The RN license your UCCS clinical hours require
Your RN license has to work in the state where your clinical hours happen. In a Nurse Licensure Compact state, UCCS asks for a multistate license; in a non-compact state, it asks for a current RN license from that state itself. Of UCCS's 14 NP states, three sit outside the compact: Alaska, California and Nevada.
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.
The rule in UCCS's words
The 08/2026 practicum handbooks state the license rule in two parts. If the state where you do hours belongs to the compact, you must hold a multistate license. If it does not, you must hold an active RN license in that state. The test is where the hours happen, not where your license was first issued.
Admission already assumes a license. The MSN and RN to MSN pages require a current RN license, unrestricted and from an approved state; the certificate page asks for a license from an approved state; and the DNP pages want the same unrestricted license from one of the approved states. Your license also sits on the graduate compliance list in Medatrax, so it must stay current every semester; the compliance guide covers that upload.
If your home-state license is single-state rather than multistate, check with the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator on how the multistate requirement fits your case.
Compact and non-compact states on UCCS's NP list
Eleven of the 14 NP states have implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact, according to the NCSBN compact map, and three have not. The table applies UCCS's rule to each state.
| State | Nurse Licensure Compact | License UCCS expects for hours there |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Not a member | An Alaska RN license |
| Arizona | Member | A multistate license (Arizona's rules accept an Arizona or multistate license) |
| California | Not a member | A California RN license |
| Colorado | Member | A multistate license |
| Florida | Member | A multistate license |
| Idaho | Member | A multistate license |
| Montana | Member | A multistate license; Montana also requires a license valid in Montana |
| Nevada | Not a member | A Nevada RN license |
| New Mexico | Member | A multistate license |
| Oklahoma | Member | A multistate license; see the note on Oklahoma's rule below |
| South Dakota | Member | A multistate license |
| Texas | Member | A multistate license |
| Utah | Member | A multistate license |
| Wyoming | Member | A multistate license |
Hours outside your home state
Your clinical base is the state you called home when you applied. Doing hours anywhere else takes more than the right license.
- Confirm the state is on UCCS's listUCCS confines hours to the states named on its website. A state off the approved list stays closed whatever license you hold.
- Get the Coordinator's approvalThe Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator must approve any hours away from your permanent residence, so ask before you line up a site.
- Hold the right licenseA multistate license if the state is in the compact, or an active RN license from that state if it is not. A new state license comes from that state's board, so allow time for it.
- Match the preceptor to the statePreceptors must hold a license in the state where the hours take place, so the preceptor's license and yours must both fit that state. The preceptor requirements page has the rest.
- Send the Clinical Site SheetThe site then moves through the usual sheet, Affiliation Agreement and preceptor letter, and the clock starts only with UCCS's "good to go" email.
A multistate license alone does not open a new state: the state must be on UCCS's list and the Coordinator must approve the hours.
State rules that reach the license
A few approved states write license conditions into their own rules for out-of-state programs. California expects NP students from programs based elsewhere to carry a California RN license and to train with California-licensed preceptors, on top of approving the program in advance through the Board of Registered Nursing, whose list includes UCCS. Arizona expects students to hold an Arizona or multistate license and preceptors to hold Arizona licenses. The California guide covers that state in depth.
Nevada and Alaska sit outside the compact, so a license from that state is the only route to hours there, and Alaska also has each APRN student register a preceptorship with its board; the Nevada guide looks at that state's program rule. Montana wants the student's license to be valid in Montana, and Utah expects preceptors licensed in Utah or through the compact.
Oklahoma's rule names an Oklahoma RN license for the student and an Oklahoma license for overseeing faculty. An Oklahoma student whose license comes from another compact state should confirm how that rule reads for them before the first rotation.
RN to BSN students and NURS 4450
The license rule looks different for the RN to BSN. An RN to BSN student living outside Colorado needs a current RN license from their home state in hand before NURS 4450 Public Health Nursing. A Colorado student in the Dual Enrollment option can take NURS 4450 before licensure, but must have passed the NCLEX and be licensed before NURS 4480, the capstone.
Among the seven states that only the RN to BSN accepts, New York is outside the compact, so a New York student works from a New York license. Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia are compact members. The NURS 4450 guide covers the site and checklist side of that course.
After graduation, a different license
Everything above concerns your RN license while you are a student. The NP license you apply for after graduation comes from the board where you will practice, which is a separate process with its own requirements. Keep your Medatrax records tidy along the way, since UCCS notes its reports can be used to verify hours when you apply to certification boards.
UCCS's handbooks caution that relocating can stand in the way of NP licensure in the new state, so think about where you expect to practice early. The college's licensure disclosure shows where the curriculum meets APRN educational requirements, and the board of that state has the final word on everything else.
Why UCCS students choose us
We check license fit on both sides of every match. Before we present a preceptor, we confirm an active license in the state where your hours will happen and the credentials UCCS asks for on your track, and we flag any state rule, such as California's, that touches your own license. The Clinical Site Sheet details we prepare include the preceptor's license and certification, ready for the college to verify.
If you are weighing hours across a state line, we look at both states and tell you what each would take. UCCS approves every site and every out-of-state request; we make sure the request reaches the college complete. Start through the contact form.
Questions UCCS students ask
Can I use my Colorado multistate license for UCCS hours in Texas?
It covers you in Texas, a compact state, but the license is one of three conditions. Texas is on UCCS's list, which is the second. The third is approval from the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator for hours outside your home state, which comes before any site sheet goes in. Your Texas preceptor must also hold a Texas license.
I live in California. Which license do I need for UCCS clinicals?
A California RN license. California stays outside the Nurse Licensure Compact, and UCCS's rule for a non-compact state is an active RN license from that state. California's own rules for out-of-state NP programs point the same way and also require California-licensed preceptors, so plan to have the license in hand before your first rotation.
Does my RN license have to be unrestricted for UCCS?
At admission, the MSN, RN to MSN and DNP pages all call for an RN license that is current, unrestricted and issued by an approved state, and the license is a compliance item uploaded to Medatrax. If anything about your license status changes during the program, tell the college promptly rather than waiting for the next compliance deadline.
Can a preceptor licensed in a neighboring state supervise my hours?
Only for hours done in the state where that preceptor is licensed. UCCS requires FNP and AGNP preceptors, whether NPs, MDs, DOs or PAs, to hold a license in the state where your hours take place, and applies the same rule to PMHNP preceptors. Military providers must hold a state license as well.
Does the APRN Compact help UCCS students?
Not yet. South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming are among the few states that have enacted the APRN Compact, but it becomes operational only once seven states have enacted it. It would matter for NP practice after graduation and has no effect on the RN license rule for your UCCS clinical hours.
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
Start your placement plan
Your program, city and next clinical semester is all we need to begin.