Each student who graduates from SIUC must have accumulated a minimum of 60 semester hours of Senior Institution credit. Credit earned at any accredited four year institution, plus credit earned for work experience, technical/professional training from non-accredited educational institutions, CLEP, military training, and proficiency examination credit awarded by accredited senior institutions, qualifies as Senior Institution credit.

Residence credit is granted only for SIU courses for which a student has registered and for which a satisfactory grade has been recorded. Credit earned at either the Carbondale or Edwardsville campus qualifies as SIU residence credit.

For on-campus students, the residence requirement can be satisfied in one of two ways: a total of 90 semester hours of credit taken in any chronological order at SIUC, SIUE or a combination thereof; or the last 30 semester hours in residence at either of the two institutions. However, for students enrolled in approved off-campus programs, the residence requirement will be satisfied on completion of all courses of the specialization.