Colleges and universities north of the border to receive £100 million funding boost.

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Scottish colleges and universities will benefit immediately from anextra £100 million capital funding package it has been announced.

Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Fiona Hyslop saidthe announcement was an important signal to the sector. She added: “This government is serious about supporting our colleges anduniversities. We are determined that Scottish money, held on account atWestminster, should be used to meet Scottish priorities. That is why weare choosing to invest these funds in Scottish universities and colleges”.

The package will allow college projects that have been awaiting funding to proceed. A weighted sums formula will be used to calculate how the remaining sum is distributed among Scotland’s 43 Colleges.

Ms Hyslop explained: “The package will offer immediate support to colleges across the lengthand breadth of Scotland including projects at Anniesland, Langside andMotherwell. It will also allow progress to be made on forthcoming projectsat Dundee, Inverness, Forth Valley and Kilmarnock.”

Howard McKenzie, Acting Chief Executive Association of Scotlands Collegessaid: “We welcome this announcement with vigorous enthusiasm as its timing is,from our perspective, almost perfect. This funding means that projectsthat have been awaiting funding for some time can now progress, and thosethat are next in line can move further up the queue ““ benefitingeveryone.

“Ultimately, however, the real winners from todays announcement will beScotlands students who will see a direct benefit in terms of thefacilities and equipment available to them”

Chair of the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council, JohnMcClelland, said: “This additional investment by the Scottish Government is very welcome.It will help the Council to accelerate its capital programme, addressbacklog problems and provide modern, sustainable facilities in ourcolleges and universities, which are attractive to students andbusinesses”.