Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor has congratulated the Country Universities Centre at Goulburn on welcoming its 160^th student through the doors.

Mr Taylor said after its first year of operation, student numbers were growing rapidly, with the most popular courses being nursing, education and psychology.

“The Federal Government has backed the Goulburn uni centre to the tune of $830,000 and we are very keen to see the service continue as a support for regional uni students,” Mr Taylor said.

Mr Taylor met recently with first year psychology student Dianne Whittle (pictured) who explained how the centre was benefitting her personally.

“Returning to study was a daunting thought for me,” Ms Whittle said. “I would have been lost during my first year and quite easily could have dropped out when it all got too hard.

“Here I have access to a quiet, well-resourced place to study and work, as well as practical assistance with study skills, assessments, referencing and a whole lot of supports such as navigating the university website and working out my timetable.”

Centre manager Ashlee Jones said of the students using the centre, 130 were from Goulburn, as well as a number from Crookwell, Marulan, Gunning and Braidwood.

“The students are studying at many different unis, 22 in fact, with the main providers being University of Canberra, Charles Sturt University, University of Wollongong and University of New England,” Miss Jones said.

“What students find here is that they can jump on remotely to their own university system, instead of driving all the way to Canberra, Sydney or Wollongong.”