Guaranteed Funding for USC Petrie Campus

Young people in the northern Brisbane and southern Moreton Bay regions will have access to state of the art facilities and a local tertiary education from 2020.

The Turnbull Government will guarantee funding for student places at the future Petrie Campus of the University of the Sunshine Coast.

The Member for Dickson Peter Dutton and the Member for Petrie Luke Howarth announced that they have secured future Budget funding of $69.4 million over three years from 2019-20.

The funding will provide for 1200 student bachelor places when the new campus opens in 2020, then 2400 bachelor places in 2021 and 3600 ongoing places from 2022.

Mr Dutton said the USC Petrie campus development was an important project for the region. “It will create jobs and revitalise local small businesses as well as making university education more accessible for local students.”

“Luke Howarth and I committed to give significant Federal support for this project. We have delivered $35 million in grant funding and a concessional loan for infrastructure projects. This helps guarantee student places and supports the local economy.”

“We said it would go ahead and it will,” Mr Dutton said.

Mr Howarth said he was excited about the opportunity the university would create for young people in the Petrie and Dickson electorates. “The project is somewhat out of sight-out of mind at the moment, but by 2020 – in just two years – having this new campus open will really help our young people study locally for the jobs of the future.”

USC’s Chief Operating Officer Dr Scott Snyder was informed of the funding guarantee in Canberra this week. “This is great news,” Dr Snyder said. “We are very, very pleased that the Federal Government has secured student places for the new campus so that young people in the Moreton Bay region can really engage in the knowledge economy and make the most of the opportunities it will present.”