Launching the Regional Partnerships Facilitation Fund at La Trobe University, Minister for Higher Education and Skills Peter Hall said the fund would aim to increase higher education participation rates.

Mr Hall said $10 million will be “online” in the coming month, the next $10 million at the same time next year, and the money would be confined strictly to rural and regional areas. Harking back to his pre-politics career as a maths teacher, Mr Hall was quick to crunch numbers on the disadvantage rural and regional students face in gaining further education.

He said only 30 per cent of regional and rural school leavers were now in further education compared to 50 per cent of their metropolitan counterparts.

Mr Hall said bringing more higher education opportunities to rural areas meant skills remained in country Victoria.

“If you’re able to live at home while you study, then 70 per cent of those people will continue to live in that area and practise their profession in that area,” he

said.

But with guidelines on the grant application process only released yesterday Bendigo higher education providers have no concrete plans on what the state government funding will be used for if won.

La Trobe University Vice Chancellor Paul Johnson said any applications the Bendigo University made would be about increasing the number of higher education programs and creating links with local industry.