNP, RN-to-MSN, certificates | NO | Graceland does not present the MSN as a route to a North Carolina license. |
| DNP | No | Post-licensure: you start licensed and finish with no new license, as in every state. |
| RN to BSN | No | Post-licensure as well; a description of the degree, not a refusal. |
| BSN to RN | Unknown | The on-campus pre-licensure degree, prepared for Iowa licensure. |
For how the four charts relate, see the licensure disclosures guide.
What the North Carolina board oversees, and what it leaves alone
The NCBON says it neither approves nor disapproves post-licensure graduate programs, in-state or out, and names RN-BSN, doctoral and other post-licensure graduate programs as outside its authority.
The binding clinical rule, 21 NCAC 36 .0233, covers unlicensed students from programs elsewhere, meaning pre-licensure learners, and they may use a North Carolina agency only once the board approves. The agency's chief nurse or a designated RN files 30 or more days before the start date, attaching the home board's approval of the program, the lead faculty member's CV and RN license, proof that the preceptor is an actively licensed North Carolina RN in good standing, and the school's license from the UNC Board of Governors (G.S. 116-15).
Graceland's graduate students arrive licensed, so .0233 is not written with them in mind. A master's or doctoral student who holds neither a North Carolina license nor a multistate one should write to the board's licensure staff, using its Email Us form, to learn what applies before any clinical experience in the state.
A career-long physician agreement, and the main systems
AANP ranks North Carolina restricted: NPs work under a physician collaboration that lasts as long as they practice. NP licenses come from a joint subcommittee drawn from both the nursing and the medical boards, so any NP licensure question there reaches two regulators.
Nurses there often look at Duke Health, UNC Health and ECU Health, or at Atrium Health, a Charlotte system that belongs to Advocate Health, and Novant Health. Metro Charlotte is the largest market, then Raleigh-Cary, Greensboro-High Point and Winston-Salem. Every system sets its own student terms. Our research turned up no North Carolina preceptor incentive.
SARA and the license you practice on
North Carolina entered SARA in June 2016, a few months after Graceland became an NC-SARA member in February 2016, and the board says students of a SARA-approved college may be eligible for field placements in the state. SARA concerns distance education across state lines; it leaves the chart's MSN answer as it is.
North Carolina entered the current compact on January 19, 2018, meaning a multistate license issued where you live also covers RN work in North Carolina. Graceland wants board verification for the license where you live and for each approved state where hours happen, and PMHNP telehealth adds the patient's state. The RN license page covers both.
How we help North Carolina nurses
Graceland's DNP and RN-BSN students in North Carolina have the simplest reading: their no is the post-licensure label, and the board places their programs outside its jurisdiction. Prospective NP students should get the School of Nursing's written answer on North Carolina residents before anything else, and anyone moving should read relocating during the program.
With that answer in hand, we build the search: a practice site and mentor for a DNP project, a health care or community organization for an RN-BSN practice experience, or, if the School of Nursing approves NP practicums for you over the line in Virginia, where the chart reads meets, a slate of preceptors there with every Appendix A and Appendix B detail filled in. Begin with the form below.
Questions Graceland students ask
Can I enroll in Graceland's online FNP from North Carolina?
The June 2020 chart answers NO for the MSN in North Carolina, FNP included, quoting what the board says about programs from elsewhere. Treat it as a clear signal against planning a North Carolina NP license on the Graceland MSN, and write to the School of Nursing (its page lists the contact) about whether North Carolina residents are accepted today.
Does rule .0233 apply to Graceland graduate students?
It is written for unlicensed students in programs from other states, which means pre-licensure learners, not RNs already licensed and enrolled in graduate study. Graduate students holding no North Carolina or multistate license are pointed to the board's licensure staff for clinical requirements. Graceland's own approval of every site and preceptor still applies.
Could I train in a state next door instead?
Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia carry a meets answer on the chart; Tennessee carries a no. Those answers apply to licenses issued by each of those states and leave North Carolina's untouched. Any practicum outside the state where you live also needs Graceland's approval and an RN license valid at the site.
Why does the North Carolina row sound different from the others?
Graceland filled it with the board's own statement that out-of-state programs, online ones among them, fall outside what it approves or accredits, rather than a one-line verdict. The answer column still reads NO. Because the chart dates from June 2020, ask the School of Nursing whether its North Carolina position has changed.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Graceland's own catalog, program pages and Graduate Student Handbook. Your handbook, your track coordinator and the contract coordinators have the final word.
Graceland's practicums are arranged by you, with Graceland's help. We do the searching.
Tell us your Graceland track, your city and your next practicum. We find preceptors who fit the course, line up what Appendix A and Appendix B ask for, and aim everything at Graceland's paperwork deadline for your term.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP, hospital and ICU clinicians for AGACNP, psychiatrists and PMHNPs for PMHNP
- Site address, contract contact and preceptor details ready before the June 15, October 15 or February 15 deadline
- Close to home in your approved state, with a second preceptor planned for Graceland's two-preceptor rule
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