Registered Nurse (RN) License Renewal in Colorado
Colorado RNs renew every 2 years with no continuing education hours required, just a continued-competency attestation. Colorado is a Nurse Licensure Compact state.
| Renewal cycle | Every 2 years |
|---|---|
| CE hours required | Check with your board Colorado requires no continuing-education hours to renew an active RN license. It runs a continued-competency program instead, and a nurse who has not practiced on an active license in the past 2 years must demonstrate competency (for example, a board-approved refresher course) before renewing. |
| Renewal fee | Not published |
| Mandatory CE topics | None prescribed |
| Licensing board | Colorado Board of Nursing (DORA, Division of Professions and Occupations) |
Sourced from Colorado Board of Nursing (DORA, Division of Professions and Occupations), verified July 25, 2026. Requirements change. Confirm with your board before relying on this.
Colorado is one of the few states where the honest answer to “how many CE hours do I need to renew?” is: none. Colorado requires no continuing-education hours for an active RN renewal. What it asks instead is that you affirm your own competence, and it only demands proof if you’ve been out of practice.
No CE hours, but a competency affirmation
The Colorado Board of Nursing, part of DORA’s Division of Professions and Occupations, states plainly that continuing-education hours are not currently required to renew a registered-nurse license. There’s no hour count and no mandatory-topic list, so the CE calculator on this site isn’t shown for Colorado, there’s nothing to total.
What Colorado runs instead is a continued-competency framework. For a nurse who’s actively working, that’s an attestation, you affirm you’re maintaining competence and renew. The teeth show only in one situation: if you have not practiced on an active nursing license in the past two years, Colorado requires you to demonstrate continued competency before it renews you, typically by completing a board-approved refresher course. So the rule is light for the working nurse and specific for the returning one: practice keeps you current; a long gap triggers a refresher.
The cycle and the fee
Colorado renews RN licenses biennially through the DORA online portal, during a renewal window that opens several weeks before your expiration date, you can only renew once that window is open.
On the fee, here’s a straight answer: Colorado’s renewal fee is set by DORA and has changed in recent years, and the department adjusts professional-license fees based on its cash-fund balance. Rather than print a figure that may already be out of date, the reliable move is to read the current amount in the DORA portal when you renew, it’s shown before you pay. That’s why the fee line above reads “not published” rather than a dollar figure this page can’t currently stand behind.
Colorado is a compact state
Colorado implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact on January 19, 2018. If Colorado is your primary state of residence, your RN license can be a multistate license, letting you practice in the other compact states without applying separately in each. That reaches across the Mountain West and Plains into compact neighbors. The privilege follows your legal residence, so it holds as long as Colorado stays home. Use the compact checker below to see exactly which states a Colorado license reaches.
Add your renewal deadline to your calendar
Enter your expiration date and download a calendar file. Your own calendar will remind you at 90, 60, 30, and 7 days out. We don't ask for your email, we store nothing, and the date never leaves your device.
Works with Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, and Outlook. This is a convenience, not a compliance service. Confirm your exact deadline with the Colorado Board of Nursing (DORA, Division of Professions and Occupations).
Where can you practice with your license?
The Nurse Licensure Compact lets a nurse who lives in a compact state hold one multistate license and practice in every other compact state. Pick where you live to see whether that's you, and where it reaches.
Member data from the NCSBN Nurse Licensure Compact map, verified July 2026. A multistate license requires the compact state to be your primary residence. This is a convenience, not legal advice. Confirm your status with your board or at nursecompact.com.