Ball State's State Authorization Map, program by program
Ball State's State Authorization Map decides where you can live and train as an online nursing student, and it treats each program separately. The MS in Nursing is authorized in 26 places counting Indiana and the District of Columbia, the Post-Master's Certificate FNP in 9 and the DNP in 6. Ball State publishes no state-by-state licensure findings, so the map settles enrollment, not licensure.
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.
One map, three nursing footprints
The State Authorization Map carries one entry per nursing credential. The Masters in Nursing entry covers all three concentrations, Family Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Educator and Leadership and Management, so they share a status in every state. The Doctorate of Nursing Practice entry covers the BS-DNP, the MS-DNP and every cognate. The Post-Master's Certificate FNP has an entry of its own.
Ball State gives no effective dates, but each entry records when it was last saved: the MS in Nursing in September 2025, the certificate in August 2025, and the DNP, created in September 2025, a few days after the MS. The post-master's Nurse Educator certificate appears in the catalog with no map entry at all, so ask the Office of State Authorizations before counting on any state for it.
Every graduate program then adds the same condition from the catalog: you live in, and complete all clinical hours in, a state where your program is authorized.
Where each program is authorized
These are the places marked Authorized for each graduate nursing entry, as the map read in September 2026.
| Program | Authorized places | Count |
|---|---|---|
| MS in Nursing (FNP, Nurse Educator, Leadership and Management) | Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming | 26 |
| Post-Master's Certificate FNP | Alaska, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Utah, Washington | 9 |
| DNP (all tracks and cognates) | Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana | 6 |
Everywhere else is Not Authorized. The MS in Nursing is closed in 25 states, among them California, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee, and 23 states have no Ball State graduate nursing program open at all. The certificate's list also conflicts with the Graduate Nursing Handbook, which still names only Indiana and Ohio; clinicals outside Indiana sets the versions side by side.
Patterns that catch students out
The three routes to FNP do not nest inside each other. A state that accepts the MS in Nursing may turn away the certificate and the DNP, and the DNP's short list includes two states the MS lacks.
- Delaware and Georgia: the DNP is authorized, while the MS in Nursing and the FNP certificate are not.
- Florida and Arkansas: the MS in Nursing and the DNP are authorized; the certificate is not.
- Ohio, Connecticut, Maine, Missouri, Oregon, Utah and Washington: the MS and the certificate are authorized; the DNP is not.
- Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky and 12 other places, the District of Columbia among them: only the MS in Nursing is authorized.
- Alaska and Indiana: all three graduate nursing programs are authorized.
The DNP entry is new, so its short list may reflect a program still collecting approvals; Ball State does not say. The map also keeps an RN to BS entry last saved in 2020, although that program no longer appears in the 2026-27 catalog.
SARA and the nursing exceptions
Ball State participates in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement, which lets it offer online education to residents of other member states without seeking each state's approval separately. The NC-SARA directory lists Ball State as a participant, not on provisional status. Ball State adds that it is authorized in California, which stays outside SARA, and that it accepts students from every state, DC and the territories.
Nursing is the exception to that broad answer. Ball State's Office of State Authorizations says that, because of state-specific licensing issues, it is not accepting online nursing students from all states, and it directs nursing students to the map. SARA settles whether Ball State may teach online across state lines; it does not settle professional licensure, and the program-by-state nursing decisions sit on top of it. The office does not say which state rule drives each exclusion, so the map is the answer rather than the explanation.
No state-by-state licensure findings
Ball State publishes no determination of whether its nursing programs meet, or fall short of, licensure requirements in any particular state. Its Professional Licensure page advises anyone planning to work outside Indiana to ask that state's licensing agency before starting a program that leads to licensure, and its State Licensing Offices page lists the boards to ask.
The MS FAQ comes closest, telling students to use the map to see whether they can earn and use the degree where they live, yet the map itself says only authorized. The FNP outcome Ball State names is eligibility for the ANCC or AANP certification exam, a national credential rather than a state license.
So ask your board two questions before you enroll: whether a graduate of an out-of-state online FNP program can be licensed there as a nurse practitioner, and whether the board has its own step for out-of-state students training in the state. The RN license guide covers the license you need during the program.
How to read the map
The map works well once you know which entry and which status words to trust.
- Pick a viewSearch by Program colors the country for one program; Search by State lists every online program for one state under its status.
- Choose the right entryMasters in Nursing for any MS concentration, Post-Master's Certificate in Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner for the certificate, Doctorate of Nursing Practice for any DNP track.
- Read the status wordAuthorized means the program is open there now. Not Authorized means it is not, and Pending means Ball State is pursuing authorization it does not yet hold.
- Check every addressYour home state and each state where you will log clinical hours must show Authorized for your program.
- Recheck before any changeBall State asks online students to check regularly and to return to the map after a move. The map's Learn more links for the MS and the DNP point to retired pages, so use the program pages for details.
Placement help inside the authorized states
Once the map says yes, the preceptor search begins. Your placement advisor works only inside the states authorized for your program, screens out the health systems Ball State will not use there, and lines up a site that fits the exact Ball State course, with the affiliation agreement paperwork ready about a semester ahead and a backup agency in the same state.
If a move or a travel contract could change your state mid-program, we check the destination on the map for your exact program before the search starts, so no semester goes to a site you could not use. Students in any of the 25 places outside Indiana can read their own state's guide on the states page, then request a placement with the program and course they need next.
Questions Ball State students ask
Is Ball State's online FNP available in Texas?
No. Texas is Not Authorized for Ball State's MS in Nursing, the Post-Master's Certificate FNP and the DNP on the State Authorization Map, so a Texas resident cannot enroll in those programs and a current student cannot train there. The Office of State Authorizations is the place to ask about future changes.
Why does Ball State allow the DNP in Georgia but not the MS in Nursing?
Ball State's map authorizes the DNP in Georgia and Delaware while listing the MS in Nursing as Not Authorized in both, and it does not explain the difference. The Office of State Authorizations attributes nursing exclusions in general to state-specific licensing issues, so ask that office about your own case.
Does SARA mean Ball State can enroll nursing students from any state?
No. SARA covers Ball State's authorization to offer online education across member states, and for most programs Ball State accepts students everywhere. Nursing is handled separately: the map lists each nursing program state by state, and Ball State says licensing issues keep it from accepting online nursing students from all states.
Does an Authorized status mean I can get licensed in that state?
Not by itself. Authorized means Ball State offers the program to residents of that state. Ball State publishes no licensure determinations and advises asking the state's licensing agency before you start, so ask your board whether it licenses graduates of out-of-state online FNP programs.
What does Pending mean on Ball State's map?
Ball State defines Pending as not yet authorized by that state while Ball State pursues authorization, so for enrollment it works like Not Authorized. No graduate nursing program shows Pending anywhere today; the only Pending nursing entry is the RN to BS in the District of Columbia.
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.