Colorado APRN practice, and what it means for your preceptor
Colorado lets a new APRN prescribe under provisional authority while finishing a 750-hour mentorship, cut from 1,000 hours in 2020. That rule, the Nurse Licensure Compact and the state's rural preceptor tax credit shape which Colorado clinicians can precept a UCCS NP student.
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Who sets the rules for Colorado APRNs
Advanced practice nursing in Colorado answers to the Colorado State Board of Nursing, which sits in the Division of Professions and Occupations inside the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA). The Board keeps the Advanced Practice Registry, and a listing there is one of the conditions an APRN meets before gaining prescriptive authority.
The Nurse Practice Act runs on a sunset clock. HB20-1216 became law on June 30, 2020, took effect the next day, and continued the Board's regulation until September 1, 2027. The Board's own page says the Colorado Office of Policy, Research and Regulatory Reform is conducting a sunset review of the Board now, so the 2027 legislative session could reshape APRN rules. Check the Board's site before you rely on any figure on this page.
Provisional prescriptive authority and the 750-hour mentorship
A newly certified Colorado APRN starts with Provisional Prescriptive Authority, which the Board abbreviates RXN-P. Board Rule 3 CCR 716-1.15 lists what the application needs:
- The graduate degree or post-graduate certificate that fits the APRN role
- At least three graduate semester hours each in pathophysiology, pharmacology and physical assessment
- National certification and professional liability insurance
- A listing on the Advanced Practice Registry
- At least three years of combined clinical work as a professional nurse, an APRN or both
- An attestation that the chosen mentor qualifies
Provisional authority already allows prescribing, including schedule II to V controlled substances once the APRN holds a DEA registration. Within three years the RXN-P holder must complete a 750-hour mentorship with a physician or an APRN who holds Full Prescriptive Authority in Colorado, or the provisional authority expires. Before the mentorship starts, the Board receives documentation showing it is sufficiently structured, and the written Mentorship Agreement is kept for three years.
Hours without the mentor do not count, and email does not meet the rule's definition of synchronous communication. A mentor may not demand payment or a job in return, only reasonable expenses. An APRN arriving with prescriptive authority from another state and at least 750 documented hours may apply for full authority directly.
Older guides still quote a 1,000-hour mentorship. HB20-1216 lowered it to 750 hours and dropped the articulated plan requirement.
Why a newly licensed Colorado NP may not fit UCCS's standard yet
UCCS asks every NP preceptor on the FNP and AGNP tracks to be nationally certified, to hold full prescriptive authority and to bring two years of experience. PMHNP preceptors must also have full prescriptive authority. A Colorado NP still inside the provisional period has not reached full authority, so a recent graduate who is eager to help you may not qualify until the mentorship is signed off.
Ask two questions at the first conversation: when did your prescriptive authority become full, and how long have you practiced in your current role? Physicians, DOs and PAs licensed in Colorado can also precept FNP and AGNP students, which widens the pool. The full standard is on UCCS preceptor requirements, and psychiatric tracks follow the PMHNP preceptor rules. The Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator decides any borderline case.
Full practice, the compact and your RN license
AANP groups Colorado with the full practice states. No official Colorado page found for this guide uses the words "full practice," so the rule text above is the more exact description.
Colorado's participation in the Nurse Licensure Compact took effect January 19, 2018. UCCS's practicum handbook ties out-of-state hours to it: with approval from the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator, you may do hours in another state on the college's list, holding a multistate license if that state is in the compact or an active RN license from that state if it is not. RN licenses for UCCS clinicals works through the cases.
The separate APRN Compact is another matter. Colorado has not enacted it, judging by the legislature's bill records and NCSBN's announcements, so APRN licensure and prescriptive authority after graduation stay state by state.
The Rural and Frontier Health Care Preceptor Tax Credit
Colorado encourages clinicians in rural and frontier areas to teach through a state income tax credit for preceptors. HB16-1142 created it. HB22-1005, signed June 1, 2022, carried it through tax years that begin before January 1, 2033, let nonconsecutive days count toward a preceptorship, and broadened who qualifies: registered nurses and several behavioral health professions now sit alongside physicians and advanced practice nurses. HB24-1036 revised the credit again in 2024.
On the student side, HB22-1005 speaks of students "matriculating at any accredited Colorado institution of higher education." UCCS is an accredited Colorado university, so a rural or frontier Colorado preceptor teaching a UCCS student appears to fit that wording. UCCS links to the credit from its Preceptor Information page, where it is presented as a state program rather than a UCCS benefit.
The Colorado Department of Revenue publishes a page for the credit. A preceptor confirms the current terms, whether their practice location qualifies and how to claim there before counting on it.
Preceptor support in Colorado, and how we put it to work
The Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence offers Preceptor 101 (January 15 to 29, 2027) and Preceptor 201 (February 9 to 23, 2027), plus a three-part virtual course for APRN preceptors with a psychiatric focus. UCCS adds documentation of precepted hours, library access and networking with faculty; the page for preceptors has the details.
When we approach a Colorado clinician for you, we lead with what they need to hear: whether they meet UCCS's full prescriptive authority and two-year standards, what UCCS offers its preceptors, and, for rural and frontier practices, that the state credit exists. Then we collect the credentials, license, certification, site details and exact hours your Clinical Site Sheet needs, so the Affiliation Agreement starts early. See options across Colorado or send us your course.
Questions UCCS students ask
Is the Colorado prescriptive authority mentorship 1,000 hours or 750 hours?
It is 750 hours. HB20-1216, effective July 1, 2020, cut the requirement from 1,000 hours and said the number should not drop again before the next sunset review. Board Rule 3 CCR 716-1.15 gives an APRN with provisional authority three years to log the 750 hours with a physician or an APRN holding full prescriptive authority.
Can a Colorado NP with provisional prescriptive authority precept a UCCS student?
UCCS asks for NP preceptors who are nationally certified with full prescriptive authority, and provisional authority is a step short of that. A Colorado NP still completing the mentorship therefore does not meet UCCS's standard until it is finished. Physicians, DOs and PAs are other options for FNP and AGNP students. Send any unclear case to the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator, who rules on site and preceptor suitability.
Does the rural preceptor tax credit cover preceptors outside Colorado?
No. It is a Colorado income tax credit tied to precepting in rural and frontier areas of Colorado. A UCCS student doing hours in Wyoming, Arizona or another approved state would look to that state's own programs, if it has any. Inside Colorado, whether a practice location counts as rural or frontier is something the preceptor confirms with the Colorado Department of Revenue.
Does the Nurse Licensure Compact let me do UCCS hours outside Colorado?
Only inside UCCS's rules. Hours outside your state of residence need approval from the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator and must fall in a state on the college's list. In a compact state you hold a multistate license; in a state outside the compact, such as Alaska or Nevada, you hold that state's active RN license. Colorado has belonged to the compact since January 19, 2018.
Has Colorado joined the APRN Compact?
Not according to the records checked for this guide. No Colorado bill enacting it appears on the legislature's site, and NCSBN's announcements name other enacting states. The compact needs seven states before it operates, so plan on applying separately in each state where you want APRN licensure after you graduate.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against UCCS's catalog, practicum handbooks and college pages. Your degree plan, the handbook for your cohort and the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator have the final word.
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