Pennsylvania Nurses: What UCCS's Residency Lists Mean for You

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

UCCS takes online nursing students from listed states only, and Pennsylvania is not one of them, so its NP programs and RN to BSN stay closed while you live in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh or Harrisburg. Ohio and New York, both on the border, are open for the RN to BSN. For the NP side, the path runs through a move to one of 14 states.

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2physicians a Pennsylvania NP must hold collaborative agreements with in order to prescribe

UCCS nursing programs for Pennsylvania 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: reduced. — Pennsylvania 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 reduced (AANP).

A Pennsylvania address and UCCS's programs

Physical residence decides eligibility at UCCS, and Pennsylvania sits outside both online lists. The approved states guide holds the full roster.

UCCS programs from Pennsylvania
Program	Status for Pennsylvania residents	Location of clinical hours
MSN in FNP, AGNP or PMHNP	Closed	A listed NP state, near your home after moving
RN to MSN and Post-Graduate NP Certificate	Closed	Likewise, whichever listed state you live in
BSN to DNP and Post-Master's DNP	Tied to an RN license from an approved state	Sites where you live in that state
RN to BSN	Closed from Pennsylvania; open from Ohio or New York	`NURS 4450` at a community site near home
Traditional or Accelerated BSN	Colorado residents or those relocating there	Colorado sites UCCS assigns

Ohio and New York: the RN to BSN next door

Both border states made UCCS's 21-state RN to BSN list, though neither made the NP list. Ohio shares the nurse compact with Pennsylvania; New York stands apart from it. A nurse who relocates to either could apply to the RN to BSN and later finish NURS 4450 at a community site there. See the Ohio and New York guides.

Every NP-list state is farther away, and Florida is the only one on the East Coast. Commuting into a listed state does not count, because UCCS goes by your home address, not your workplace; the moving guide covers address changes.

Pennsylvania's nursing rules

Licensing: the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing. Full compact implementation arrived on July 7, 2025; the APRN Compact has not been enacted.
NP practice: AANP labels Pennsylvania reduced practice. NPs here keep a physician agreement in writing throughout their careers, and to prescribe they need collaborative agreements covering at least two physicians.
Visiting students: Section 21.118 of the state's nursing rules lets a nurse holding an RN license from Canada or any other U.S. jurisdiction, while in an accredited BSN or graduate program, carry out the clinical work that program requires with no Pennsylvania license, so long as the only money involved is a stipend, scholarship or program award. A student who also wants a paid RN job here applies by endorsement and for a temporary practice permit.
Program approval: research found no board rule making outside schools seek approval before placing students. The board's own distance education paperwork applies to programs it has approved.

If you plan to practice in Pennsylvania later

UCCS's APRN licensure disclosure lists Pennsylvania as a state where its curriculum meets educational requirements, adding that every Pennsylvania applicant must take a three-hour course on recognizing and reporting child abuse. That matters for a nurse who studies from a listed state and comes back; the disclosure page explains why the document is no admission list.

Penn Medicine, Geisinger, UPMC, Penn State Health and Jefferson Health rank among the state's largest systems, serving the Pittsburgh, Harrisburg-Carlisle, Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton and Philadelphia metros.

UCCS clinicals after relocating, with us on the search

Once admitted from a listed state, you secure a preceptor near your new home, UCCS confirms the site and signs the Affiliation Agreement, and hours count from the college's "good to go" email. We lift that load: a preceptor and practice chosen for your UCCS course, every site sheet item prepared, submission well ahead of the term, and a quick replacement if someone pulls out. The form below reaches our placement desk.

Questions UCCS students ask

Do UCCS's online NP programs accept Pittsburgh residents?

Not while you live in Pennsylvania. UCCS's NP options accept applicants only from 14 listed states, judged by physical residence. Moving to one of them comes first, and UCCS decides every application, so confirm your circumstances with UCCS ahead of any move.

Does Pennsylvania's clinical exemption let me do UCCS hours here?

No. The state rule lets out-of-state RNs in accredited programs complete clinical work without a Pennsylvania license, but UCCS allows hours only in the states on its own list, and Pennsylvania is not there. The college's rule, not the state's exemption, decides where your hours happen.

Now that Pennsylvania is in the compact, does my license open UCCS to me?

A multistate license widens where you may work, yet UCCS judges residency rather than license reach. After a move to a listed compact state, UCCS's handbook expects a multistate license for hours there; in the non-compact listed states it expects that state's own RN license. The license guide has the detail.

Are Pennsylvania's nursing education rules changing?

A sweeping set of board rules on nursing education reached its final-form stage in September 2026, with review by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission scheduled for an October 15 meeting. The visiting-student exemption in Section 21.118 comes through that package largely unchanged, and none of it touches UCCS's residency rule.

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.RN to BSNOhioOhio sits on UCCS's RN to BSN list: how NURS 4450 works at an Ohio community site, what Ohio law says about outside programs, and the NP picture.RN to BSNNew YorkNew York is on UCCS's RN to BSN list, but NYSED must register or approve online programs that place students there. NURS 4450, licensing and NP limits.

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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