1.2 Eligibility Routes and Approved Training
Key Takeaways
- Most first-time students use route E1 after a state-approved program and must pass both exam parts within 24 months of Credentia receiving the application.
- 3 CCR 716-1.11 sets a 75-hour minimum, including at least 16 classroom hours and at least 16 clinical hours under an RN or LPN; the first 16 hours are pre-clinical before any client contact.
- Clinical facility orientation is not part of the 75 hours, and the curriculum must include awareness of the Colorado Nurse Aide Practice Act.
- Route E12 (facility-incorporated skills testing) is written-only after you confirm the program with the Board; E8 requires a 1-year wait after revocation or a 2-year wait after surrender, plus retrain, a Board letter, and NAAC review.
- Criminal history does not automatically disqualify a Colorado CNA applicant; the Board reviews cases individually. Do not invent a CNA-specific fingerprint statute.
Why the route letter matters
Credentia will not put you on a calendar until it accepts your eligibility route. Colorado uses letter codes — E1, E3, E4, E5, E6, E7, E8, E11, and E12. The letter decides which documents you upload, whether you take both parts or written only, and — for some nursing-student and licensed-nurse routes — how many attempts you get. Applying under the wrong letter wastes a non-refundable fee and can burn part of your 24-month testing window.
The Colorado Board of Nursing (Department of Regulatory Agencies, Division of Professions and Occupations) approves training programs and issues the certificate. Credentia only tests. 3 CCR 716-1.11 is the Board rule that sets the minimum training program. A school brochure is not the rule.
The 24-month clock and attempts (preview)
For new candidates, you must pass both the knowledge exam and the Skills Evaluation within 24 months from the date Credentia receives your application — not from the day you finish class, and not from the day you first create a login. If the clock runs out, you start over.
Standard candidates have 3 attempts per part. Fail either part three times, or be scheduled three times without becoming licensed because of fails or absences, and you must complete another approved training program and retake both parts. Routes E3 and E4 are stricter: the handbook Exam Results page says those routes get only ONE attempt; a fail means retrain and reapply under route E0 (handbook wording). Two no-shows remove the application; you re-apply. Chapter 2 covers scoring and retakes in full. Learn the clock now so you do not pick a route that gives you one shot when you thought you had three.
Eligibility routes at a glance
| Route | Who it is for | What you prove | What you test |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | New candidate from a state-approved nurse aide program | Program completion | Written/Oral + Skills |
| E3 | Nursing or psychiatric technician student never licensed | 5 semester credits of nursing fundamentals | Both parts; handbook: one attempt |
| E4 | LPN, RN, or LPT with active or expired license | License or transcript | Both parts; handbook: one attempt |
| E5 | Trained outside the United States or territories | Translated transcript showing 5 semester credits (or equivalent) of fundamentals | Both parts |
| E6 | Trained in another state, no current CNA certificate | Proof of that state's approved program | Both parts |
| E7 | Licensed nurse with active discipline | File goes to the Nurse Aide Advisory Committee (NAAC) | After NAAC review |
| E8 | Colorado CNA revoked or surrendered | Wait 1 year after revocation or 2 years after surrender; retrain within 2 years; letter to the Board; NAAC review | After Board/NAAC clearance |
| E11 | Reinstating by examination | Fewer than 8 paid hours of nursing-care activities in the past 24 months, or a lapsed certificate that requires the exam | Competency exam as the Board requires |
| E12 | Training program that incorporates skills testing into the course | Confirm the program with the Board | Written only |
There is no "I watched YouTube videos" route. E1 is the path for most first-time Colorado students.
E1 — state-approved program
Finish a Board-approved nurse aide training program. The school usually helps you gather completion paperwork. You still create the Credentia account yourself and upload what Credentia asks for. E1 candidates take both parts and must finish both within 24 months of application receipt.
E3 and E4 — nursing students and licensed nurses
E3 is for students who completed at least 5 semester credits of nursing fundamentals and have never been licensed as a nurse or psych tech. Attach the transcript that shows those credits.
E4 is for people who hold or held an LPN, RN, or LPT license. Attach the license or the transcript.
These routes can skip a full CNA program only if the fundamentals (or license) actually match the handbook. They do not skip the skills test unless a different route (E12) applies. Read the one-attempt warning again before you pay: the handbook Exam Results page treats E3 and E4 as a single shot.
E5 and E6 — trained elsewhere
Foreign-trained candidates (E5) need a translated transcript that shows the 5-semester-credit fundamentals equivalent. Do not upload an untranslated diploma and hope Credentia will guess.
Other-state trained aides who are not currently certified (E6) prove they finished that state's approved program. Currently certified out-of-state aides who want to work in Colorado usually use endorsement under the Occupational Credential Portability Program (Chapter 2) — that is not a first-time exam route. E6 is for people who trained elsewhere and do not hold a current certificate.
E7 and E8 — discipline, revocation, surrender
An RN, LPN, or LPT with active discipline (E7) does not walk onto the test calendar. The Nurse Aide Advisory Committee (NAAC) reviews the file first.
E8 is for a Colorado CNA whose certificate was revoked or surrendered:
- Revoked: wait 1 year
- Surrendered: wait 2 years
- Then retrain (within 2 years of the application), send a letter to the Board, and wait for NAAC review
Do not apply on E1 and hope the Board will not notice a revocation. The wait, the retrain, the Board letter, and NAAC are all required.
E11 — reinstating by examination
Use E11 if you are already in the Colorado system and need the exam again because you have not worked 8 paid hours of nursing-care activities in the past 24 months, or your certificate lapsed in a way that requires competency evaluation. Renewal without an exam (the 8-hour attestation on an active cycle) is Chapter 2. E11 is the exam door back in.
E12 — facility-incorporated skills testing
Some facilities fold the skills evaluation into the training program. Those graduates apply for the written exam only. Confirm the program with the Board before you skip skills. If the facility is not recognized as an E12 program, Credentia will still expect a skills seat. The facility does not print a Colorado certificate.
Approved training: 3 CCR 716-1.11
Colorado's minimum nurse aide training program is 75 hours, including:
- At least 16 hours of classroom instruction
- At least 16 hours of clinical under an RN or LPN
That is a floor, not a marketing brochure. Many schools advertise 40 classroom + 28 lab + 16 clinical (84 hours) or a similar split. Those splits can be fine as a school design. They are not the Board's published minimum. Do not tell an evaluator or a friend "the Board requires 40/28/16." The Board requires 75 hours with those 16/16 floors, taught and supervised as the rule describes.
Clinical must be under an RN or LPN. A well-meaning CNA preceptor can coach you, but the regulatory supervisor of clinical time is a licensed nurse. If a program cannot name the RN or LPN responsible for clinical, it is not meeting Rule 1.11.
The first 16 hours are pre-clinical
Before any client contact, the program must deliver 16 pre-clinical hours covering:
- Communication
- Infection control
- Safety and emergency procedures, including the Heimlich maneuver
- Promoting independence
- Respecting clients' rights
Those 16 hours are not optional orientation and they are not "we will cover it on the floor." If a program puts students in rooms on day one, it is not following Rule 1.11. The Heimlich requirement is specific: emergency content in that first block includes choking response, not just fire exits.
What does not count toward 75 hours
Clinical facility orientation is not part of the 75 hours. The badge photo, computer login, parking map, and fire-exit walk do not replace classroom or clinical time. A program that pads the 75 hours with orientation is shorting the training the Board required.
Required curriculum topics
The program must teach basic nursing skills, personal care, psychosocial and mental health, care of cognitively impaired clients, basic restorative services, clients' rights, and awareness of the Colorado Nurse Aide Practice Act. "Awareness of the Practice Act" is a Board requirement, not a nice extra. Later chapters cover scope under 3 CCR 716-1.10, including supervision and expanded-scope tasks. You should leave class knowing that Colorado CNA practice is a regulated act, not a job title your employer invented.
Criminal history is not an automatic bar
The Division of Professions and Occupations FAQ states that criminal history does not automatically disqualify a CNA applicant. The Board reviews cases individually. Answer screening questions honestly. Hiding a case is a worse problem than the case itself.
After you are certified, convictions must be reported to the Board within 45 days, and your Healthcare Professions Profile Program (HPPP) information must stay current. That is a reporting duty, not a testing-vendor rule.
This guide does not invent a CNA-specific fingerprint statute. RN and LPN fingerprint workflows appear on DPO pages; a CNA-specific fingerprint mandate was not listed on the DPO fingerprinting page used for this guide. Follow the current Board application instructions. Do not assume you must — or must not — be fingerprinted based on another license type.
Colorado scenario
Luis completed an ADN fundamentals course (6 semester credits) in Pueblo and has never been licensed. He applies under E3, not E1. He uploads the transcript showing the fundamentals credits and treats the handbook's one-attempt warning as real. His classmate Jasmine finished a 75-hour Board-approved community-college program — she is E1, has three attempts, and must pass both parts within 24 months of Credentia receiving her application. Their friend DeShawn trained in a hospital program the Board confirmed as E12; he pays for written only and does not book a skills seat. A fourth classmate, Ana, saw a school flyer that said "Colorado requires 40 + 28 + 16." Her instructor corrected her: that split is the school's design. The Board minimum is 75 hours with at least 16 classroom and 16 clinical under an RN or LPN, a 16-hour pre-clinical block before client contact, and no orientation hours inside the 75.
Traps
- Using E1 after a revocation (that is E8).
- Treating 40+28+16 as the Board minimum.
- Counting facility orientation toward 75 hours.
- Skipping skills on a program that is not confirmed E12.
- Assuming a misdemeanor automatically bars you — or assuming it never matters. The Board reviews the file.
- Inventing a CNA fingerprint statute because RN applicants are printed.
Under 3 CCR 716-1.11, what is the Colorado Board of Nursing minimum length of an approved nurse aide training program?
What must happen during the first 16 hours of a Colorado-approved nurse aide program, before any client contact?
A graduate of a Colorado facility program that incorporates skills testing into training (eligibility route E12) should expect to apply for which exam part?