Colorado and CUW: NP clinicals in a state every graduate table lists
Colorado sits under "Meets Requirements" in all five of Concordia University Wisconsin's graduate NP tables, and the board's program-approval rule is about first-license programs, not online graduate ones. What shapes a Colorado search is full practice with a mentoring clause for new prescribers, a Front Range thick with large systems, and a rural preceptor tax credit tied to Colorado schools.
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Tell us your CUW program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
What CUW's disclosure says for Colorado
Colorado is one of the 23 states on which all five graduate tables agree, and the RN to BSN table lists it as meeting as well.
| CUW program (disclosure label) | CUW's answer for Colorado |
|---|---|
| Master of Science in Nursing - Primary Care Nurse Practitioner | Meets |
| Doctor of Nursing Practice - Post BSN to DNP Program | Meets |
| Doctor of Nursing Practice - Post MSN to DNP Program | Meets |
| Certificate After Graduate Education in Nursing (CAGE) (FNP/AGPCNP) | Meets |
| Certificate After Graduate Education in Nursing (CAGE) (PMH NP) | Meets |
| MSN PMHNP and PMHNP DNP | Not in the table |
Its borders are mixed. Wyoming, Utah, Kansas and New Mexico also meet in every graduate table, while Nebraska, Oklahoma and Arizona fall under "Does Not Meet," which matters if you live near a line and eye a site across it. PMHNP MSN and PMHNP DNP students have no row to read, so confirm Colorado with CUW first. The whole map is on the CUW licensure disclosure page.
Colorado's board and programs based elsewhere
Housed in the state's Division of Professions and Occupations, Colorado's nursing board approves the kind of program that turns a student into a new RN or LPN. That is how Rule 1.2 of 3 CCR 716-1 frames the programs it oversees, and the rule sets no filing or notice step for a Wisconsin graduate program whose students train in Colorado. The board's website was out of reach when we researched this, so any added guidance there went unreviewed; the Graduate Clinical Coordinator can confirm.
A Colorado student permit exists, but it is meant for people finishing nontraditional out-of-state programs that lacked faculty-supervised clinicals, who then need Colorado hours to get licensed. You are already a licensed RN, so it does not fit a CUW NP student. Each practice does need a clinical contract with CUW.
Full practice with a mentoring clause
Colorado is full practice by AANP's count, with a catch for new prescribers: as a condition of prescriptive authority, an NP attests to 750 hours of practice while in a mentorship agreement with either a physician or an APRN. Those hours come after licensure and are separate from the 750 clinical hours in CUW's FNP and AGPCNP master's. Ask any Colorado NP you approach whether that mentorship is behind them; CUW's archived 2022 FAQ expected two years of clinical experience from preceptors regardless, and the current bar is on who can precept a CUW student.
Colorado's large systems include UCHealth, Denver Health, HCA HealthONE, Intermountain Health, whose Saint Joseph Hospital is in Denver, and CommonSpirit Health's Colorado hospitals. The Denver-Aurora-Centennial metro is by far the largest place to search, with Colorado Springs to the south and the Fort Collins-Loveland and Greeley metros to the north. Each system runs its own student intake.
The rural preceptor credit, and your license
Colorado offers a state income tax credit for rural and frontier preceptors who teach without pay in shortage areas, and advanced practice nurses can claim it. Since HB22-1005 in 2022, only preceptors of students from accredited Colorado institutions can claim it, which appears to leave out a preceptor teaching a CUW student.
Multistate RN licenses have been valid in Colorado since January 19, 2018, the same start Wisconsin had, so one compact license covers RN work in both. No APRN Compact law has passed in Colorado. CUW asks you to keep your RN license unencumbered throughout; more is under your RN license for clinicals.
Why Colorado CUW students choose us
Colorado students choose us for searches that reach past the busiest Denver clinics. Your placement advisor maps primary care practices from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins, and farther out when you live in a rural county, checks each NP preceptor's experience against CUW's standards, and gathers license, certification and site details before the file goes to CUW's graduate faculty. All three clinical courses get planned together, with an early flag on any practice that needs a new CUW contract. Tell us your program and county on the contact form.
Questions CUW students ask
Is CUW's online AGPCNP available to Colorado nurses?
By CUW's disclosure, yes. The MSN primary care NP table, home to the AGPCNP and FNP tracks, lists Colorado as meeting requirements, as do both DNPs and both certificates. Under CUW's model you still recruit Colorado preceptors yourself, graduate faculty sign off on them, and a contract precedes patient care.
Does Colorado need to approve CUW before I start clinicals?
Colorado's approval rule is aimed at basic programs that produce new RNs and LPNs, and it gives an out-of-state graduate program no filing duty when its students train there. The board's broader guidance could not be reviewed, so ask the Graduate Clinical Coordinator to confirm before your first clinical term.
Will my Colorado preceptor get the rural preceptor tax credit?
Unlikely. HB22-1005 made the student's enrollment at an accredited Colorado college or university a condition of the credit, and CUW is in Wisconsin. The credit is limited to rural and frontier shortage areas too. A preceptor with questions should ask the Colorado Department of Revenue.
Is Colorado's 750-hour NP requirement the same as CUW's 750 clinical hours?
No. CUW's 750 hours are supervised clinical hours inside the FNP or AGPCNP master's. Colorado's 750 hours come after licensure, when a new NP attests to that much experience under a physician or APRN mentor agreement as a condition of prescriptive authority. The second applies only if you graduate and practice in Colorado.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against CUW's own academic catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your course faculty and the Graduate Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
CUW asks you to secure your preceptors. We make the search the easy part.
Tell us your CUW track, your city and your next clinical course. We line up preceptors who fit the NURS course, gather the license, board certification and site details CUW's graduate faculty review, and flag early whether the site needs a new clinical contract.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP and AGPCNP, mental health settings for PMHNP, an agency mentor for DNP projects
- Preceptor license, certification, CV and site details ready for CUW's approval
- All three clinical courses planned together, close to home in a state CUW's disclosure lists for your program
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