Finding your own preceptor as a UCCS NP student
UCCS's graduate program pages leave no doubt about who searches: primary care-based clinical hours "are found by the student where they reside." The college checks, contracts with and supervises each site, while the search itself is yours. Here is what that sentence covers, how UCCS tests your plan before admission, and where the college does lend a hand.
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Tell us your UCCS program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your UCCS course.
What "found by the student where they reside" covers
The sentence appears on UCCS's MSN page for both primary care tracks, and the psychiatric track gets its own version: "Psychiatric mental health clinical hours are found by the student where they reside." The RN to MSN page repeats both lines, and the Post-Graduate NP Certificate page says its primary care-based hours "are set up where you reside."
Two ideas are packed in. First, the student identifies the preceptor and the clinic, then brings that match to UCCS. Second, the hours happen near home, in the state where you lived when you applied, because UCCS defines residency as physical location. Hours across a state line take the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator's approval and must stay inside the states UCCS lists; the approved states guide has that list.
The same model covers the NP courses inside the BSN to DNP, whose students search twice, as the questions at the end of this page explain.
The admission essay that asks for your plan
UCCS raises the question before you are even admitted. The first essay on the MSN, BSN to DNP and Post-Master's DNP pages is marked mandatory and asks, "what will you do to secure clinical sites to support your career choice?" The certificate and RN to MSN pages word it more bluntly: "What are you doing to find clinical spots?"
Read together, those prompts show how the college sees the search: as part of being ready for the program, not as something it runs for you after you enroll. A convincing answer names real steps, such as clinicians you already know, practices near you that host students, and the professional groups you belong to.
An earlier version of the college's MSN page, archived in 2023, went further. It suggested the program may suit students with many community connections in health care, or those living where preceptors can be found. That line has left the live page, but the expectation behind it has stayed.
Two ways UCCS words the student's role
UCCS's documents do not use identical language, and the difference is worth knowing. The program pages and the essay put the search on the student. The 08/2026 practicum handbooks phrase it more softly: "Students are expected to participate in finding preceptors." Those same handbooks also carry a line about students being assigned a clinical placement, wording that reads as if it came from an undergraduate document.
Older public pages sided with the program pages. UCCS Online's certificate and MSN pages, captured in 2026 before they were redirected, said UCCS offers placement oversight and guidance while students remain responsible for identifying preceptors in their own area.
In practice, no UCCS source commits the college to finding a site for a graduate NP student. If the wording matters for your plan, ask the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator and read the 08/2026 handbook for your track and cohort, since that handbook governs your rotations.
Why UCCS will not hand you a site list
Students often ask the college which clinics already hold contracts. The handbooks answer directly: "Lists of sites with clinical education agreements in place cannot be given to students. The Clinical Practicum Coordinator can be contacted for assistance."
That second sentence describes the help on offer: a named role to contact when you are stuck or unsure. The coordinator answers questions on whether a setting suits your course, approves hours outside your home state, and rules on exceptions for your own employer. A roster of contracted sites to work through is the one thing the handbooks say is off the table.
Asking UCCS for a list of contracted clinics will not speed anything up; the handbooks rule it out. Bring a named preceptor instead.
Where UCCS's handbooks suggest you look
The practicum handbooks list starting points. Treat them as a checklist, and reach each one early:
- A physician, NP or PA you already know, approached several months before the course.
- Classmates and recent graduates who have finished rotations near you.
- Your local advanced practice group.
- Nursing faculty at schools in your state, faith-based clinics, community health clinics and the Department of Corrections.
- For PMHNP students: mental health clinics, inpatient psychiatric hospitals and the Department of Corrections.
Before you ask anyone, check the fit. The clinician must meet UCCS's credential rules, covered in preceptor requirements, and UCCS excludes relatives, close friends and the unit where you work, as set out in workplace and family rules.
A short, specific request tends to land best: the course number, the hours you need, the semester dates, and a note that UCCS drafts and handles the contract.
What happens once you have a yes
A preceptor's agreement starts UCCS's part of the work rather than ending yours. You type a Clinical Site Sheet for that site and preceptor, UCCS drafts the Affiliation Agreement and a preceptor letter, and you begin hours only when the Academic Services Professional for Graduate Nursing confirms you are clear. The clinical placement process lays out each stage.
A brand-new agreement can need weeks of legal review, so a yes in the month before the semester often comes too late for that term. Build your search around UCCS's clock rather than the preceptor's calendar, using the dates in our lead-time guide.
Before you type the sheet, confirm that the preceptor's practice is willing to sign a clinical education agreement with UCCS. The contract is with the agency rather than the individual, so a keen clinician still needs their organization on board.
How we take the search off your plate
The search is the student's job at UCCS, and it is exactly the job we do. We look for preceptors and sites that fit your course and track, in person, in the town or region where you live, and we check each one against UCCS's rules before it reaches you.
When a preceptor says yes, you get more than a name. We gather the credential, license and certification details, the site information, the contact with authority to sign an agreement, and exact hours, so your Clinical Site Sheet can go in early. The final say belongs to UCCS, and our work is to make sure the college receives a complete match that already fits its rules. Our step-by-step service shows the full sequence.
You can start with us before admission, with the clinical sites essay in mind, or a semester ahead of a rotation. Share your track and home state in the form below.
Questions UCCS students ask
Will UCCS find me a preceptor if I cannot find one?
No UCCS source promises that. The handbooks point students who are stuck to the Clinical Practicum Coordinator for assistance, and the program pages keep the search itself with the student. If time is running short, our guide for students who cannot find a preceptor sets out the realistic options.
Can my preceptor be in a different state from where I live?
Only with approval. UCCS admits you as a resident of the state where you lived when you applied, and hours in another state need the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator's sign-off. That state must also be on UCCS's list, and you need a valid RN license there: multistate in a compact state, or that state's own license elsewhere.
Do UCCS campus BSN students find their own clinicals?
No. The Traditional and Accelerated BSN are in-person Colorado programs, and UCCS assigns their clinical rotations through its undergraduate placement staff. The online RN to BSN works differently again: students secure a community site for NURS 4450, and UCCS faculty decide whether it is appropriate.
How should I answer UCCS's essay about securing clinical sites?
With a concrete plan tied to where you live. UCCS asks every graduate applicant how they will secure sites or find clinical spots, and the question is mandatory. Describe the contacts and settings you will approach, how early you will begin, and what you will do if a first choice falls through.
What else does a BSN to DNP student have to find?
A DNP project institutional mentor, on top of the NP preceptors for clinical courses. The DNP Project Handbook asks the student to initiate contact with a mentor who works at the site where the project will run, and to secure a written Letter of Cooperation with that outside organization.
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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