Ball State nursing programs and the clinical hours inside them
Each Ball State track with clinical hours has its own guide: the online MS in Nursing with its Family Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Educator and Leadership and Management concentrations, the post-master's FNP certificate, the RN-to-MS option, the DNP with its three cognates, and the on-campus BSN. Every guide covers the plan, the clinical courses in order and the preceptor each stage calls for.
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 FNP sequence, three ways in
Family practice is Ball State's only nurse practitioner specialty, reached through the MS in Nursing, the post-master's certificate or the DNP's FNP cognate. The master's route runs six clinical courses, NUR 634 and NUR 681 to NUR 684, then the NUR 673 practicum, for 690 hours. Certificate students take the courses their earlier degree has not covered, and DNP students add doctoral practice hours on top.
Educator and leadership students have one long practicum, NUR 672, supervised by a master's- or doctoral-prepared nurse. The clinical hours planner sets every route side by side.
Family nurse practitioner
Other master's
Questions Ball State students ask
Which Ball State programs need a preceptor?
Every FNP route, meaning the MS in Nursing, the post-master's certificate and the DNP's FNP cognate, plus the NUR 672 practicum in the Nurse Educator and Leadership and Management concentrations. BSN students train at agencies the School of Nursing arranges.
Does Ball State offer a PMHNP or acute care NP track?
No. Family Nurse Practitioner is Ball State's only nurse practitioner specialty, offered through the MS in Nursing, the post-master's certificate and the DNP.
Are Ball State's graduate nursing programs online?
Yes. Ball State says its graduate nursing programs are offered only online. FNP students still come to the Muncie campus for one 8-hour clinical day in NUR 681, and clinical hours happen near where they live.
Can I start the DNP in any term?
Ball State's DNP admits for fall only; its program page lists August 23, 2027 as the next start. The MS in Nursing lists January 11, 2027 as its next start.
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.