Carl Sandburg College and Knox College have announced a dual admission program for students who intend to pursue a bachelor's degree at Knox upon completing an associate degree at Sandburg.

The agreement was signed by Sandburg President Lori Sundberg and Knox President Teresa Amott at a news conference Monday, May 5, 2014 at Sandburg. It will go into effect with students applying for enrollment at Knox in the fall of 2015.

Students who meet the dual admission program's requirements are offered a guaranteed pathway for admission and enrollment with junior standing, as well as a scholarship at Knox, upon graduating from Sandburg.

Students can apply for the dual admission program as early as their senior year in high school through the beginning of their sophomore year of college (30 semester hours). Students accepted to the program must maintain a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average.

Benefits to Sandburg students enrolled in the dual admission program with Knox include:

• A reserved place in the Knox class, provided the student completes the requirements of the dual admission program
• A transfer student scholarship from Knox of at least $10,000 per academic year. Students with higher levels of academic achievement are eligible for Phi Theta Kappa Scholarships or Sandburg-Lombard Scholarships that are currently valued at $15,000 per academic year.
• Regular meetings with Knox representatives
• Periodic information about Knox via mail, email and its website
• Invitations to participate in campus events and utilize library resources at Knox.

The arrangement is the latest among several dual admission or transfer agreements signed recently by Sandburg with area four-year colleges and universities, including St. Ambrose University, Monmouth College and the University of Illinois Springfield-Peoria Center.

Carl Sandburg College serves more than 3,000 students throughout three locations in west-central Illinois, offers seven university transfer programs, 16 associate in applied science programs, 18 certificate programs, six advanced certificate programs and recently was named as the top community college its size in the country for digital technology. For more information about Carl Sandburg College, visit www.sandburg.edu.

Knox College is a nationally-ranked liberal arts college with 1,400 students from 48 states and 51 countries. Recognized as one of the most diverse and international colleges in America, Knox also is one of just 40 schools selected for the book Colleges That Change Lives. Knox's "Old Main" is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.

More information about the dual admission program is available from Rick Eddy, director of admissions and records at Carl Sandburg College, 309-341-5234 or reddy@sandburg.edu.