INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WOWO): Another 15 Indiana counties will be joining a Pre-K program for low-income families.

The On My Way Pre-K program started in Allen and four other counties in 2015, but Governor Eric Holcomb announced Wednesday that more than a dozen more counties, including Elkhart and Kosciusko, would be joining the program and expected to enroll children for the 2018/2019 school year.

Holcomb calls the expansion of the program a “strategic investment” in Indiana’s workforce and future. Since the program’s founding studies have shown that the kids enrolled made higher gains than their peers in important aspects of school readiness.

Counties approved for the program have to cover at least 5% of the state’s investment in that county’s program.