For the fall 2011 semester, 3,359 of the 15,000 undergraduates at SIU made the Dean’s List, or 22 percent of the undergraduate population.

Students who make the Dean’s List meet or exceed the standards set by their specific college while taking at least 12 credit hours. The minimum standard could vary from a grade point average of at least a 3.25, at the College of Engineering, to a minimum of a 3.75 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

In spring 2011, 3,479 of the 14,050 undergraduate students made the Dean’s List, almost 25 percent. The fall 2010 semester brought in 3,674 Dean’s List students of 15,137 undergraduates. That semester had 24 percent of the undergraduate population on the list, 2 percent more than last semester’s.

Chancellor Rita Cheng said the slight drop could be attributed to the smaller amount of juniors and seniors in the previous year.

“We had more first-year students, so I’m thinking that it’s harder for first-year students to acclimate to college,” she said. “It could clearly be the slight change just because of the composition of undergraduates.”

Of Eastern Illinois University’s 9,657 undergraduates enrolled in the fall 2011 semester, 1,128 made the Dean’s List, or almost 11.7 percent. To make the list at EIU, students must have at least a 3.8 GPA on a 4.0 scale with at least 12 credit hours.

Some students at SIU say they believe making the Dean’s List could help advance them in their future careers.

Sam Milligan, a senior from Benton studying creative writing, has frequently made the Dean’s List but said he doesn’t think it’s going to do much for his occupation.

He said the people he will need to impress are publishers, and for graduate school, the admissions counselors will want to see his portfolio rather than grade point average. He said he still works hard in school anyway.

“I like to learn, so I’m not going to blow off my classes,” Milligan said. “It makes my mom happy, and some schools like an Ivy League would care.”

Kara Cox, a sophomore from Oakland studying agriculture education and animal science, said she puts a lot of pressure on herself to make the Dean’s List every semester. She said it’s a good resume booster and shows she’s a hard worker.

“I don’t know how much it will help me (in my career),” Cox said. “I think it will help me stand out in the interview process, but after a few years, who’s really going to care if I made the Dean’s List? Sometimes I wonder.”