Maryland and Northern Arizona University's NP programs, plainly
For Maryland, the answer in Northern Arizona University's licensure table is Does Not Meet on the MS FNP, the MS PMHNP and both NP graduate certificates, while its four BSN formats read Meets. Maryland nurses can still enroll, provided they attest to plans to practice elsewhere. Maryland's Board of Nursing adds context: it vets NP programs one by one before certifying anyone they graduate.
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Maryland's rows in NAU's table
NAU has concluded that its NP programs do not satisfy the education Maryland requires for licensure. Of the seven states flagged on the NP rows, only Maryland and Wisconsin keep a passing BSN answer.
Enrollment remains open. NAU's disclosure policy has a Maryland-based student sign, at initial enrollment, an attestation of plans to work in some other state, once an automated disclosure email has gone out; the licensure disclosure guide covers that notice.
| NAU plan | Answer for Maryland |
|---|---|
| Nursing - Advanced Practice, Family Nurse Practitioner (MS) | Does Not Meet |
| Nursing - Advanced Practice, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (MS) | Does Not Meet |
| Family Nurse Practitioner (GCERT) | Does Not Meet |
| Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (GCERT) | Does Not Meet |
| All four BSN formats | Meets |
Maryland approves NP programs one at a time
Maryland's Board of Nursing (MBON) states that each NP program must pass its own review before any graduate of it can be certified in Maryland. A school absent from that approved list is the party that files MBON's Program Approval Form; a graduate has no way to file it.
NAU's table links MBON's advanced practice pages; read them before you commit. MBON's main site was unreachable during research for this guide, so check its current list directly and take questions to NAU's graduate nursing advisors.
Clinical rules for an out-of-state program
Research found nothing from MBON that makes an outside school ask permission before its students train in Maryland. The Board's material on other states' programs concerns licensure instead: a tool for judging substantial equivalency, and lists sorting outside prelicensure programs into approved and not approved.
Maryland statute also exempts students of accredited graduate APRN programs, letting them practice within the program without a Maryland APRN license. Online programs from outside Maryland normally register with its Higher Education Commission, a step SARA participants such as NAU skip.
NAU's own position is the open question: its pages place clinicals throughout Arizona, with no rule on graduate clinicals elsewhere. Start with your program coordinator and the state authorization guide.
Precepting in Maryland, plus a tax credit
AANP calls Maryland full practice. New NPs, though, must declare a mentorship lasting 18 months, whether with a physician or with a certified NP. Whoever precepts an NAU student must also clear NAU's preceptor standard.
Population clusters around Baltimore-Columbia-Towson and in the Washington suburbs, home to roughly 2.5 million Marylanders. The systems a search meets include Johns Hopkins Medicine and MedStar Health, along with the University of Maryland Medical System, LifeBridge Health and Luminis Health, while Hagerstown and Lexington Park are smaller hubs.
An income tax credit rewards NPs and physicians who teach NP students without pay. The bar is three rotations or more, every one lasting 90 hours or longer, in community settings the state health department lists as short of health workers. The credit is tied to Board-approved preceptorships in Board-recognized programs, has an annual ceiling and expires June 30, 2030, so confirm with the department before counting on it for NAU.
Licensing: compact yes, APRN Compact no
Maryland entered the Nurse Licensure Compact on Jan. 19, 2018, and under its rules a nurse with a multistate privilege may practice there under Maryland law. A multistate Maryland license answers NAU's admission wording and covers RN work in Arizona too. Maryland lawmakers have not enacted the APRN Compact, so NP certification remains a state-by-state matter; the RN license guide has NAU's rules.
Why Maryland students still choose us
Maryland nurses headed for NP careers in a Meets jurisdiction, such as Delaware, Virginia or Washington, D.C., and nurses planning a move, come to us to keep the clinical side on schedule. We confirm with you where your hours will count, find preceptors near that location who fit NAU's standard, and assemble every document the Green Form needs, with the three FNP practicums sequenced as one plan.
Questions NAU students ask
Is a Maryland address a barrier to enrolling at NAU?
No, though it adds a step. NAU publishes no bar on Maryland applicants, yet its rows for both MS emphases and both graduate certificates say Does Not Meet, so a nurse living in Maryland when first enrolling signs a statement of intent to work in a different state. An automated disclosure email comes before that.
Why do NAU's BSN rows pass in Maryland when the NP rows fail?
NAU publishes no reason; the table itself is the only public record. Each program gets its own answer, and Maryland's Board looks at NP programs one by one before certifying graduates. If the split matters to your plans, ask NAU's graduate nursing advisors and check MBON's advanced practice pages, which NAU links for Maryland.
Can my Maryland preceptor get the tax credit for an NAU rotation?
Possibly, though nothing makes it automatic. The credit is for unpaid preceptorships the Board of Nursing has approved, for students of programs the Board recognizes, and it asks for three or more long community rotations in a designated shortage area. Before relying on it, a preceptor should raise the NAU rotation with the Maryland Department of Health.
I will practice in Virginia after graduating. Does Maryland's answer still matter?
It matters at enrollment, because you are located in Maryland and sign the attestation. For your NP license, the state where you apply is what counts, and NAU's table reads Meets for Virginia and for Washington, D.C. The table carries no date and rows have changed before, so check that state's row again before you apply.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Northern Arizona University's own catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your program coordinator and course faculty have the final word.
NAU welcomes a preceptor you arrange. We arrange one close to home.
Tell us your NAU track, your town and your next practicum. We line up preceptors who fit the course and Arizona's preceptor rule, confirm the site's approval, and gather the CV, license and certification the Green Form needs, well before NAU's cutoff.
- Preceptors matched to the course: all-ages family primary care for FNP, psychiatric settings for PMHNP
- License, experience and certification checked against the rule NAU applies, before the Green Form goes in
- All three FNP practicums planned together, near home instead of a long drive away
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