Maine and UCCS: what a move west would involve

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

Living in Maine, you cannot currently enroll in UCCS's online NP or RN to BSN programs: each admits residents of named states, and Maine is absent from both lists. Relocate to a listed state and UCCS treats that state as home, with your clinical hours arranged there.

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UCCS nursing programs for Maine residents. MSN FNP, AGNP, PMHNP: not on the np list; RN to BSN (NURS 4450): not on the rn-bsn list; APRN disclosure: meets; If you move: 14 np states listed. RN license: in the compact. NP practice: full. — Maine and UCCS's programs: MSN FNP, AGNP, PMHNP: not on the np list; RN to BSN (NURS 4450): not on the rn-bsn list; APRN disclosure: meets; If you move: 14 np states listed. RN license in the compact; NP practice full (AANP).

Maine residents, option by option

UCCS reads residency as the place you physically live. Here is how that plays out across its programs.

UCCS programs and a Maine address
UCCS option	Can a Maine resident enroll?	Location of clinical hours
MSN: family, adult-gerontology or psychiatric NP	Not until you reside in one of the 14 NP states	Your new home state, with a preceptor you locate
RN to MSN bridge, then an NP track	Same residence rule	Your new home state
Post-Graduate NP Certificate	Same residence rule	Set up where you reside
DNP, post-BSN or post-master's	Needs an RN license from a state UCCS approves	NP clinicals, where included, follow the residence rule
RN to BSN	Maine is not among the 21 states	`NURS 4450` at a community site in your listed state

Your Maine license and scope of practice

Maine has sat inside the Nurse Licensure Compact since January 2018, though it has not enacted the separate APRN Compact. In AANP's terms Maine is a full-practice state with a caveat for new NPs: independence follows 24 months of oversight by a physician or NP, or the same stretch on staff where a physician serves as medical director of the hospital or clinic.

For a relocating nurse, the practical question is which license UCCS expects in the new state. Its handbooks point to a multistate license for hours in compact states and to that state's own RN license in Alaska, California or Nevada. The license guide sets out both paths.

Maine's board, programs from elsewhere and the health landscape

Research turned up no Maine State Board of Nursing guidance on outside schools placing students in Maine. Chapter 7, the Board's rule on education, deals only with approving prelicensure programs inside Maine, and the statute's exemption for students covers those on the path to an initial license in board-approved programs. None of it bears on UCCS, whose hours stay in its listed states.

Portland-South Portland, Bangor and Lewiston-Auburn hold most of Maine's metro population, and systems such as MaineHealth and Northern Light Health, as well as Central Maine Healthcare and MaineGeneral Health, employ much of its nursing workforce, with the Maine CDC leading public health. That experience is what you bring to UCCS; your preceptor, by UCCS rule, holds a license in the state that becomes your home.

Choosing a listed state to call home

UCCS's 14 NP states stretch from Florida and Texas through the Plains and the Mountain West to California and Alaska. Choose somewhere you plan to stay, since a move after admission can affect finishing the program or licensure in the next state.

Once you are there, UCCS's MSN page is plain that primary care hours are found by the student where they reside, and the handbooks suggest starting three to six months before the course. The self-search guide walks through how that usually unfolds.

How we help once you arrive

Relocating nurses often arrive with no local contacts, and that is where we are strongest. We identify preceptors near your new home who fit UCCS's credential rules and your course, confirm exact hours, and assemble everything the Clinical Site Sheet asks for so the college can open the Affiliation Agreement early. UCCS approves every site; our part is a submission that holds up on first review. Start with the contact page and your target state.

Questions UCCS students ask

Can I take UCCS's online AGNP track from Maine?

No. The adult-gerontology track shares the MSN's 14-state admission rule, and Maine is not on it. UCCS says applicants outside those states are ineligible for both admission and clinical placement. Once you live in a listed state you may apply as its resident; the decision rests with UCCS.

Is there a UCCS option anywhere in New England?

No New England state appears on either UCCS list. The closest listed state is New York, and only for the RN to BSN, where you would complete NURS 4450 at a community site near home. The NP programs' 14 states lie in the West, the Plains and the South.

Would UCCS's NP curriculum count if I come back to Maine?

UCCS's licensure disclosure says its curriculum meets APRN education requirements in Maine. That addresses coursework, not a licensing decision, so confirm with the Maine State Board of Nursing before planning a return. Our licensure disclosure guide explains how the disclosure differs from the admission list.

Do UCCS's listed states allow full NP practice, as Maine does?

Most do. AANP rates ten of UCCS's 14 NP states as full practice, Colorado among them, while California, Florida, Oklahoma and Texas are restricted. Maine reaches full practice after its 24-month transition, so read the rules of the state you choose before you commit to a move.

GuideUCCS programs by stateStudying with UCCS from your state? Fifty state guides: the 14-state rule for NP programs, the RN to BSN list, licenses, board rules and where hours happen.14 statesApproved statesWhich states UCCS nursing programs accept: 14 for the online NP programs, 21 for the RN to BSN, Colorado for the campus BSN, and what each state's board adds.DisclosureLicensure disclosure and SARAWhat UCCS's APRN licensure disclosure says, why Kansas is the exception, where SARA fits, and why the disclosure is not the list of states UCCS admits from.ResidencyMoving during the programHow UCCS treats a move mid-program: residency as physical location, the approved states, new preceptors and agreements, pauses, and NP licensure afterward.State guideNew HampshireUCCS admits online nursing students only from listed states, and New Hampshire is not one. Its rules, full NP practice, and what a move west changes.State guideMassachusettsMassachusetts is not on UCCS's admission lists. The state's pending compact, its out-of-state placement rule, and how UCCS clinicals run after a move.

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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