Colorado residents and Kent State's online nursing programs
Kent State enrolls no online nursing students from Colorado today, and its state-authorization guidance names a Colorado-specific snag: a workers' compensation requirement that Kent State says its own coverage cannot satisfy. A Denver or Colorado Springs nurse drawn to Kent State should ask the Office of Student Services before applying. An enrolled student eyeing a Colorado move should raise it with Kent State months ahead.
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What Kent State lists for Colorado
Nothing is open for online enrollment from Colorado. The licensure disclosure is friendlier, marking Colorado as MEETS on every row it covers, but it answers a question about licensure after graduation.
| Program | Listed for Colorado? | Disclosure for Colorado |
|---|---|---|
| RN-to-BSN | No | Not on the disclosure |
| MSN PMHNP, WHNP, AGCNS and their certificates | No | MEETS |
| MSN Nurse Educator, NAHSL and their certificates | No | Not on the disclosure |
| Post-master's DNP | No | Not on the disclosure |
| FNP, AGPCNP, AGACNP (hybrid, with Kent Campus time) | Absent from the page | MEETS |
The lists for every state are on Kent State's approved states. One caution: the college's APRN program pages describe licensure beyond Ohio as an open question, which clashes with the table's certainty, so have Kent State confirm Colorado for your program.
Workers' compensation, the documented obstacle
In many states the sticking point is a board rule; in Colorado it is insurance. Kent State Online's guidance on out-of-state placements says Colorado demands workers' compensation coverage and that Kent State has no way to stretch its own policy that far. Kent State publishes no workaround, so treat any Colorado placement as unresolved until the college tells you otherwise.
The nursing board looks less likely to be the barrier. Colorado's nursing board sits inside DORA's Division of Professions and Occupations, and the program definition in Rule 1.2 of its rules (3 CCR 716-1) covers only a basic course leading to first RN or LPN licensure. Nothing there asks for approval or notice from schools elsewhere offering RN-to-BSN, master's or doctoral study. The board's own website could not be reached during research, so guidance beyond the rule is unchecked. Clinicals outside Ohio covers how host states fit in.
Colorado's NPs, mentors and health systems
AANP rates Colorado as full practice with one condition: prescriptive authority comes only after an NP attests to 750 hours practiced alongside a physician or APRN mentor under a formal agreement. Kent State separately asks every graduate preceptor for at least a year of clinical practice, so check a newer NP's start date against both. Kent State's full preceptor rules are on preceptor requirements.
Just over three million people live in the Denver-Aurora-Centennial metro, and Colorado Springs, Greeley and Fort Collins-Loveland follow. The large systems include UCHealth, HCA HealthONE, CommonSpirit's Colorado hospitals, Denver Health and Intermountain Health, whose Colorado sites include Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver. They are reference points for a search and carry no commitment to Kent State.
Licensing for Colorado clinicals
Colorado has used the multistate license system since January 19, 2018, and has passed no APRN Compact. Kent State looks for an unrestricted license from the state that is both home and practicum site, which for a Colorado resident means the Colorado-issued license. RN license for practicum explains Kent State's proof deadlines.
How we help Kent State students in Colorado
Kent State students choose us because we raise the hard question first. If Kent State clears you to continue from Colorado, we open the search by noting the workers' compensation point for your coordinator, then find a preceptor with the experience Kent State asks for near Denver, the Springs or the Front Range towns, and assemble a clean, complete file for faculty approval. Talk to us about Colorado.
Questions Kent State students ask
Can I take Kent State's online RN-to-BSN from Colorado?
Not at present; Colorado is missing from the 30-jurisdiction RN-to-BSN list. Several neighbors are on it: Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Arizona. The RN-to-BSN's clinical work happens where you live and hold your license, so living in Colorado is what keeps you off. Ask the Office of Student Services if you expect that to change.
Would my Colorado preceptor get the rural and frontier preceptor tax credit?
Probably not. Colorado's credit rewards unpaid preceptors working in its rural and frontier shortage areas. A 2022 law, HB22-1005, let more clinicians claim it, adding registered nurses and other licensed clinicians in outpatient settings alongside APRNs, but it also narrowed the students who count to those at accredited Colorado schools. A Kent State student would not appear to count.
Is the Colorado nursing board the reason Kent State does not list the state?
Kent State does not say why a state is left off. Its approved-states page speaks generally about state laws that can block practicum courses, and its authorization guidance names Colorado's workers' compensation requirement. The board's program rule reaches only basic prelicensure programs, so the insurance point is the one Kent State has put on record.
Does Kent State's licensure disclosure cover Colorado for APRN programs?
Yes. Every licensure row lists Colorado as MEETS: the NP and CNS master's rows and both certificate rows. Keep two caveats in mind: the college's program pages describe licensure outside Ohio as undetermined, and a MEETS result does not open enrollment. Put that question to the Office of Student Services.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against Kent State's own catalog, handbooks and program pages. Your MSN or DNP handbook, your syllabus, your practicum faculty and your concentration coordinator have the final word.
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