Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award master’s and doctoral degrees. Frontier Nursing University also may offer credentials such as certificates and diplomas at approved degree levels. Questions about the accreditation of FNU may be directed in writing to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097, by calling (404) 679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC’s website (www.sacscoc.org).
Frontier Nursing University is licensed by the Kentucky Council of Postsecondary Education (1024 Capital Center Drive, Suite 320, Frankfort, KY 40601; Tel: 502-573-1555) to offer a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and both certificates and a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) for nurse-midwifery, family nurse practitioner, women’s health care nurse practitioner specialties and psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner specialties.
The nurse-midwifery post-graduate certificate program and master’s program are accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME), 8403 Colesville Road, Suite 1230, Silver Spring, MD 20910-6374; Tel: 240-485-1803, www.midwife.org/acme, acme@ACNM.org.
The Doctor of Nursing Practice, the Master of Science in Nursing and the Post-Graduate Certificate nursing programs, including the nurse-midwifery, family nurse practitioner, psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, and women’s health care nurse practitioner tracks at Frontier Nursing University located in Versailles, KY, are accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN)
3390 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 1400, Atlanta, GA 30326
(404) 975-5000
The most recent accreditation decision made by the ACEN Board of Commissioners for the Doctor of Nursing Practice, the Master of Science in Nursing program and the post-graduate certificates, including the nurse-midwifery, family nurse practitioner, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, and women’s health care nurse practitioner nursing programs is Continuing Accreditation.
View the public information disclosed by the ACEN regarding this program at http://www.acenursing.com/accreditedprograms/programsearch.htm.
Civil Rights Notice of Non-Discrimination: The Frontier Nursing University is in full compliance with section 602 of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The FNU staffing policies, education programs and services rendered are administered uniformly without regard to race, color, national origin or sex, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and activities.
State Authorization
FNU is approved by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education to participate in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA). NC-SARA is a voluntary, regional approach to state oversight of postsecondary distance education.
As an approved SARA institution, FNU only needs home state authorization to offer distance education to students residing in any other SARA member state. SARA member states can be viewed on their website: http://nc-sara.org/sara-states-institutions. SARA does not have an effect on state professional licensing requirements. For information on professional licensure, see the bottom of this page.
The following is a list of requirements for the one state not currently participating in NC-SARA.
California: FNU is exempt from registration with the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education as we are a nonprofit, degree granting school accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, pursuant to California Education Code, Title 3, Section 94874(2)(c).
Additional State Information:
Alaska, Commission on Postsecondary Education, Institutional Authorization: Frontier Nursing University is exempt from authorization under AS 14.48 and 20 AAC 17 because the program is online and does not have a physical presence in the state.
New York: Although Frontier Nursing University can enroll students who reside in New York State in FNU’s programs, FNU has very limited approval from the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to offer clinical experiences in New York. The permission is limited to six MSN nurse-midwifery students who are residents of New York State per academic year (August 1-July 31). MSN nurse-midwifery students must attend clinical experiences in upstate, rural, and underserved areas of New York state. MSN nurse-midwifery students who were not residents of New York State upon admissions and move to New York State during their program are not guaranteed the opportunity to attend clinical experiences in New York State. No other students (PGC nurse-midwifery or MSN/PGC, FNP, PMHNP, or WHNP) may complete clinical experiences in New York State. Therefore any student living in New York that is admitted and does not fall into the limited criteria (six MSN Midwifery students per year) must complete their clinical experience in another state. Students who reside outside of New York may not attend clinical experiences in New York. This limited approval does not apply to DNP applicants, DNP applicants are eligible for admission.
This limited approval does not qualify FNU as a “licensure qualifying program” in New York State. The NYSED will determine, on a case by case basis, whether a graduate of an out-of-state program who applies for licensure as a midwife in New York State meets professional education requirements for New York State licensure.
Texas, Workforce Commission, Career Schools and Colleges: Frontier Nursing University is excluded from regulation by the Texas Workforce Commission under Chapter 132 of the Texas Education Code.
Washington, State Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission: Frontier Nursing University is approved by the Washington State Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission to provide practice experiences in Washington State for MSN/FNP, Post-Graduate Certificate in FNP, MSN/Women’s Health NP, MSN/Midwifery, Post-Graduate Certificate in Women’s Health NP, Post-Graduate Certificate in Midwifery, ADN-MSN, MSN/Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Post-Graduate PMHNP Certificate, DNP Companion and DNP Programs. For more information, go to the following website link: https://nursing.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2023-02/Out-Of-State-Nursing-Programs-669338-02-2023.pdf
For specific information regarding state authorization contact:
Shelley Aldridge
Chief Operations Officer
859-251-4562
Email: shelley.aldridge@frontier.edu
Professional Licensure
Every state Board of Nursing has its own requirements for advanced practice licensure. Students and applicants should contact the licensing boards in their state of residence, or any state in which they may reside in the future, to determine whether the programs meet state requirements for licensure. A directory for state boards of nursing can be found here: https://www.ncsbn.org/contact-bon.htm
Please click here for state professional licensure eligibility status for FNUs MSN/PGC. Licensure eligibility determinations are determined by the appropriate state board that issues the credential to practice, and prospective students should visit their state board’s website for the most updated and accurate information.
National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements
Frontier Nursing University has been approved to participate in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. Learn more.
Carrie Belin is an experienced board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and a graduate of the Johns Hopkins DNP program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Georgetown University School of Nursing, and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She has also completed fellowships at Georgetown and the University of California Irvine.
Angie has been a full-scope midwife since 2009. She has experience in various birth settings including home, hospital, and birth centers. She is committed to integrating the midwifery model of care in the US. She completed her master’s degree in nurse-midwifery at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) and her Doctorate at Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves as the midwifery clinical faculty at FNU. Angie is motivated by the desire to improve the quality of healthcare and has led quality improvement projects on skin-to-skin implementation, labor induction, and improving transfer of care practices between hospital and community midwives. In 2017, she created a short film on skin-to-skin called 
Justin C. Daily, BSN, RN, has ten years of experience in nursing. At the start of his nursing career, Justin worked as a floor nurse on the oncology floor at St. Francis. He then spent two years as the Director of Nursing in a small rural Kansas hospital before returning to St. Francis and the oncology unit. He has been in his current position as the Chemo Nurse Educator for the past four years. He earned an Associate in Nurse from Hutchinson Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Bethel College.
Brandy Jackson serves as the Director of Undergraduate Nursing Programs and Assistant Educator at Wichita State University and Co-Director of Access in Nursing. Brandy is a seasoned educator with over 15 years of experience. Before entering academia, Brandy served in Hospital-based leadership and Critical Care Staff nurse roles. Brandy is passionate about equity in nursing education with a focus on individuals with disabilities. Her current research interests include accommodations of nursing students with disabilities in clinical learning environments and breaking down barriers for historically unrepresented individuals to enter the nursing profession. Brandy is also actively engaged in Interprofessional Education development, creating IPE opportunities for faculty and students at Wichita State. Brandy is an active member of Wichita Women for Good and Soroptimist, with the goal to empower women and girls. Brandy is a TeamSTEPPS master trainer. She received the DASIY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty in 2019 at Wichita State University. 
Dr. Sabrina Ali Jamal-Eddine is an Arab-disabled queer woman of color with a PhD in Nursing and an interdisciplinary certificate in Disability Ethics from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Dr. Jamal-Eddine’s doctoral research explored spoken word poetry as a form of critical narrative pedagogy to educate nursing students about disability, ableism, and disability justice. Dr. Jamal-Eddine now serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in UIC’s Department of Disability and Human Development and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities (NOND). During her doctoral program, Sabrina served as a Summer Fellow at a residential National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute at Arizona State University (2023), a summer fellow at Andrew W. Mellon’s National Humanities Without Walls program at University of Michigan (2022), a Summer Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute (2021), and an Illinois Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) trainee (2019-2020).
Vanessa Cameron works for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nursing Education & Professional Development. She is also attending George Washington University and progressing towards a PhD in Nursing with an emphasis on ableism in nursing. After becoming disabled in April 2021, Vanessa’s worldview and perspective changed, and a recognition of the ableism present within healthcare and within the culture of nursing was apparent. She has been working since that time to provide educational foundations for nurses about disability and ableism, provide support for fellow disabled nursing colleagues, and advocate for the disabled community within healthcare settings to reduce disparities.
Dr. Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse-midwife, Associate Professor of Nursing, and Director of the Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia University, a master’s degree from Yale University, specializing in nurse-midwifery, and a PhD from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Canty has provided reproductive health care for over 29 years. Her research interests include the prevention of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, reducing racial and ethnic health disparities in reproductive health, promoting diversity in nursing, and eliminating racism in nursing and midwifery.
Dr. Lisa Meeks is a distinguished scholar and leader whose unwavering commitment to inclusivity and excellence has significantly influenced the landscape of health professions education and accessibility. She is the founder and executive director of the DocsWithDisabilities Initiative and holds appointments as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Learning Health Sciences and Family Medicine at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Nikia Grayson, DNP, MSN, MPH, MA, CNM, FNP-C, FACNM (she/her) is a trailblazing force in reproductive justice, blending her expertise as a public health activist, anthropologist, and family nurse-midwife to champion the rights and health of underserved communities. Graduating with distinction from Howard University, Nikia holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in public health. Her academic journey also led her to the University of Memphis, where she earned a master’s in medical anthropology, and the University of Tennessee, where she achieved both a master’s in nursing and a doctorate in nursing practice. Complementing her extensive education, she completed a post-master’s certificate in midwifery at Frontier Nursing University.
Dr. Tia Brown McNair is the Vice President in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC. She oversees both funded projects and AAC&U’s continuing programs on equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices, and student success. McNair directs AAC&U’s Summer Institutes on High-Impact Practices and Student Success, and TRHT Campus Centers and serves as the project director for several AAC&U initiatives, including the development of a TRHT-focused campus climate toolkit. She is the lead author of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education (January 2020) and Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success (July 2016 and August 2022 Second edition).
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