Minnesota residents and the University of Southern Indiana's online nursing programs
None of the University of Southern Indiana's online nursing programs accepts Minnesota residents: not the FNP, AGACNP or PMHNP tracks, not the certificates or doctorates, not the leadership MSNs, and not the RN-to-BSN. USI's table still says its APRN coursework meets Minnesota's standards. This guide serves USI students who might move to Minnesota, USI students in Wisconsin or Iowa near the border, and USI campus BSN graduates weighing a Minnesota RN job.
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Minnesota's cells in USI's table
USI's Professional Licensure Disclosure ("Updated Fall 2025") places MN in the "Enrollment Not Allowed for Residents of These States (due to State Nursing Regulations)" column on 15 of its 16 nursing rows. The on-campus BSN in Evansville is the lone exception, and Minnesota shares that all-rows status with New York, Oklahoma and Wyoming.
| Row in USI's table | Minnesota licensure cell | Minnesota residents |
|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP | Meets | Not allowed |
| Post-master's certificates (FNP, AGACNP, PMHNP) | Meets | Not allowed |
| BSN-to-DNP FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP | Meets | Not allowed |
| Post-MSN DNP (Advanced Nursing Practice) | Meets | Not allowed |
| BSN-to-DNP Organizational and Systems Leadership | Does not lead to licensure | Not allowed |
| MSN Nursing Education or Healthcare Systems Leadership | Does not lead to licensure | Not allowed |
| RN-to-BSN (online) | Does not lead to licensure | Not allowed |
| BSN (on campus in Evansville) | Meets | No state restriction |
Each APRN "Meets" there is USI grading its coursework against the Minnesota Board of Nursing's standards. Admission turns on the other column, where you live, and on that question Minnesota is closed across the board. Our full table guide shows how other states differ.
A Minnesota site means a Minnesota license
No compact membership and no pending bill to create one: that is Minnesota's licensing status, and it means the multistate license a Wisconsin or Iowa USI student carries stops working at the state line. On paper Minnesota is relaxed about visiting students: statute 148.271, subdivision 6, exempts a nurse licensed in another state who practices there only as part of a structured degree program, and board rule 6305.0300 honors programs their home state approved if the student's clinical instructor holds Minnesota RN licensure and current registration. The research shows no extra approval filing for schools from other states.
USI and Mayo are both stricter than the statute. USI's handbook has you licensed wherever you see patients as a student, full stop. Mayo Clinic's page for NP students lists four conditions: a signed affiliation with the student's school, a Minnesota nursing license in good standing and currently registered, a Minnesota DHS background study, and faculty of record who hold a license where the rotation takes place. The safe plan is a Minnesota RN license before any Minnesota site.
Practice rules, major systems and MERC
Minnesota earns AANP's full practice label, though new NPs there first spend 2,080 hours collaborating with a physician or APRN under a formal agreement, and USI's own preceptor standard applies on top. Mayo Clinic and M Health Fairview, along with Allina Health, HealthPartners and Essentia Health, serve St. Cloud, Duluth, Rochester and the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro, and two of those metros, the Twin Cities and Duluth, cross into Wisconsin. These show where Minnesota NP students search, not USI arrangements.
MERC, the state health department's Medical Education and Research Costs program, partly repays Minnesota clinical sites for accredited training, APRN trainees among them, but pays only when the school is Minnesota-based too. Hosting a USI student brings a Minnesota site no MERC money.
Who this page helps
A USI NP student with a job offer in Rochester or the Twin Cities runs into USI's relocation rule, since a Minnesota address would end the coursework; read relocating during the program and talk with the Program Chair and APRN Director before saying yes. USI campus BSN graduates hold a degree the table rates as meeting Minnesota's RN requirements, which helps with a Minnesota RN license but does not open USI's online programs to a Minnesota address.
FNP and PMHNP students near the border should know USI's telehealth rule follows the patient: a video visit with a Minnesota patient needs a Minnesota license even when you and your preceptor sit together in a Wisconsin clinic (telehealth clinical hours).
Why USI students near Minnesota choose us
USI students in Wisconsin and Iowa choose us because we build each search on USI's process and on the licensing map where they live. We look first in your home state, where your license already works, check Minnesota's license and site conditions before suggesting a practice across the state line, and deliver a complete Preceptor Packet for each of your three specialty semesters.
Questions USI students ask
Can a Minnesota nurse take USI's online RN-to-BSN?
No. The RN-to-BSN row lists Minnesota among its nine barred states, so even the bachelor's completion program is closed to a Minnesota address. The only USI nursing program with no state restriction is the on-campus BSN in Evansville, which is a prelicensure degree rather than a program for working RNs.
Does Minnesota's student exemption replace the RN license USI requires?
Not for USI. The exemption shields a visiting RN student from Minnesota's licensure law, but USI's handbook wants you licensed in each clinical state, and Mayo Clinic asks for a Minnesota license outright. The stricter standard is the one that decides your placement.
I live in Wisconsin. Could I do USI clinicals at Mayo Clinic in Rochester?
Mayo's conditions start with an affiliation agreement between Mayo and USI, then add a currently registered Minnesota license, a DHS background study and Minnesota-licensed faculty. Whether USI has signed with Mayo is not on its public pages, so the Graduate Clinical Liaison is the one to ask before you reach out.
Which of Minnesota's neighbors does USI enroll?
Wisconsin and Iowa residents can join the MSN NP tracks, the certificates and the BSN-to-DNP. South Dakota is open to the MSN NP tracks but closed to the certificates and the BSN-to-DNP APRN tracks, and North Dakota is closed to the MSN NP tracks and certificates. USI goes by where you actually live.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against USI's own bulletin, program pages and Graduate Nursing Handbook. Your handbook, course faculty and the Nursing Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
- University of Southern Indiana, Professional Licensure Disclosure (Updated Fall 2025)
- Minnesota Board of Nursing
- Minn. Stat. 148.271, exemptions from licensure
- Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, NP clinical education collaboration in Minnesota
- Minnesota Department of Health, Medical Education and Research Costs (MERC)
USI makes the search your job. We make it the easy part.
Tell us your USI track, your city and your next clinical semester. We find preceptors who fit the NRSG course and fill the Preceptor Packet and Clinical Education Agreement request with typed, complete details, well before USI's 6-week window.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family primary care for FNP, acute care teams for AGACNP, PMHNPs and psychiatrists for PMHNP
- Preceptor license, certification, years of practice and the site's agreement signer ready for the packet
- Fall, Spring and Summer planned together, close to home in a state USI enrolls
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