In December the Federal Government announced that university funding would be frozen at 2017 levels for two years and linked growth from 2020 to performance and national population levels, resulting in $2.2 billion being cut from university coffers.

“From next year the cuts will be begin to bite as universities will no longer be able to absorb the costs and will have to take fewer students,” Prof Craven said.

“There are no significant changes to student numbers in Ballarat in 2018. Demand for courses has been consistently steady this year, and the number of students who have enrolled reflects this.”

Prof Craven said ACU remained committed to the Ballarat campus, having invested heavily in buildings for the newly-established physiotherapy school and state-of-the-art paramedicine labs.

Federation University vice chancellor Professor Helen Bartlett said the cuts were unfair.

“We need the Federal Government to recognise the disproportionate and unfair impact this funding freeze can have on regional universities such as FedUni, and work with us to find a good outcome for the region,” she said.

Federal member for Ballarat Catherine King said people in regional areas were already less likely than their city counterparts to attend university, and the university funding cuts threatened to widen the education gap even further.

“In 2009 the then Labor government uncapped university places, resulting in a 55 per cent growth in university enrolments from the poorest fifth of Australian households and a 48 per cent growth in regional and rural students at university,” she said.

“This was a boon for Ballarat residents and our regional universities such as ACU and Federation University, whose students are often the first of their families to attend university”.

Ms King said the cuts would hit regional universities hardest.