Southern Cross University will hope to attract more students after receiving $15 million in federal higher education funding.

The grant, which will be rolled out over four years, including $9.2 million in 2021 to deliver short courses and national priority places, was announced on Friday.

SCU Vice Chancellor Professor Tyrone Carlin said the funding would help deliver courses in health, psychology, teaching, information technology, business, regenerative agriculture and engineering.

“Southern Cross has a strong track record of providing high-quality courses for excellent students and this funding is a welcome addition to that momentum,” Professor Carlin said.

“With this funding boost we can encourage even more students to the region, which is terrific for Southern Cross, as well as local jobs and businesses.”

Minister Industry, science and Technology, Karen Andrews, said the investment will help Australians gain the skills and qualifications needed to drive our economic recovery.

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“We have created up to 30,000 additional university places for Australian students through our Budget funding and Job-ready Graduates package,” Mrs Andrews said.

“This is delivering on our plan to support more Australians to study degrees that lead to jobs.”