Federal Budget and Higher Education
11 May 2011
La Trobe University has welcomed the Federal Government’s budget decision to double its Regional Load funding for universities which increases La Trobe’s share from $1.07m to more than $3.7m.
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Johnson, strongly praised the Government’s initiative, saying the additional funds would make a real difference to the quality of regional higher education in central and northern Victoria.
‘It acknowledges that regional communities deserve and should expect high-quality education provision. The Gillard Government is to be commended for this.’
Professor Johnson said the money was in addition to the already generous support received from its Education Investment Fund.
This has resulted in the extension of health education across regional Victoria with the development of a new $73 million facility in Bendigo. Other funding has led to the completion of a new $11m campus in Shepparton.
‘The Government has recognised the contribution of universities such as La Trobe by the manner in which they have supported regional higher education in this budget,’ Professor Johnson said.
La Trobe University is a leading provider of higher education to regional Victorians, educating more than 53% of Victoria’s regional higher education students.
Professor Johnson said the long-campaigned-for additional funding will be used to support the University's education programs.
‘La Trobe has demonstrated its world-class status through outstanding results in the recent ERA research rankings, and our degrees are more valued than ever before. This has been reflected in strong student first preferences across many programs,’ he said.
Building on this success, the University now plans to seek funds from the forthcoming Education Investment Fund regional funding round to refurbish teaching and research
facilities, establish a new Indigenous Student Centre, and collaborative student learning areas at the Bendigo Campus.
‘These will support science and engineering programs which are in high demand in regional Victoria,’ Professor Johnson said.
There are also plans to seek funding to develop new facilities to support expansion of the Sports Centre and Physical Education studies programs.
At the Mildura campus, the University needs to develop new collaborative teaching and learning space for the visual arts, graphic design and for nursing laboratories.
La Trobe Vice-Chancellor says funding plans will boost education in Melbourne’s north
La Trobe University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Johnson has supported the Federal Government’s higher education budget announcements of funding for infrastructure, research and uncapping of student numbers.
‘It acknowledges that regional communities deserve and should expect high-quality education provision. The Gillard Government is to be commended for this.’
Professor Johnson said the money was in addition to the already generous support received from its Education Investment Fund, such as a boost to science education and research, and funding to enable the University to start work on its $80 million La Trobe Institute of Molecular Science on the Melbourne campus in Bundoora.
Professor Johnson said the announcements will also help the University expand its community outreach programs.
These plan to establish increased links with schools throughout Melbourne’s northern region to improve pathways into higher education for local secondary students. Professor Johnson said the additional funding will be used to support the University's education programs.
‘La Trobe has demonstrated its world-class status through outstanding results in the recent ERA research rankings, and our degrees are more valued than ever before. This has been reflected in strong student first preferences across many programs,’ he said.
Professor Johnson said the budget places higher education back on the agenda. ‘It provides a more effective Youth Allowance and scholarship program, targeting students from disadvantaged backgrounds.’
He said it also funds universities for all students they enrol from 2012 with more realistic indexing measure to maintain the value of those funds.
‘It also raises funding for the indirect costs of research to 50% of the competitive research grant pool. All of this is good news,’ he said.
‘La Trobe is the key provider of higher education in Melbourne’s north with a strong commitment to educational equity and a clear strategy to increase educational participation for people from the local community and in regional Victoria.’
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