The Wexford SETU Campus is set to benefit from €4.5 million in funding to support Higher Education Institutions that have multiple campuses in remote areas.
The new Distributed Campus Support Fund has been established to support supplying accommodation for students.
The funding was announced by Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris TD who spoke to South East Radio today.
“This new funding strengthens and supports campuses dispersed in our regions. This ensures that HEIs that have multiple campuses can boost and maximise the impact of their campuses in the regions. Dispersed campuses often have higher costs associated with delivering education. This funding ensures that regional higher education campuses like SETU in the South East.”
The funding will be distributed to relevant HEIs. This provides HEIs with the flexibility to determine how best sustainability can be secured across their campuses, taking advantage of the strengths of individual campuses.
HEIs have been invited to submit their own suggestions with how best to provide student accommodation. Minister Harris told Jim Kealy on Morning Mix that he expects to hear from each University by March of this year.
Minister Harris went on to outline how providing suitable student accommodation will help to alleviate the issues within the private rental market.
“22,800 students were surveyed, of those, 36% who are living away from home, are in private rental accommodation and not student accommodation. By providing suitable housing this will free up the market for private renters.
The Minister also announced the creation of a new Strategic Support Fund of €1.2m. This is a continuation of an existing support fund which can be deployed to support vulnerable institutions.
