The national endowment fund for higher education will almost double in size to $11 billion and provide capital funding for universities and vocational training facilities.

The Howard government established the $5 billion Higher Education Endowment Fund in last year's budget, before topping it up with an extra $1 billion.

The Rudd Government will add an extra $5 billion from this year's and last year's budget surpluses.

The new fund will not cap yearly allocations, unlike the previous fund which restricted spending to interest earned from the fund.

A new one-off payment of $500 million will also be distributed to universities this year to help them rebuild their infrastructure.

Private and public schools will receive an additional $62.5 million over four years to build new facilities, which they will be encouraged to share.

The $1 billion election commitment for computers in schools has been extended by an extra $200 million.