North Dakota residents and USI nursing: closed rows and a contradictory table

Updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the Southern Indiana Preceptor placement team

The University of Southern Indiana's Professional Licensure Disclosure ("Updated Fall 2025") closes its online MSN nurse practitioner tracks and post-master's certificates to North Dakota residents. The DNP rows break down: the state is missing from their ban lists yet sits under both "Meets" and "Does Not Meet," so treat them as closed until USI says otherwise in writing.

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6USI nursing rows that bar North Dakota residents

5DNP rows listing North Dakota as both meeting and not meeting

USI licensure disclosure (updated Fall 2025) for North Dakota: MSN nurse practitioner tracks residents not enrolled; post-master's certificates residents not enrolled; BSN-to-DNP NP tracks ask usi (table unclear). An RN license in the state is needed for clinicals there. RN license: in the compact. — North Dakota on USI's licensure disclosure (Fall 2025): MSN NP tracks residents not enrolled; certificates residents not enrolled; BSN-to-DNP ask usi (table unclear); RN license in the compact; NP practice full (AANP).

Where North Dakota stands on each USI row

USI files North Dakota under "Enrollment Not Allowed for Residents of These States (due to State Nursing Regulations)" for six rows: the MSN FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP, and the post-master's certificates in those three specialties. The other online rows leave the state off.

USI Professional Licensure Disclosure, North Dakota cells (Updated Fall 2025)
USI program	Curriculum vs. North Dakota rules	North Dakota residents
MSN FNP, AGACNP, PMHNP	Meets	Enrollment not allowed
Post-master's certificates (FNP, AGACNP, PMHNP)	Meets	Enrollment not allowed
BSN-to-DNP NP and CNS tracks, post-MSN DNP	Both meets and does not meet	Not on the ban list (conflict)
BSN-to-DNP Organizational and Systems Leadership	No licensure	Not on the ban list
MSN Nursing Education or Healthcare Systems Leadership	No licensure	Not on the ban list
RN-to-BSN (online)	No license	Not on the ban list
BSN (on campus)	Meets	No residency limit

A "Meets" beside a ban is not a slip: the coursework would satisfy North Dakota's educational standard, but residents still cannot enroll. For admission, the ban column decides.

The DNP cells to settle with USI first

Five DNP rows that lead to APRN licensure, the post-MSN Advanced Nursing Practice DNP plus the BSN-to-DNP FNP, AGACNP, PMHNP and Clinical Nurse Specialist tracks, put North Dakota in "Meets Requirements" and in "Does Not Meet Requirements" at once. None of their ban lists name the state.

Read that silence as a question, not a door. USI's admission page rules out applicants living where USI does not meet licensure requirements, which is what one of the two North Dakota DNP cells says, and the MSN versions of the same specialties are closed outright. Assume the DNP nurse practitioner tracks are unavailable unless the graduate nursing program confirms otherwise in writing (the CNS track closed to newcomers as of Summer 2026). The table's other conflicts are on the licensure disclosure page.

Bismarck's paperwork for out-of-state programs

North Dakota's Board of Nursing grants distance education recognition to programs with tracks ending in LPN, RN or APRN licensure. Each program applies 60 days ahead, renews yearly, and before every semester sends a roster of student licenses, facilities, courses, preceptor and faculty credentials, affiliation agreements and each facility's sign-off on space. RN-to-BSN work is not described as covered.

Statute (NDCC 43-12.1-04(12)) lets students of a recognized program practice once the Board has written notice, and recognition rests on NC-SARA membership or State Board of Higher Education authorization. USI is an NC-SARA member, but its North Dakota recognition status is not published, so a USI MSN student in South Dakota or Montana with a North Dakota preceptor in mind should ask the Graduate Clinical Liaison first.

Nurse practitioners in North Dakota hold full practice authority. NP students there tend to approach Sanford Health in Fargo and Bismarck, CHI St. Alexius in Bismarck, Altru in Grand Forks, Trinity Health up in Minot, or Essentia's Fargo clinics. Fargo and Grand Forks spill into Minnesota, also closed to USI's MSN NP rows.

Your license on the North Dakota side

Wherever a USI clinical happens, you need an RN license in good standing on that side of the border. North Dakota joined the Nurse Licensure Compact at its 2018 start, so a home-state multistate license reaches it, and it is one of five states to enact the APRN Compact, which stays dormant until a seventh signs. FNP and PMHNP telehealth hours follow the patient's location; see telehealth clinical hours.

Who this page helps, and where we come in

North Dakota residents can weigh the rows that leave the state off: the online RN-to-BSN, both leadership MSNs and the leadership-track BSN-to-DNP. USI students thinking of moving north should read relocating during the program, because leaving USI's recognized states brings "inability to continue in coursework" for anyone not on active military duty. And if you finished USI's campus BSN, the same table says that degree satisfies North Dakota's RN licensure rules.

For USI students living where USI enrolls, our placement desk builds the search around your exact course, gathers every detail USI's Preceptor Packet needs, and treats the Fall, Spring and Summer rotations as one sequence. Reach the desk with your program and home state.

Questions USI students ask

Can a North Dakota resident enroll in USI's online FNP program?

Not in the MSN or the post-master's certificate; the Fall 2025 table closes both to North Dakota residents. The BSN-to-DNP FNP row lists North Dakota under both meets and does not meet, so treat it as closed unless USI confirms otherwise in writing.

I live in South Dakota. Could my USI rotation be across the line in North Dakota?

Only if USI can place students there under North Dakota's recognition process, and USI publishes nothing either way. Ask the Graduate Clinical Liaison before contacting a North Dakota preceptor. South Dakota residents are open to USI's MSN NP rows, though not to the certificate programs or the doctoral NP routes.

What happens if I move to North Dakota partway through USI's MSN?

USI's MSN NP tracks are closed to North Dakota residents, and relocating somewhere USI's graduate program does not recognize halts your progress unless you serve on active military duty. Put the Program Chair and APRN Director on notice before any lease is signed.

Can North Dakota residents take USI's online RN-to-BSN?

Yes, on the Fall 2025 table, which leaves North Dakota off the RN-to-BSN ban. Its practice experiences happen at sites you choose near home, supervised by an RN with six months or more in the field.

GuideUSI clinicals by stateDoing USI clinicals outside Indiana? Fifty state guides: USI's licensure table and enrollment limits, RN license needs and how NP precepting works there.StatesLicensure disclosure by stateUSI's nursing licensure table read program by program: which residents may not enroll, where the curriculum meets state rules, and its MA, ND and CO conflicts.MovingRelocating during the programMoving mid-program as a USI nursing student: the recognized-states rule, notifying the Program Chair and APRN Director, RN licenses and new clinical paperwork.LicensureRN license for clinicalsUSI requires an unencumbered RN license in every state where you do clinicals. How the nurse compact, telehealth and a move to another state shape your plan.Split stateSouth DakotaSouth Dakotans can join USI's MSN NP tracks but not its post-master's certificates or BSN-to-DNP APRN tracks. The split, SD clinical rules and licensing.State guideMinnesotaMinnesota is on every USI online nursing ban list, NP tracks and RN-to-BSN alike. What the table says, Minnesota's license rules and who this guide helps.

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.

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