Ball State clinicals outside Indiana
Ball State enrolls graduate nursing students outside Indiana only where its State Authorization Map lists their program as authorized, and each clinical hour must also fall inside an authorized state. For the MS in Nursing that means 25 places besides Indiana. A move, a travel contract or a certificate enrollment each brings its own rule, and FNP students still come to Muncie once.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Ball State program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options in your community that fit your Ball State course.
Live and train in an authorized state
Two conditions apply at once. The 2026-27 Graduate Catalog asks graduate nursing students to make their home, and log every clinical hour, in a state where the School of Nursing holds authorization for their program, and the Graduate Nursing Handbook extends that to every nursing course, clinical or didactic. A student living in Ohio cannot cross into Pennsylvania for a clinic day, because the MS in Nursing is not authorized there.
Authorized states sometimes share a border, which helps students near a state line. Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Kentucky are all authorized for the MS in Nursing, so a clinic just across one of those lines can fit, provided your RN license covers practice there and your advisor and course faculty agree. The catalog adds that clinical travel costs are yours.
The complete lists sit in the state authorization guide, and each authorized state has a guide of its own on the states page.
The certificate's state list, three versions
The Post-Master's Certificate FNP runs in far fewer places than the MS, and Ball State's own documents disagree about which ones.
| Source | States listed | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate Nursing Handbook 2025-26 (updated November 2025) | Indiana and Ohio residents holding an unencumbered Indiana or Ohio RN license, with every course completed in those two states | 2 |
| Certificate application page | Indiana, Alaska, Connecticut, Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon and Utah | 8 |
| State Authorization Map (entry saved August 2025) | The same eight plus Washington | 9 |
The handbook was updated after the map entry was saved, yet the two still differ, and Ball State's Office of State Authorizations tells online students to check the map regularly. Until the documents agree, an applicant outside Indiana and Ohio should get written confirmation from that office or from admissions before applying, and a current certificate student should do the same before any move. The certificate guide covers the program itself.
Travel nursing contracts
Ball State's handbook allows travel work in states where your program is authorized. The clinical side still follows the usual rules: your clinical hours must sit in an authorized state, your license must cover practice there, and the agency must sign Ball State's agreement.
A contract in a state where your program is not authorized is a different matter. The handbook requires a leave of absence for the length of the contract, capped at two consecutive semesters, and says a student found working such a contract while enrolled is subject to immediate withdrawal from all nursing courses. Leave forms go to the Clinical Placement Coordinator.
A leave also pulls you off your plan of study, and Ball State warns that students who leave the plan may wait two or three semesters for some courses to come around again. Before you sign a contract, set its dates against your clinical sequence; the grades and time limits guide covers the six-year clock for the master's.
Moving during the program: the seven-day notices
A move starts a short clock. Look up the new state before you sign a lease: Ball State's program pages warn that a student who relocates to a state not authorized for the master's program cannot move forward in it.
- Check the map before the moveLook up the new state for your exact program; the Office of State Authorizations asks students who move to confirm their program there.
- Update your address within 7 daysThe handbook gives you seven days after moving to update your address with Ball State.
- Email the Clinical Placement Coordinator within 7 daysSend your old and new state information in the same seven-day window.
- Upload updated licensure to ADBUpdated licensure documentation must be uploaded to American Data Bank and approved there. ADB can need 3 to 5 business days to approve it, and any hours logged while noncompliant must be done again.
- Rebuild the clinical planA new state means new agencies, a fresh affiliation agreement and possibly a clinical supervisor, which the handbook says students in certain states need.
The one day you come to Muncie
FNP students travel to Indiana once. Ball State's MS in Nursing page says all coursework is online except the FNP concentration's one 8-hour clinical day on the Muncie campus, and the FNP concentration page books those 8 hours inside NUR 681 Primary Care of the Adult 1. The MS FAQ still answers the campus question with only if you want to, which is out of date for FNP students.
The date and content of the campus day are not public, so book travel once your course faculty announce it. Certificate students have a separate step: the certificate application page lists a one-day on-campus orientation, while the certificate program page does not mention the NUR 681 day. For MS and DNP students, the application pages describe orientation as in person or on Zoom, while the handbook calls it virtual. The NUR 681 guide has the course detail.
State boards can add their own steps
Ball State's map is not the only gate. Some state boards of nursing regulate out-of-state programs whose students train inside their borders. Alaska's Board asks APRN students from programs based outside Alaska to register a preceptorship with it. Washington requires out-of-state distance programs to get approval from its board before placing students, and says approved placements are for Washington residents. Utah asks out-of-state programs to satisfy its Division and Board before placing students in its agencies.
Other boards set no such step. Kentucky's Board says out-of-state programs do not need its approval, even when they place students in Kentucky, and Ohio's code sets no approval or notice requirement. Indiana's Board reviews only pre-licensure programs. Each state guide covers that board's approach, and the license side is in the RN license guide.
Placement help that starts from your state
Your placement advisor begins with the map for your exact program, then searches for preceptors inside that state, checks each site against Ball State's excluded systems and any state board step, and confirms your license covers practice where the clinic sits. The site that reaches your course faculty already fits the residence rule, and a backup agency in the same state is checked the same way, as Ball State advises for every semester.
If a move or a travel contract is coming, tell us early, so the next course's preceptor is lined up in the right state before the semester opens and the seven-day notices are on your calendar. Request a placement with your current state and any planned move.
Questions Ball State students ask
Can I live in Indiana and do Ball State clinicals in Ohio?
For the MS in Nursing, the rule allows it in principle, since both states are authorized, provided your RN license covers practice in Ohio and your advisor and course faculty approve the site. Indiana and Ohio both belong to the Nurse Licensure Compact, which can simplify the license side if you hold a multistate license.
What happens if I move to a state where Ball State is not authorized?
Ball State's program pages say you will be unable to progress in the program. Check the State Authorization Map before you commit to the move, report any move to the Clinical Placement Coordinator within seven days, and talk with your advisor about your options if the move is temporary.
Can I take a travel nursing contract in Texas during Ball State's FNP program?
Ball State's map lists Texas as Not Authorized for the MS in Nursing, so the handbook requires a leave of absence for the length of the contract, capped at two consecutive semesters. Working it while enrolled risks immediate withdrawal from all nursing courses. A contract in an authorized state keeps you enrolled and on your plan.
Do Ball State post-master's FNP certificate students have to live in Indiana or Ohio?
The Graduate Nursing Handbook 2025-26 says so, but Ball State's application page lists eight states and its State Authorization Map lists nine, adding Washington. Because the sources conflict, get written confirmation from Ball State's Office of State Authorizations or admissions before applying from any state other than Indiana or Ohio.
When is the Ball State FNP campus day in Muncie?
Ball State does not publish the date. The day sits inside NUR 681 Primary Care of the Adult 1 as 8 of the course's 120 clinical hours, and your course faculty share the details. Budget time and travel for one trip to Muncie during that course.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against Ball State's own catalog, graduate handbook, program pages and State Authorization Map, and Indiana rules. Your course faculty, your advisor and the Graduate Clinical Placement Coordinator have the final word.
Ball State asks you to find your preceptor. We find one near you.
Tell us your Ball State track, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course, confirm the practice will sign Ball State's affiliation agreement, and line up a backup, so the School of Nursing can clear the site before the semester.
- Preceptors matched to the course: pediatrics for
NUR 682, women's health forNUR 684, adult primary care forNUR 681andNUR 683 - Outside your own unit or clinic, in a state where Ball State's program is authorized
- Across Indiana, from Muncie to Evansville, and in the other states Ball State accepts
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.