Jacksonville Promise covers tuition for local kids at College for Kids

Jacksonville Promise stepped in to cover College for Kids tuition for families in need, a move that could decide whether a child spends summer on a Lincoln Land Community College campus or stays home because of cost.

Lincoln Land says College for Kids will offer more than 100 summer camps in art, culinary, theater, science, gardening, career exploration and other subjects. The camps are grouped by the grade a child will enter for the 2026-2027 school year, and the 2026 session is scheduled to run June 8 through July 16 in Springfield, Jacksonville and Litchfield.

In Jacksonville, LLCC has long used the downtown campus at 32 N. Central Park Plaza to host summer learning. A 2025 release listed camps there such as American Sign Language, Theater Adventures, Web Wizards, Math Magicians and Culinary Brunch Basics, all part of LLCC’s effort to provide recreational, enrichment and lifelong-learning classes for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Jacksonville Promise said its support fits the organization’s place-based model. The scholarship program serves students who attend school within the Jacksonville, Franklin, Meredosia-Chambersburg, Triopia and Waverly district boundaries, and public, private and home-schooled students are eligible. The group has said it supported more than 100 scholarships in a recent year, and a prior scholarship award funded by Apex Clean Energy and Lincoln Land Wind was worth $3,750.

That history matters for Morgan County families because summer learning is often one of the first extras to get cut when budgets tighten. Paying the tuition can keep children enrolled in science, theater or cooking classes, while also giving parents a local option for childcare and structured enrichment close to home.

The partnership also extends Jacksonville Promise’s reach beyond the college-age scholarships the group is known for. By helping younger students get on campus now, the organization is building familiarity with Lincoln Land before the college decision ever arrives, and giving more children in Jacksonville a low-cost entry point into summer learning.