Joliet Junior College plans to have its long-awaited expanded Grundy County campus open in two years.

The Grundy County campus will be located at the intersection of Illinois Route 47 and Granville Avenue on the north side of Morris, across from Saratoga Elementary. The campus is scheduled to open for the fall 2028 semester.

“As the nation’s first public community college, JJC continues to invest in our future by expanding programs that support local industries and student success,” said Morris Mayor Chris Brown in a Facebook post.

The JJC Board of Trustees approved $2.55 million to buy 20 acres of land on the north side of Morris back in November, and architecture and construction should go out to bid by March 2027, according to a Shaw Local news article.

Grundy County currently sends about 1,500 students to JJC’s main Joliet campus on Houbolt Road each year.

JJC also has a City Center campus in downtown Joliet and a Romeoville campus on Romeo Road on the village’s west side. The school also has an agriculture center on Laraway Road in Will County.

“The recent approval of JJC’s Grundy County campus expansion marks a major milestone and reflects a key priority identified through Advancing Grundy,” reads a Facebook post from the Grundy Economic Development Council.

“As the nation’s first community college, we are incredibly excited to see Joliet Junior College’s presence continue to grow in Grundy County,” the post said.

Expansion of JJC into Morris has been under discussion since at least 2023, when it was announced at the Morris State of the City address that Grundy County business leaders would create an exploratory committee to help plan the expansion.

At the time, it was cited that Grundy County’s population increase and higher-than-average median household income made it a good place for JJC’s expansion.

The county’s growth since then has not slowed, as industry expands along Interstates 80 and 55.