MRU nursing programs and clinicals for Arkansas residents
Arkansas is a SARA member, so MRU's online and hybrid nursing programs are open to you there. On paper it is also one of the simpler states, since our search of Arkansas State Board of Nursing rules turned up nothing that makes an out-of-state program seek approval before clinical-only placements.
Plan your Arkansas clinicals
Tell us your MRU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with what an MRU-ready preceptor and site look like for you.
What MRU offers Arkansas residents
Arkansas is rated "Meets" for FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP in MRU's NC-SARA licensure disclosure. The catalog limits MRU's licensure commitment to Florida and asks out-of-state students to check with their home board first, which for you is the Arkansas State Board of Nursing (ASBN).
| Program | Arkansas residents? | Mode | Clinical-side hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN-FNP and FNP Post-Master's Certificate | Yes | Online, or onsite in Miami Springs | Four clinical courses; MRU prints no total |
| PMHNP Post-Master's Certificate | Yes | Online | 765 |
| AGACNP Post-Master's Certificate | Yes | Online plus a 3-day on-campus weekend in semester I | 810 |
| DNP | Yes, with an Arkansas multistate or a Florida RN license | Offsite and online | 765 practice hours |
| MSN Healthcare Systems Leadership | Yes | Online or onsite | 180 |
| RN-to-BSN | Yes | Online or onsite | 135 |
| ASN, BSN, MSN Direct Entry | Only on campus in Florida | Onsite | 450, 675, 495 |
Arkansas rules on out-of-state clinicals: what exists and what doesn't
Neither the ASBN's rules nor its web guidance, as far as we could find, require approval of an out-of-state program before its students do clinical-only placements in Arkansas. ASBN staff have not confirmed this, so it is our reading of published rules, not a ruling. Three provisions come closest:
- 17 CAR Part 125 holds the prelicensure standards, and an out-of-state institution comes into scope under it only when it tries to set up a new program in Arkansas; that step takes national accreditation, home-state board approval and approval from the Arkansas Division of Higher Education.
- 17 CAR Part 123, Subpart 10, which holds the APRN program rules, deals with both new and established programs through national-accreditation "deemed status" and says nothing about clinical-only placements.
- A.C.A. ยง 17-87-103(2) is the Nurse Practice Act's student exemption; it applies to nursing incidental to study in ASBN-approved programs.
You will already hold an RN license, so that exemption may matter less for you than for a pre-licensure student. It is still worth asking the Office of Academic Affairs how MRU reads Arkansas law before your first clinical day.
Reduced practice and the Arkansas preceptor pool
AANP classifies Arkansas as reduced practice: NPs need a regulated physician agreement covering at least one part of their practice and may not prescribe certain medications outside a physician protocol agreement. Every Arkansas NP you approach therefore works under an agreement with a physician. Whether MRU would accept that physician as your preceptor is set in the student handbook; see who can precept an MRU student.
In Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway (about 778,000 people in 2025) you find CHI St. Vincent, which belongs to CommonSpirit Health, along with Baptist Health, Arkansas Children's and UAMS Health. Out west, Mercy, based in St. Louis, operates hospitals in Northwest Arkansas, where Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers has about 622,000 people, and in Fort Smith, a metro that extends into Oklahoma. Jonesboro, about 139,000, is the fourth metro. These are places NP students look, not sites tied to MRU. We found no Arkansas preceptor tax credit or grant program.
Your license: Arkansas is a Compact state
Arkansas implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact on 19 January 2018, and the Compact is written into the Nurse Practice Act itself (Title 17, Chapter 87, Subchapter 6). An Arkansas multistate RN license covers clinicals at home and in other Compact states.
With no approval step found, the practical gates for an Arkansas clinical are the site's own onboarding, MRU's clearance through American Data Bank and MRU's approval of your preceptor. AGACNP students add the three-day skills weekend in Miami Springs during semester I. The wider picture is in MRU clinicals outside Florida.
Why Arkansas students choose us
For Arkansas students we hunt for a preceptor and site in central Arkansas, the northwest corridor, around Jonesboro or wherever you live, matched to your MRU course. You get help lining up what MRU's credential check asks about your preceptor, and a fresh search if that preceptor leaves mid-course. The decision on any preceptor comes from MRU, and we make sure it has everything it needs to make it. Send us your details.
Questions MRU students ask
Does MRU need Arkansas Board of Nursing approval before I start clinicals?
We found no Arkansas rule requiring it for clinical-only placements by out-of-state programs, but that reading has not been confirmed with ASBN staff. MRU is the one to ask: the Office of Academic Affairs can tell you whether MRU has taken any step with Arkansas and what it needs from you before your first clinical day.
Does my Arkansas license work for MRU's DNP?
If it is multistate, yes. MRU's DNP wants a clear RN license from Florida or from an eNLC Compact state, and Arkansas is a Compact state. If your Arkansas license is single-state, ask the ASBN about multistate status or hold a Florida license. The DNP is a leadership program with 765 indirect practice hours and no NP preceptor.
Where do Arkansas PMHNP students get child and adolescent hours?
MRU's PMHNP certificate needs 115 of its 765 clinical hours with children and adolescents, and MSN6057C is the course covering children, adolescents and adults with families. Little Rock is home to Arkansas Children's, and community mental health practices elsewhere may see young patients too. Whatever you find needs MRU's approval. See the PMHNP clinical courses.
Do I have to live in Arkansas for my whole MRU program?
MRU requires residence in Florida or a SARA state for the entire program, and Arkansas qualifies. Moving to another SARA state, such as Oklahoma or Texas, keeps you inside the rule, but tell MRU before you move so it can check licensure and clinical plans for the new state. See MRU's SARA residency rule.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against MRU's own catalog, addenda and program pages. The nursing student handbook on the MRU student portal and MRU's Office of Academic Affairs have the final word.
MRU says secure your own preceptor. We start the search now.
Tell us your MRU program, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We look for preceptors who fit the course and help you gather what MRU checks before approving them.
- Preceptors matched to the course: adult primary care for
MSN5700, women's health, pediatrics, psychiatric or acute care - Credentials, license and site details collected before MRU's credential check
- Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, or wherever in a SARA state you live
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.