Gonzaga University from Vermont: the doctorate that fits and the NP path out west
Vermont nurses cannot enroll in Gonzaga's online FNP or PMHNP tracks while living in Vermont, because those tracks admit residents of ten western states. From Burlington or Rutland, the Gonzaga option to look at is the online Post-Master's DNP, in which a liaison at a Vermont organization supports the project that makes up your practicum. Check eligibility with Gonzaga before applying.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Gonzaga program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Gonzaga course.
Where Vermont sits in Gonzaga's admissions
Vermont is not one of the ten states whose residents can join the family or psychiatric NP tracks or the Second MSN, and NP practicums take place in the state that licenses you. Gonzaga's licensure disclosures still list Vermont as "Meets" for the NP MSN, a statement about curriculum rather than residency.
| Program | Vermont applicants | Practicum location |
|---|---|---|
| MSN, Family or Psychiatric-Mental Health NP | Not eligible while Vermont is home | Your licensing state within the ten |
| Second MSN | Not eligible; the same ten states apply | NP practicum courses in the West |
| Post-Master's DNP | Pages show no residency restriction; ask Gonzaga | A Vermont organization, as indirect project hours |
Earning the doctorate without leaving Vermont
Hours in the Post-Master's DNP are indirect care hours on your project, 1,000 in all once your MSN hours are counted. To apply, you need a nursing master's in an advanced practice specialty or in leadership, not in nursing education. Because Gonzaga schedules no project courses in summer, practicum work falls in fall and spring.
An agency liaison takes the preceptor's place. Gonzaga asks that person to sign a checklist confirming no family, friendship or reporting link with you and to expect at least three contacts a semester. In a smaller professional community, that independence rule deserves early thought. Read the liaison guide.
Vermont Board of Nursing: approval rules and preceptor limits
Vermont's Board of Nursing sits in the Office of Professional Regulation under the Secretary of State. Its current rules took effect in May 2023 and say a nursing education program may operate in Vermont only with Board approval, setting aside online-only programs that the Agency of Education approves. Nothing in the rules, the FAQ or the statute speaks directly to out-of-state schools placing students at Vermont sites, so Gonzaga is the authority on whether a Vermont project setting works.
The board's FAQ also narrows who may precept an APRN student: a Vermont-licensed APRN or physician whose license is active and whose experience matches the student's role and population. PAs are excluded. AANP rates Vermont full practice, though a newer NP, short of two years and 2,400 practice hours, first works under a collaborating agreement with a physician or APRN licensed in Vermont.
Burlington, Rutland and Lebanon-Claremont as project settings
University of Vermont Health brings together UVM Medical Center, Central Vermont Medical Center and Porter Medical Center. Beyond that network, candidates include Rutland Regional Medical Center and, as part of Dartmouth Health, Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, while the Vermont Department of Health suits a population-level project. Burlington-South Burlington is the main population center; Rutland and the Lebanon-Claremont area shared with New Hampshire are smaller hubs. Every one of them makes its own call on hosting a student, subject to Gonzaga's review of your proposal.
Vermont's nurse preceptor incentive grants came from a one-time appropriation for fiscal 2023, aimed at critical access hospital nurses teaching students of Vermont programs, and no later round has been recorded.
If Vermont is a stop before the West
Nurses set on the FNP or PMHNP credential can apply after establishing residence in one of Gonzaga's ten states. Most of them share Vermont's compact membership, but Alaska, California, Nevada and Oregon stand apart, so moving to one of those four means getting that state's own license. The license guide and the ten-state rule explain the steps. Current students should contact Gonzaga before moving, since relocation can affect licensure eligibility.
Choosing us from Vermont
Our process mirrors Gonzaga's own. For a Vermont DNP student, that means locating an organization and a liaison who meet the independence rules and preparing your proposal's supporting details long before classes start. After a relocation, it means an in-person preceptor search in your new state and a finished Practicum Site Placement Request ready for faculty approval. Start at the contact page.
Questions Gonzaga students ask
Can I study for Gonzaga's FNP from Vermont?
Not while you live in Vermont. Admission to both NP tracks, and to the Second MSN, depends on living in one of ten western states, and NP practicums are completed in the state where you are licensed. Gonzaga rates Vermont "Meets" in its licensure table, which is about curriculum. Moving to one of the ten states first opens an application.
Does Vermont require board approval for a Gonzaga DNP project at a Vermont hospital?
Vermont's rules require Board approval to conduct a nursing education program in the state, but no rule, FAQ or statute addresses out-of-state programs placing students at Vermont sites, and DNP hours are indirect project work. Ask Gonzaga how it treats a Vermont setting before you finalize a proposal.
Is Vermont's preceptor grant open to my DNP liaison?
No. The 2022 act behind the grants paid out in a single fiscal year, 2023, and only to critical access hospital nurses in Vermont whose students were enrolled in Vermont programs. No source shows the grants continuing, and a school based in Washington, like Gonzaga, sat outside the terms from the beginning.
Can I finish Gonzaga's DNP without traveling from Vermont?
According to the DNP FAQ, campus visits are not required, and the 2026-27 catalog describes virtual immersions, while the project defense may be given in person or by video. An older catalog page that still lists on-campus immersions is a reason to double-check the format with Gonzaga. Practicum hours happen at the Vermont organization you propose.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Gonzaga's catalog, FAQs, preceptor packets and Department of Nursing pages. Your course, the Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and Gonzaga's Clinical Placement Team have the final word.
Gonzaga asks you to find local preceptors first. Let us run that search.
Tell us your Gonzaga program, your practicum course and where you live and can travel. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the license, certification and site details your Practicum Site Placement Request needs, early in the semester before.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care across the lifespan for
NURS 661PtoNURS 664P, psychiatric care forNURS 661MtoNURS 663M, an agency liaison for the DNP - Credentials, license, board certification and site contact ready for your site request
- In Spokane, across Washington or wherever in the ten western states you are licensed
Start your placement plan
Your program, city and next practicum term is all we need to begin.