By: Ashmar Mandou

Joined by school and local officials, Governor Pat Quinn announced a $4.5 million investment from his Illinois Jobs Now! program to build a ten-classroom addition at Morton College.

Morton College is one of the largest two-year public Hispanic-serving institutions and the new addition to the campus will help to accommodate a steadily increasing enrollment that has reached the capacity of the Cicero campus.

“This investment will help Morton College meet the needs of its current and future student body so graduates can receive a good education and make a difference in the world,” said Gov. Quinn. “Building these classrooms will create jobs and support local economic growth, while improving the educational experience at Morton College.”

The Morton College grant totals $4,549,500 and will be used to construct a 13,250-square-foot addition to the existing Building C on campus. The two-story addition would add ten new classrooms that will house general education courses and allow the college to expand its career and technical education programs.

“Investing in education and creating jobs is essential to improving our communities in the region,” state Senator Martin Sandoval said. “I applaud Governor Quinn for his leadership.”

The current Morton College campus opened in 1975. In May, 2009, Morton College was selected to be part of the Achieving the Dream Initiative, a national effort to help community college students succeed, a particularly minority and low-income students. Governor Quinn’s Illinois Jobs Now! program is supporting more than 400,000 jobs over six years.

Just last week, Governor Quinn announced an investment in Chicago Public Schools totaling $89 million which is also from Illinois Jobs Now!