A SENATE inquiry will look into the adequacy of support for rural students wanting to go on to higher education. 
 

The inquiry, sponsored jointly by the Nationals and the Greens, was ticked off by the Senate on Tuesday and will report by the end of August this year.

The move comes amid growing concern about the Federal Government's plan to change the work requirements for independent youth allowance from the start of next year.

Currently, they can earn a minimum of $19,532, which can usually be done within a year, to qualify for the independent allowance.

Under the proposed changes, students currently doing a gap year before going to university will now be forced to work for an average of 30 hours a week for 18 months before qualifying for the independent allowance.

This means they will have to defer their studies for another year to qualify.

Nationals Senator Fiona Nash and Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the Coalition and the Greens would still seek to amend the plan when legislation comes to the Senate within the next week.

They want the start date for the new eligibility criteria put back a year until January 2011 so that current “gap year'' students aren't disadvantaged.

“Moving the goal posts halfway through the game for this year's gap year students is just not fair play,'' Senator Hanson-Young said.

The Senate inquiry will look at the impact of proposed changes to youth allowance as well as a range of other factors affecting access to tertiary education for rural students in the cities and metropolitan students attending regional institutions.