Ball State FNP clinicals in Missouri
Missouri is among the nine states where Ball State's map opens the post-master's FNP certificate, and the MS in Nursing is authorized as well; the DNP is not. Both of Missouri's biggest metros spill into neighboring states, and that matters, because Illinois and Kansas accept Ball State's MS but not its certificate.
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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.
Missouri on the State Authorization Map
Ball State's map records Missouri's nursing programs as shown here. The master's entry is shared by the FNP, Nurse Educator and Leadership and Management concentrations.
| Ball State program | Missouri status |
|---|---|
| MS in Nursing: Family Nurse Practitioner | Authorized |
| MS in Nursing: Nurse Educator | Authorized |
| MS in Nursing: Leadership and Management | Authorized |
| Post-Master's Certificate: FNP | Authorized on the map (other Ball State sources differ) |
| Doctor of Nursing Practice | Not authorized |
Ball State publishes no Missouri licensure determination for these programs; for that, it steers students to the Missouri State Board of Nursing. Residence and clinical hours both have to sit in an authorized state (state authorization).
The certificate: nine states on the map, two in the handbook
For a Missouri nurse who already holds a master's degree, the certificate is Ball State's shorter road to FNP eligibility, but three Ball State documents answer the Missouri question differently.
| Ball State source | States listed | Includes Missouri? |
|---|---|---|
| State Authorization Map (entry saved August 27, 2025) | Alaska, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Utah, Washington | Yes |
| Certificate application page | Indiana, Alaska, Connecticut, Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Utah | Yes |
| Graduate Nursing Handbook 2025-26 | Indiana and Ohio residents with an Indiana or Ohio RN license | No |
Before applying from Missouri, have admissions confirm that you can enroll and complete every clinical hour in the state. Hours run from 390 to 690 depending on your earlier master's, as the certificate guide lays out.
Collaborative practice and the preceptor you ask
AANP puts Missouri in its restricted category, the most limiting of its three: Missouri NPs work under a physician collaborative practice arrangement throughout their careers, plus rules on collaboration ratios, chart review and controlled-substance prescribing. A Missouri NP preceptor precepts from inside that arrangement.
Because Ball State shares its preceptor criteria with admitted students through Canvas rather than on the open web, run any Missouri preceptor past your course faculty before the agency is asked to sign.
St. Louis and Kansas City: two metros, two state lines
Counting Missouri residents only, 2025 Census estimates put the St. Louis metro near 2.14 million and the Kansas City metro near 1.33 million, with the Springfield and Columbia metros at roughly 501,000 and 219,000. Students weighing hospital systems tend to consider Mercy, CoxHealth, MU Health Care, SSM Health and BJC HealthCare, which each run students through their own channels.
Program decides which side of the line counts. Illinois and Kansas are authorized for the MS in Nursing, so an MS student may be able to train across either metro's state line with a license good there and advisor approval; Illinois also carries Ball State's Northwestern Memorial exclusion. Neither state is authorized for the certificate, so certificate students keep every hour in Missouri. Whichever side you train on, the FNP sequence needs four kinds of setting: adult primary care (NUR 681, NUR 683), pediatrics (NUR 682), women's health (NUR 684) and a family practice for NUR 673.
Board and license rules in Missouri
Our reading of Missouri's rules turned up no approval or notice step for a program based in another state. Chapter 20 CSR 2200-2 deals with programs the Missouri Board itself approves, and RSMo 335.081(6)(a) excuses supervised student practice in approved schools without saying how programs from other states fit. As a licensed RN, you train on your own license.
Missouri's compact statute, RSMo 335.360 and the sections after it, took effect July 20, 2017, and NCSBN's table puts implementation at January 19, 2018. A multistate license therefore covers Missouri practice. Keep it active and unencumbered, as Ball State's catalog requires; renewals and ADB uploads are on the RN license guide.
Why Missouri students work with us
Finding preceptors is the student's job at Ball State, with faculty stepping in when problems come up (finding your own preceptor). We check each Missouri site against your program's state list, so certificate students stay on the Missouri side, match the preceptor to your Ball State course and ready the affiliation agreement details ahead of Ball State's one-semester lead time, backup agency included. Request a Missouri placement.
Questions Ball State students ask
Can I get Ball State's DNP while living in Missouri?
No, not under the current map. Ball State's DNP entry names Indiana, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida and Georgia, and Missouri is not among them. From Missouri, the open doors are the MS in Nursing, in any of its three concentrations, and, once Ball State confirms eligibility, the FNP certificate.
If I move from St. Louis to the Illinois side, can I stay in the certificate?
Not as Ball State's map reads today. Illinois accepts Ball State's master's program, yet the certificate has no Illinois authorization, and Ball State's program pages end progress after relocation to a state outside your program's list. An MS student could continue from Illinois. Any move also starts the handbook's seven-day clock for emailing the Clinical Placement Coordinator.
Does Ball State exclude any Missouri health systems?
Missouri does not appear in Ball State's list of excluded clinical agencies. The practical limits in Missouri are each system's own student process and the signed Ball State affiliation agreement every site needs. If you train across the river in Illinois as an MS student, Ball State's Northwestern Memorial exclusion applies there.
How many clinical hours does a Missouri certificate student complete?
It depends on your first master's. If it prepared you as an adult or adult-gerontology NP, the list is short, NUR 682, NUR 684 and NUR 673, for 390 hours (450 when NUR 634 is added). Other master's graduates add the two adult courses, reaching 630 hours, or 690 with NUR 634. A transcript review sets your list.
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
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Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.