State guide: Colorado

Colorado and your Spring Arbor clinical hours

Updated September 24, 2026 · Reviewed by the Spring Arbor Preceptor placement team

Every SAU nursing program can place students in Colorado, and the state board's program rules speak to pre-licensure schools, not to graduate programs based elsewhere. That leaves the usual SAU steps: a preceptor who fits your track, faculty approval, and a current compact or Colorado RN license.

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Spring Arbor nursing clinicals in Colorado: possible for MSN NP tracks: FNP, AGPCNP, PMHNP, PNP, Nurse Educator and MSN/MBA, Post-master's certificates, DNP (Strategic Leadership), RN-to-BSN. RN license: in the compact. NP practice: full. — Colorado on Spring Arbor's nursing state authorization list: authorized; RN license in the compact; NP practice full (AANP).

Where Colorado stands for each SAU program

SAU's state authorization page opens Colorado to all of its nursing programs (our check: September 24, 2026). What differs is track-level detail.

SAU programs and Colorado clinicals (SAU state authorization page, checked 2026-09-24)
SAU program group	Clinicals in Colorado?	Worth knowing
NP tracks (FNP, AGPCNP, PMHNP, PNP-PC)	Yes	Full practice state, so an independent NP can precept; physicians and PAs are on SAU's list too
Nurse Educator and MSN/MBA	Yes	125 practicum hours in `NUR 780B`, which appears on SAU's current program pages
Post-master's certificates	Yes	The PMC-FNP runs 250 to 625 hours depending on prior certification
DNP (Strategic Leadership)	Yes	Under the 2023-24 catalog, entrants with fewer than 500 practicum hours took `NUR 880`
RN-to-BSN	Yes	No outside preceptor; the capstone is a project, not a placement

Colorado's board and graduate programs from other states

Colorado's State Board of Nursing sits within the Division of Professions and Occupations at the Department of Regulatory Agencies. Its approval rule, Rule 1.2 in 3 CCR 716-1, treats a nursing education program as the schooling that prepares someone to sit for a first nursing license, RN or LPN. Nothing in the rules asks a school elsewhere running RN-to-BSN or graduate study to apply, or even to send notice, before its students train in Colorado.

Two cautions. The rules are the firm ground here, so read any extra guidance on the board's website for yourself. And Colorado's student permit is built for people whose out-of-state schooling had no clinical teaching overseen by faculty; it is not a placement permit for SAU students. For written confirmation on your track, ask SAU's program director.

Full practice, with a mentorship condition

AANP lists Colorado as full practice with one wrinkle: an NP cannot prescribe on their own until they have logged 750 hours working under a mentoring arrangement with a physician or an established APRN. If a newer NP you approach is still inside that stretch, ask whether the mentor would consider precepting as well.

Colorado's tax credit for rural and frontier preceptors would not reward your preceptor, because HB22-1005 limited eligible students to those at accredited Colorado colleges and universities.

Denver, Aurora and Centennial form the largest metro, followed by Colorado Springs, Greeley, and Fort Collins with Loveland. Systems to try include Intermountain Health (Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver), HCA HealthONE, Denver Health, CommonSpirit's Colorado hospitals and UCHealth. Our preceptor outreach guide helps with the first message.

Licensing: a compact license works here

Colorado has been part of the current Nurse Licensure Compact since that version took effect on January 19, 2018. Your multistate license, whether Colorado issued it or the compact state you call home did, covers practice here, and SAU's catalog wants no restrictions on it in the state where you practice. Colorado has not enacted the separate APRN Compact, which is not yet running anywhere. Details are on our RN license page.

What Spring Arbor students in Colorado get from us

We shortlist Colorado preceptors who match your SAU track and your drive, have the CV, license and site details faculty ask for ready early, and keep hunting if a match falls through. Every Colorado preceptor and site we put forward arrives at SAU's faculty with its paperwork in order, and the approval is theirs. Send us your details.

FAQ

Questions Spring Arbor students ask

Does Colorado require SAU to get board approval before my clinicals?

Rule 1.2 in 3 CCR 716-1 is aimed at schools that prepare people for their first nursing license, and we found no requirement for graduate programs from other states. Ask SAU's program director if you want the point confirmed for your track.

Can my Colorado preceptor claim a state tax credit for teaching me?

It does not appear so. Colorado's rural and frontier preceptor credit was narrowed by HB22-1005 to rotations for students at accredited Colorado colleges and universities, which leaves SAU students out. Mention it only if your preceptor asks, and let them confirm with the state or their own tax adviser.

Do I need Colorado's student permit for SAU clinicals?

No. That permit is meant for people from out-of-state programs that never included faculty-overseen clinical teaching, who must earn Colorado hours before licensure. SAU graduate students already hold RN licenses, and SAU clinical faculty oversee the practicum, so the permit is not your route.

How should an SAU PMHNP student in Colorado plan placements?

SAU asks PMHNP students to expect several placements across the practicum. Along the Front Range, that usually means mixing outpatient psychiatric practices, community mental health settings and behavioral health services inside the larger systems. Each preceptor and site needs its own faculty approval, so start the paperwork for the second site early.

Keep going

GuideBy stateWhere Spring Arbor University nursing students can do clinicals: not authorized in AL, AZ, LA and NY, Washington for residents only, and a guide for every state.SearchFinding your own preceptorSAU says online NP students choose their own preceptor in their home state. What that means day to day, how the wording changed, and the help SAU lists.LicenseRN license for clinicalsSpring Arbor asks for an unrestricted RN license in your state of practice. What that means for your clinical state, compact licenses and moving mid-program.PMHNPMSN Psychiatric-Mental Health NPSpring Arbor's online PMHNP needs 500 clinical hours in NUR 780M, spread over several psych placements. Who can precept, the 570 figure and our role.State guideKansasKansas has no approval step for out-of-state APRN programs but checks clinical hours at licensure. What Spring Arbor NP students in Kansas should confirm.State guideNew MexicoNew Mexico is authorized for Spring Arbor nursing, but a board rule covers clinicals longer than a semester. Preceptor standards, licensing and where to look.

Last checked 2026-09-24

We check these pages against Spring Arbor's own published sources. SAU's nursing faculty and current catalog have the final word.

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