Elyria mulls continued funding for LCCC scholarship program

Elyria City Council will consider continuing to fund its Skill City program, a partnership with Lorain County Community College that provides scholarships to local students. The college has asked Elyria to provide up to $100,000 in funding for the program in 2026. This is the same amount the city committed in 2025, although Elyria Community Development Director Ashley Scott said that only about $40,000 of that amount was spent in 2025. Councilman Phil Tollett, D-at Large, asked if the remaining $60,000 would be "carried over" from 2025, meaning that the city would actually only have to pay $40,000 in new money to the program. Scott said that it would. On Monday, Council's Finance and Community Development Joint Committee voted to send the proposal forward to Council as a whole and recommend its approval. Cindy Kushner, LCCC director of school and community partnerships, presented the committee with an update on how the money the city gives to the program has been used in the past. "I want to make sure I express our deep, deep gratitude for this support," Kushner said. "It has literally changed lives. We know that our students will drop out for the smallest little gap, and then it is really hard to get them back. So this has been really meaningful to us and the number of individuals that you (the city) have impacted." Since the program that is now known as Skill City started in 2021, it has assisted 285 local students, with an average age of 29, in attending classes at LCCC. Of those students, 169 have graduated from a certificate program and they have earned a total of 229 credentials. "The idea of these programs is they are short-term in nature, but they stack," Kushner said. "So the individuals are expected to earn as they learn. … It has been very popular, and we have found that that is how people want to learn. With technology changing, it is a great way for people to get their education." The city has distributed about $322,000 in total scholarships through Skill City, with the average student in the program receiving $1,167. Kushner said the program is used as a "gap scholarship," meaning LCCC applies all other possible financial aid for a student before it grants them any money from Skill City. Skill City scholarships apply only to educational areas that the college has found to be in high demand in Elyria and the surrounding area, including advanced manufacturing, nursing and finance. "We did narrow that down to about 15 high-impact, high-opportunity areas for the city of Elyria and Northeast Ohio," Kushner said. "So where the jobs are considered to have high opportunity. And not just that foot-in-the-door job, but to be able to grow with it and have that family-sustaining wage." In response to a question from Council President Donna Mitchell, D-6th Ward, Kushner said that the college also provides services like job placement help and resume reviews for students after graduation. The proposal will go before Council as a whole for final approval. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.