V-c call heeded in reforms

The Australian government has tempered some of its more contentious plans for the reform of higher education with a promise of an extra A$1.5 bil worth of funding for higher education over the next four years, plus over A$660 mil extra/yr from 2007. In tabling the concessions, higher education minister Brendan Nelson has heeded calls from vice-chancellors to provide more funding for regional universities, modify plans for scholarships and to ease restrictions on universities over-enrolling beyond government quotas.