630 or 770: which UCCS hour rule applies to you
UCCS raised its nurse practitioner requirement from 630 to 770 direct patient care hours for students who start in Fall 2026 or later; anyone who started earlier stays on 630. The increase comes from moving each practicum credit from 45 clinical hours to 55, so every rotation grew rather than any course being added. Several UCCS documents have not caught up yet.
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Who is on which rule
UCCS's announcement is one sentence: "Effective Fall 2026, our Nurse Practitioner program will be increasing the required number of direct patient care clinical hours from 630 to 770 hours." The 08/2026 practicum handbooks turn that sentence into a cohort rule. Began the program before Fall 2026: 630. Began in Fall 2026 or any later term: 770.
The rule applies to all three NP tracks, FNP, AGNP and PMHNP. Because RN to MSN, BSN to DNP and Post-Graduate NP Certificate students take those same NP clinical courses, the handbook figures reach them too; for certificate students, the GAP analysis decides which of the courses are on the plan.
Neither cohort counts the 45 hours of NURS 6730 Advanced Health Assessment inside its total. Those hours are the same for everyone and sit on top. The clinical hours hub shows how each program's courses add up.
Why every course grew: 45 versus 55 hours per credit
UCCS did not add a rotation to reach 770. It changed what a practicum credit is worth, from 45 clinical hours to 55, and every clinical course grew in proportion. The difference column below is simple subtraction from the handbook figures.
| Course | Began before Fall 2026 | Began Fall 2026 or later | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
NURS 6900, NURS 6915, NURS 6925, NURS 6950 (each) | 90 | 110 | +20 |
NURS 6980 Synthesis Practicum | 360 | 440 | +80 |
NURS 6982 Pre-Synthesis (not required of all students) | 45-90 | 55-110 | +10 to +20 |
NURS 6801, NURS 6802, NURS 6803 (each) | 135 | 165 | +30 |
NURS 6985 PMH Synthesis Practicum | 225 | 275 | +50 |
NURS 6730 Advanced Health Assessment | 45 | 45 | None |
The totals reconcile. An FNP or AGNP student's three primary care rotations gain 60 hours between them and Synthesis gains 80, for 140 more. A PMHNP student's three population rotations gain 90 and the synthesis course gains 50, again 140 more. Course credits stayed the same; only the hours inside each credit moved.
How NURS 6982 Pre-Synthesis hours fit inside either total is not stated in any UCCS source, so ask lead faculty if it appears on your degree plan.
PMHNP students read one of two handbooks
FNP and AGNP students share one 08/2026 practicum handbook that prints both cohorts' numbers side by side. PMHNP students get two separate 08/2026 handbooks, one titled for 630 hours and one for 770, and the differences reach well past the hour totals.
Under the 630-hour edition, a single preceptor or site can hold at most 270 of your hours and banking is not permitted at all. The 770-hour edition raises the single-preceptor ceiling to 440, allows up to 55 banked hours, and adds up to 10 hours from simulations plus up to 10 flexible hours from a psychopharmacology or therapy conference.
Both files carry the same date, so the title is the only quick way to tell them apart. Setting-by-setting rules for the psychiatric track are on what counts for PMHNP.
Documents that still say 630
Some UCCS sources were written before the change or only partly edited after it. None of them outranks the 08/2026 practicum handbook for your cohort, but each one can mislead a student or a preceptor who happens to read it first.
| Document | What it says | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| RN to MSN program page | Each track "includes 630 contact hours", on the same page as the Fall 2026 notice | The notice is the newer statement; your start term decides your figure |
| DNP Project Handbook (approved 9-11-23) | BSN to DNP: "a minimum of 1170 total hours (630 clinical hours and 540 DNP experience hours)" | Written before the change; confirm the clinical share if you began in Fall 2026 or later |
| Preceptor Handbook (08/2026) | PMHNP students need "630 or 770 practicum hours in primary care" | Both cohort figures appear, under a primary care label that belongs to the other tracks |
| 2026-27 catalog | No hours-per-credit ratio; older NURS 6910 and NURS 6920 still listed with "90 contact hours of practicum" | No 2026-27 program page requires those two courses |
When two UCCS sources disagree, three things settle it for you: your degree plan, the 08/2026 practicum handbook for your track and cohort, and a written answer from the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator. BSN to DNP students can find the program's structure on the BSN to DNP page.
Cases to confirm in writing
Most students know their start term without a second thought. A few situations blur it, and UCCS publishes no rule for them, so get an answer before you ask a preceptor to block out time around a guess.
- A leave of absence. Leave can be renewed a semester at a time for up to three semesters, and more than one calendar year away means reapplying. Ask whether a readmission places you under the 770-hour rules.
- The RN to MSN. The
NURS 4460bridge carries no clinical hours, so confirm whether your cohort is dated from the bridge semester or from your first MSN term. - A BSN to DNP start in Fall 2026 or later. Your DNP handbook still adds up hours using 630, so confirm the clinical share for your cohort.
- A changed track or a new degree plan. The handbooks allow up to three degree plans without a written reason, and each new plan is worth checking for the correct cohort.
Your placement advisor asks for this answer before approaching any preceptor, because the hours written on your Clinical Site Sheet have to be exact. Ranges are not approved.
What 770 changes in the preceptor search
More hours per course means more time asked of every preceptor. Under 770, a primary care rotation asks a clinic for 110 hours in a single semester instead of 90, and Synthesis asks for 440 instead of 360. As plain arithmetic rather than UCCS guidance, 440 hours spread across a 16-week term comes to roughly 27 or 28 hours every week.
The single-preceptor ceilings still apply, 330 hours for FNP and AGNP unless the site is a major health system, so a larger total usually means more preceptors rather than longer stays with one. Ask each clinic how many weeks and which days it can host you, not just whether it is willing. If you are on 770 and your next course is Synthesis, treat the handbook's advice to start 3 to 6 months ahead as a minimum.
Why UCCS students on either rule choose us
We confirm your cohort first, then look for preceptors whose schedules can hold your course's exact hours in the semester you need them. Each preceptor we bring you is checked against UCCS's rules for your track: licensed in the state where you do the hours, two years of experience, and national certification with full prescriptive authority for NPs.
Your Clinical Site Sheet details come from us ready to send, one precise number of hours per preceptor, so the Academic Services Professional for Graduate Nursing has them early and the agreement can begin. Approval of each site and preceptor stays with UCCS, and we see to it that what arrives there is accurate and complete from the start. See how it works or use the form below.
Questions UCCS students ask
I started at UCCS in Summer 2026. Do I need 630 or 770 hours?
The handbooks draw the line at Fall 2026, so a Summer 2026 start belongs to the 630-hour group, with 45 clinical hours in each practicum credit. Check that your degree plan records the same start term, and ask the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator if a leave, readmission or track change has altered it since.
Did UCCS add new clinical courses for the 770-hour rule?
The 08/2026 handbooks list the same clinical courses for both cohorts. Each course simply carries more hours, because a practicum credit moved from 45 clinical hours to 55. A primary care rotation is still a 5-credit course, and the psychiatric population rotations are still 6 credits each.
Which PMHNP handbook should I follow?
The one that matches your start term: the 630-hour edition if you began before Fall 2026, the 770-hour edition if you began in Fall 2026 or later. Both are dated 08/2026, so the date will not tell them apart. Hour totals, the single-preceptor ceiling and banking all differ between the two.
Does the 770-hour change affect the Post-Master's DNP?
The Post-Master's DNP has no NP practicum courses. Its requirement is 540 DNP experience hours across NURS 7030, NURS 7200 and the NURS 8050 project series, and the Fall 2026 notice concerns NP practicum hours. The BSN to DNP is different, because it contains a full NP track whose clinical hours follow your start term.
Will my preceptor know which hour figure applies to me?
Your preceptor sees the hours on your Clinical Site Sheet and on the preceptor agreement letter UCCS drafts from it. The Preceptor Handbook mentions both totals, so the site sheet is where your preceptor learns your real commitment. Write the exact figure for your cohort's course, and walk your preceptor through it before the semester starts.
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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