Colleges are in for a cash windfall worth €14.25m.
Education Minister Joe McHugh said he wants to see institutes of technology and further education colleges deepen linkages and expand options for students to provide the skills they need for a changing world.
Most of the Government investment, €11.8m, is going towards technological university development.
The funding is being provided to TU Dublin, the three existing TU development consortia and for the first time to a newly proposed TU consortium formed by Athlone IT and Limerick IT.
In particular, Minister McHugh's pleased to see the deepening of the connections within the Connacht Ulster Alliance between Letterkenny IT, GMIT and IT Sligo as they work towards their goal of setting up a technological university.
The remaining €2.45m is for other collaborative projects in line with the objectives of Project Ireland 2040 and initial teacher education policy.
