Mid-West university students will soon have access to a greater range of study options closer to home, following the opening of new classrooms and facilities at the Geraldton Universities Centre.

Regional Development Minister Terry Redman opened the $3 million Stage 2 of the Geraldton Universities Centre, funded by the State Government’s Royalties for Regions program.

“Stage 2 will include additional teaching rooms and IT facilities to help support the centre’s growing student population across a diverse range of study areas such as accounting, journalism, psychology and education,” Mr Redman said.

“The Geraldton Universities Centre had a record number of enrolments this year with more than 80 new first-year students and this number is expected to grow to 200 by the mid-year intake.

“With Western Australia’s population projected to grow to 5.4 million people by 2056, we need to ensure there are plenty of services for people to want to move to regional WA and educational opportunities can be a critical factor in deciding where to live.”

Education Minister Peter Collier said the Mid-West community’s commitment to the centre was key to its success.

“It is locally governed and managed which means services meet the needs of the community. The State Government is committed to the development of higher education across regional WA and we have also made significant investments in Albany, Northam and the Pilbara,” Mr Collier said.

Stage 2 of the Geraldton Universities Centre is the result of $3million of Royalties for Regions funding through the Mid West Investment Plan, which is delivering $220million to implement major infrastructure projects and initiatives in the region over five years.

Since the program started in 2008, Royalties for Regions has allocated more than $4.2billion to more than 3,500 regional development projects across regional WA.

Geraldton Universities Centre is partnered with Central Queensland University, Charles Sturt University and the University of Southern Queensland.