Media Advisory: Chicagoland community colleges to join to SIU’s Saluki Step Ahead initiative

September 14, 2022

Media Advisory: Chicagoland community colleges to join to SIU’s Saluki Step Ahead initiative

CHICAGO – Southern Illinois University Carbondale will enter agreements with two Chicagoland community colleges on Friday, Sept. 16, to provide an affordable path to a bachelor’s degree for students with limited options. Reporters, photographs and news crews are invited to cover one or both events.

Prairie State College and College of DuPage will join Saluki Step Ahead, an initiative for place-bound community college graduates to earn their bachelor’s degrees remotely in select academic programs at a lower cost. It guarantees that the credit hours student earn at the community colleges will transfer to SIU, saving them time and money. With the addition of Prairie State and College of DuPage, eight Chicagoland colleges will have signed on to Saluki Step Ahead so far.

At 11 a.m., SIU Chancellor Austin A. Lane and Prairie State College President Michael Anthony will sign the agreement at in the atrium on the college’s main campus, 202 S. Halsted St., Chicago Heights, Illinois. (Parking for media and guests will be in lot A). At 3 p.m., Lane and College of DuPage President Brian W. Caputo will sign the agreement at Student Services Center, Room 2200, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn, IL 60137 (parking is available in the lots across from the north entrance to the building).

The Saluki Step Ahead signing ceremonies are part of Saluki Takeover Tour: Chicago, where SIU leaders, faculty, staff and students are enhancing connections in Chicago through meetings with several schools and receptions with alumni and friends. The Saluki Takeover culminates with SIU’s game against Northwestern at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 17.

The Saluki Takeover is one of many SIU Carbondale initiatives to provide Chicagoland students with access to an affordable, high-quality college education at a university with high research activity. The university is a proud partner of Hope Chicago, a program to provide a debt-free education to students of five Chicago high schools and one of their parents. For Illinois residents who qualify, SIU is closing financial gaps in tuition with the Saluki Commitment and Saluki Transfer Commitment.

This fall, SIU welcomed more than 1,500 freshmen—the largest class in six years—and will continue to recruit student from the Chicago area.

If you plan to attend either or both signings or would like to interview Chancellor Lane, please contact Jim Potter, at Jim.Potter@siu.edu or 314-972-3126.