Illinois nurses and UCCS's state lists
Illinois sits outside every UCCS residency list, so neither the online NP tracks nor the RN to BSN is open from a Chicago, Rockford or Peoria address. Iowa, across the Mississippi, is on the RN to BSN list, while the NP tracks mean a longer move west. Either way, UCCS's find-your-own-preceptor model starts after the move.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your UCCS program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your UCCS course.
Illinois and UCCS: the admission picture
Your physical address decides which UCCS programs you can join. The NP list holds 14 states, the RN to BSN list 21, and Illinois is on neither, so a Chicago or Peoria nurse cannot enroll from home. UCCS rotations also stay inside listed states. The approved states guide prints both lists.
| UCCS program | From Illinois? | Where the hours go |
|---|---|---|
| MSN: FNP, AGNP or PMHNP; RN to MSN; Post-Graduate NP Certificate | No | In the listed state the student lives in |
| BSN to DNP; Post-Master's DNP | Requires an RN license from an approved state; ask UCCS | NP rotations near home; DNP hours at the project site |
RN to BSN (NURS 4450) | No, though neighboring Iowa is listed | A community site in the student's listed state |
| Traditional or Accelerated BSN | Only for Colorado residents or those moving there | Colorado sites UCCS assigns |
A non-compact state with its own filing rule
The Illinois Board of Nursing works within IDFPR. Illinois sits outside the Nurse Licensure Compact with nothing pending to bring it in, so its licenses are good in Illinois alone and outside multistate licenses carry no privilege there.
Illinois rule 1300.340(n) asks any school from another state that wants Illinois clinical placements for a packet with five parts:
- The executed contract it holds with each clinical facility
- Proof that its own state board approved or accredited it
- Its faculty qualification and preceptor forms
- A copy of the course syllabus
- A letter spelling out the time frame, agencies and units involved
Once granted, approval lasts two years and can be renewed, with a report due each year; faculty need Illinois RN licenses. Whether the rule reaches graduate programs is unsettled, and UCCS's list makes it moot for UCCS students.
How Illinois NPs practice, and a reward for precepting
AANP rates Illinois as reduced practice. In some settings an Illinois NP must hold a collaborative agreement with a physician; NPs who clear the state's practice and continuing education thresholds gain more room, though a consultative relationship is still required before they prescribe certain Schedule II medications or benzodiazepines.
Illinois rewards APRN preceptors too: each academic term spent precepting an APRN student earns continuing education credit toward license renewal, up to a cap each renewal period, documented by the student's school.
Chicago, Peoria, Rockford and the St. Louis side
About 8.7 million people live on the Illinois side of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro, with smaller hubs in Peoria and Rockford and roughly 672,000 more in the Illinois portion of greater St. Louis. Northwestern Medicine, OSF HealthCare, Advocate Health Care, UChicago Medicine and Endeavor Health are among the state's major systems.
Iowa for the RN to BSN, the West for NP study
Cross into Iowa, a compact state, and an Illinois RN becomes an Iowa resident in UCCS's eyes, able to seek a seat in the RN to BSN, whose NURS 4450 public health hours would then run through an Iowa community agency. NP study asks more: a residence in Colorado or another NP state. After either move, the search for a preceptor or agency is yours, UCCS contracts with the site, and hours begin once UCCS clears them; the Iowa guide and license guide fill in the details.
Why UCCS students choose us
Wherever you land on UCCS's list, your placement advisor hunts down a preceptor and practice that suit your course and your new commute. We compile the credentials, license, certification, signing authority and exact hours your Clinical Site Sheet needs, so it can go to the college early and complete, and if a preceptor cancels, a new search begins immediately.
Questions UCCS students ask
Can I apply to UCCS's online AGNP from Chicago?
No. Adult-gerontology applicants face the identical state test as every UCCS NP applicant, and Illinois does not pass it. Someone already settled in, say, Colorado applies from there, and UCCS alone decides admission. Lists get revised (Kansas appeared in 2023 and has since gone), so verify the present version with UCCS.
Would moving to Iowa open UCCS's NP programs to me?
No. For UCCS, Iowa is an RN to BSN state, not an NP state. The MSN, RN to MSN and Post-Graduate NP Certificate require residence in one of the 14 NP states, such as Colorado, Texas or Florida, before you apply.
Will my Illinois RN license work for clinicals after I move?
An Illinois license covers Illinois only. For rotations, UCCS wants a multistate credential where the compact applies and a license issued by the state itself where it does not, so expect to license in your new home state; its board and UCCS can confirm specifics.
Does UCCS's licensure disclosure list Illinois?
Yes. Illinois is one of the many states where UCCS's disclosure says its NP curriculum satisfies the education piece of APRN licensure, useful for a graduate who later comes home. The disclosure concerns coursework rather than admission, as the licensure disclosure guide explains. Confirm current requirements with IDFPR before applying for an Illinois license.
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.
UCCS asks you to find your clinical hours where you live. Let us run that search.
Tell us your UCCS track, your next clinical course and where you live. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the details your Clinical Site Sheet needs, early enough for the agreement to be signed before the semester.
- Preceptors matched to the course: pediatrics for
NURS 6900, acute and chronic care forNURS 6915andNURS 6925, psychiatric prescribers forNURS 6801toNURS 6803 - Credentials, license, certification and the site's signer ready for the Clinical Site Sheet
- In Colorado Springs, along the Front Range, or in any of UCCS's approved states
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