Denver Nursing Schools Directory: Sixteen Programs Organized by Credential
Sixteen profiles make up this directory, covering eight communities: Greenwood Village and Centennial, Lakewood and Littleton, Westminster and Arvada, Aurora and Denver itself. Sorting them by credential family clarifies the first decision: are you preparing for a first license, or building on one you already hold?
Four Families of Credential, Four Different Starting Points
Learning Practical Nursing
This family serves people entering nursing through a certificate or diploma centred on direct patient care, supervised practice, pharmacology and NCLEX-PN preparation. For some students that qualification is the destination, taken as a complete goal. Providers are Emily Griffith Technical College in Denver, Pickens Technical College in Aurora and Concorde Career College, alongside Community College of Denver. Compare total cost, not tuition alone.
Guide: practical nursing routes and the NCLEX-PN
Qualifying as an RN at Associate Level
Here the aim is RN eligibility through associate study, awarded as a Nursing AAS and often shortened to ADN. Coursework pairs general education with nursing theory, laboratory practice and supervised clinical work. Graduates who meet the requirements can enter the RN licensing process and sit the NCLEX-RN. They include Community College of Aurora, Galen College of Nursing, Front Range Community College, Denver College of Nursing, Red Rocks Community College and Arapahoe Community College.
Guides: associate-level RN preparation, moving from LPN to RN and routes for working paramedics
Earning a First BSN
Bachelor level prelicensure study serves two audiences. Traditional entry suits students moving through prerequisites into a nursing major. Accelerated entry suits applicants bringing substantial earlier college study, frequently a completed degree in another field. Schools include CU Anschutz, Colorado Christian, Regis University, Denver College of Nursing, MSU Denver, Concordia University St. Paul, Arizona College of Nursing and Galen. Check each label carefully, since a previous degree or particular prerequisites may be conditions of admission.
Guides: bachelor degrees for a first license and second-degree accelerated options
Adding to a Credential You Already Hold
The fourth family is for people not starting from zero. Licensed RNs use completion study to move from associate preparation to a BSN. Providers include Denver College of Nursing, Colorado Christian, MSU Denver, Front Range and Arapahoe. Graduate study at Regis and CU Anschutz, among others, addresses leadership, education and advanced clinical roles by concentration. Caution: a general MSN alone does not prepare someone for advanced practice, so check concentration, licensure expectations and certification eligibility.
Guides: completion study for working RNs and graduate and advanced practice study
Every Profile in One Listing
The table below gathers all sixteen schools, their campus areas and the routes each covers. It is an inventory, not an ordering of merit.
| School and campus area | Routes covered |
|---|---|
| Arapahoe Community College, Littleton campus | ADN/AAS; RN-to-BSN completion; LPN-to-ADN entry |
| Front Range Community College, Westminster campus | ADN/AAS; LPN entry into ADN; RN-to-BSN completion |
| Red Rocks Community College, Arvada campus | Nursing AAS |
| Community College of Aurora, Centennial campus | Nursing AAS; CU integrated route |
| Community College of Denver, Denver campus | Practical nursing; LPN progression toward a BSN; pre-nursing study for transfer |
| Emily Griffith Technical College, Denver campus | Only practical nursing |
| Pickens Technical College, Aurora campus | Only practical nursing |
| Concorde Career College, Denver campus | Only practical nursing |
| Regis University, Denver campus | Traditional BSN; accelerated BSN; CHOICE BSN; graduate nursing |
| MSU Denver, Denver campus | Traditional BSN; accelerated BSN; RN-to-BSN completion |
| CU Anschutz College of Nursing, Aurora and Lone Tree campuses | Traditional BSN; accelerated BSN; MS, DNP and APRN routes |
| Denver College of Nursing, Denver campus | ADN; prelicensure BSN; RN-to-BSN completion; MSN |
| Colorado Christian University, Lakewood campus | Prelicensure BSN, traditional and adult; RN-to-BSN completion |
| Galen College of Nursing, Aurora campus | Prelicensure BSN; associate nursing |
| Arizona College of Nursing, Aurora campus | BSN for a first license only |
| Concordia University St. Paul, Greenwood Village campus | Hybrid accelerated BSN; traditional BSN route |
When One College Hands You On to Another
Two linked arrangements are summarised here, with fuller treatment in the BSN guide. MSU Denver and Community College of Denver describe a collaborative arrangement moving students from CCD toward bachelor study at MSU Denver, founded on an Associate of Science in Pre-Nursing from CCD, carrying 60 credits. That qualification is a transfer step, not a route into the NCLEX-RN by itself.
CU Anschutz describes an Integrated Nursing Pathway involving Red Rocks Community College in Arvada, Community College of Aurora in Centennial and Community College of Denver. Check the academic plan and its progression conditions before relying on either arrangement.
Fuller detail: the full bachelor degree comparison
Placing Schools Side by Side Before You Enrol
Standing and recognition. Check three things separately: program approval with the Colorado Board of Nursing, institutional accreditation, and programmatic accreditation through ACEN or CCNE where it applies.
Money, in full. Put tuition for the same academic year next to nursing surcharges, clinical costs, books, testing charges, travel and prerequisite costs.
Fit for admission. Confirm expected science courses, grades that count, entrance testing and how transferred credit is treated.
How study is delivered. Online theory does not remove attendance elsewhere: a first license requires simulation, skills assessment and clinical placements in person.
Time, honestly counted. Separate the nursing sequence from the wider journey, including prerequisites and waiting time.
Where it leads. Ask whether this credit will transfer if you return for a BSN or graduate study.
Questions This Directory Is Asked Most Often
Can a community college route lead to an RN license?
Yes, where the program is an approved associate program in nursing. Finishing it is only part of licensure: you must also satisfy state requirements and pass the NCLEX-RN. Do not confuse it with a pre-nursing associate degree built for transfer, which prepares you for further study, not the licensing examination.
How much nursing study happens online?
Distance delivery is concentrated in completion study, where licensed RNs work toward a BSN remotely. Without a license, plan on attending simulation, skills assessment and supervised clinical experience in person.
I hold an LPN licence. What should I examine next?
Compare advanced placement into associate study against the bachelor level alternatives open to you. Each receiving school sets its own position on credit for earlier study, and may require experience, prerequisites or challenge testing. Get that position in writing before assuming earlier learning shortens your program.
How do I verify accreditation for myself?
Check three sources independently: the institution’s accreditor, the state board’s approval listing for the exact prelicensure program, and the programmatic accreditor, ACEN or CCNE as appropriate. Each answers a different question, so do not collapse them into one claim.
Your Next Move
Decide which family matches your situation, then reduce the table to the two or three schools offering that credential. Open each profile and check its catalogue entry, costs, admission rules and attendance pattern. Reconfirm standing through the state board and relevant accreditor before committing. If your goal is a first RN license, the Colorado RN licensing roadmap sets out the education, examination and licensing stages in sequence.