LC, SIUC Sign Transfer Agreement to Open More Pathways for Transfer Students

GODFREY - Officials from Southern Illinois University Carbondale visited Lewis and Clark Community College's Godfrey Campus, Thursday, March 5, 2026, for a signing ceremony to mark the addition of new transfer opportunities between the two institutions.

SIUC's Saluki Step Ahead Program allows community college students to apply to SIUC early - during their first year of community college - to secure a degree track and earn automatic admission into their SIUC program as juniors. Programs added through today's signing include:

• Accounting
• Business Administration
• Criminology & Criminal Justice
• Early Childhood Education
• Elementary Education
• Health Care Management
• History
• Industrial Management and Applied Engineering
• Information Technology
• Nursing (RN to BSN)
• Psychology
• Radiologic Sciences

LC President Ken Trzaska thanked the SIUC and LC teams for their work in securing the partnership.

"We are always looking for ways in which we can be better partners to one another, while supporting our students' educational journeys," Trzaska said. "Thank you all for the important work taking place behind the scenes to make these partnerships work the way they do."

Students take their first two years and graduate from Lewis and Clark, then have the option to finish at SIUC or finish their last two years of a four-year degree online through SIUC.

Students in the Saluki Step Ahead program not only save thousands on their four-year degree by finishing two years with Lewis and Clark, but they also get a $4,000 discount at SIUC their junior year, and another $4,000 discount their senior year of college.

"We want them to finish with you first; it's more economically feasible if they do that," said SIUC Chancellor Austin Lane. "That $8,000 is going to help them be able to finish without acquiring all this debt. We are fully committed to making sure that students from Lewis and Clark get a first-class transfer education and a research one top tier opportunity at Southern Illinois University Carbondale."

Learn more about the Saluki Step Ahead program at https://siu.edu/admissions/undergraduate/apply/transfer/step-ahead.php.

Check out LC's list of Transfer Agreements with SIUC, and others, at https://www.lc.edu/enrollment-registration/transfer-information/transfer-from-lc/index.html.