Colorado and UTA nursing: open, with one question to settle first
UTA's live state map lists Colorado for every UTA nursing program except the Texas-only BSN, NP tracks and DNP included. Older UTA documents left Colorado off, so get written confirmation for your track before you recruit a preceptor.
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Tell us your UTA track and where you live. A placement advisor replies with what a UTA-ready preceptor and site look like for you.
What UTA's map shows for a Colorado address
Your MyMav mailing address is what UTA uses to decide which state you're in. For a Colorado address, the NP and DNP rows carry a caveat.
| Program | Colorado on UTA's map? | Clinical component |
|---|---|---|
| MSN NP tracks and post-master's NP certificates | Listed now; missing from 2020–2021 UTA lists | 720 hours per track with preceptors you recruit |
| DNP | Listed now; missing from 2020–2021 UTA lists | A DNP project site in place of a preceptor, with practice hours adding up to 1,000 post-baccalaureate |
| MSN Nursing Education | Listed | NURS 5362, 135 precepted hours with a nursing education preceptor |
| MSN Nursing Administration | Listed | 270 practicum hours across NURS 5339 through NURS 5342, working with nurse leaders |
| RN-to-BSN | Listed | Assignments done at your job (NURS 3315, NURS 4455) and in your community (NURS 3325, NURS 4465) |
| BSN, prelicensure | Not listed | Texas only |
Why Colorado needs a written yes
Colorado is the one state on UTA's NP and DNP list that older UTA documents leave out. A January 2021 archive of UTA's earlier state-authorization page named six NP and DNP states without it, and UTA's downloadable state table, marked “Revision: July 2020” inside, gives Colorado an “X”, meaning no determination, for every NP track. No UTA document we found says when Colorado joined the list, or why.
The live map is the newest source we found, and it lists Colorado. Still, email NursingSOA@uta.edu with your track and Colorado address before you start outreach, and keep the reply with your placement file. The full comparison is on out-of-state clinicals.
Before a Colorado preceptor signs anything, have NursingSOA@uta.edu confirm Colorado for your specific track in writing.
Full practice with a 750-hour condition
Colorado sits in AANP's full-practice column. The one string attached concerns prescribing: 750 hours of experience, logged under a physician or APRN mentor's agreement, must be attested before an NP gets prescriptive authority. Compare Texas, where AANP's restricted category means career-long physician supervision, delegation or team management.
For your search, check how long a candidate has practiced in role. UTA's minimum, a year in the specialty role with an active, unencumbered provider license, is a separate test from Colorado's 750 hours, and the license types each course accepts are listed in Exxat rather than on UTA's public pages. See UTA preceptor requirements.
Colorado's rules for out-of-state programs
The Colorado State Board of Nursing sits in the Department of Regulatory Agencies' Division of Professions and Occupations. The Board's program-approval rule, 3 CCR 716-1 Rule 1.2, confines the term nursing education program to basic study toward a first RN or LPN license, and nothing in it makes out-of-state RN-to-BSN or graduate programs seek approval from, or give notice to, the Board ahead of Colorado placements.
One caveat: the Board's website couldn't be loaded during our research, so guidance outside the rules wasn't checked.
The preceptor tax credit, and why it likely skips UTA
If a preceptor works unpaid in a rural or frontier shortage area, Colorado's Rural and Frontier Health Care Preceptor Tax Credit lets that preceptor reduce state income tax. HB22-1005 opened it to registered nurses and other licensed professionals precepting in outpatient settings, ran it through tax years beginning before January 1, 2033, and restricted qualifying students to accredited Colorado colleges and universities.
A preceptor who takes a UTA student does not appear to qualify, so leave the credit out of your ask. A preceptor curious about it can check with the Colorado Department of Revenue.
Licensing and where Colorado students look
January 19, 2018 is Colorado's enhanced-compact implementation date, and Texas or any other compact home state can issue the multistate license that covers your clinicals here. Hold only a single-state, non-compact license and UTA's handbook has you obtain a Colorado license first, at your own expense. Colorado has no APRN Compact law. See RN licensing for clinicals.
Denver–Aurora–Centennial led the 2025 metro counts with 3,092,037 people, followed by Colorado Springs at 781,796, Greeley at 378,426 and Fort Collins–Loveland at 377,292. Denver Health, UCHealth, CommonSpirit Health, HCA HealthONE and Intermountain Health's Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver are systems to know there, as examples of site types. RN-to-BSN community work points to the state agency, Colorado's Department of Public Health and Environment.
Why Colorado students choose us
Colorado is one of seven states where UTA opens its NP tracks and DNP, and we build every search around UTA's rules. With UTA's written yes, a placement advisor looks for an in-person preceptor and site near home, vets license and year in role first, and prepares the CV, license verification and agreement forms so your Clinical Coordinator reviews a complete file. If a preceptor drops, the search restarts. Ask about your track.
Questions UTA students ask
Can I start UTA's FNP program with a Colorado address?
UTA's live map lists Colorado for the NP tracks, FNP included, and uses your MyMav mailing address to place you. UTA lists from 2020 and 2021 left Colorado off, and we found no explanation of the change, so email NursingSOA@uta.edu to confirm your track before you enroll or recruit. Treat that written reply as the answer that counts.
Do UCHealth or Denver Health take UTA NP students?
That depends on UTA's agreements. Both appear in our research as major Colorado systems, not confirmed UTA sites, and UTA needs an affiliation agreement with an agency before your clinicals there. Ask your Clinical Coordinator whether one exists before a preceptor at either starts paperwork.
Is a Colorado student permit required for my clinicals?
Not based on the Board's rules. Colorado issues that permit to nontraditional-program students and graduates from out of state whose programs lack a faculty-supervised clinical component and who require Colorado hours for licensure. UTA's clinical courses are faculty-supervised, and as an RN you practice in clinicals on your own license, which has to be valid in Colorado.
Could I do clinicals in New Mexico while living in Colorado?
New Mexico is also on UTA's NP and DNP list and is a compact state, so it's possible in principle. UTA's handbook asks you to email NursingSOA@uta.edu before seeking a preceptor in another state. New Mexico also has a board rule on out-of-state clinical placements longer than one semester, so raise it in the same email.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-23
We check these pages against UTA's own sources. UTA's current handbook and your course faculty have the final word.
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