Instead, the plan is to educate with or without a multi-million dollar campus.

The university has lodged an application for a five-year lease with Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) to use the Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre (AELEC) and the sports dome for industry-led classes to start in March 2021.

Ms Heywood told the Leader there's no need for capital investment right now.

"That's what's novel about this, we aren't building a big university campus and waiting until it fills - we're using existing facilities with bandwidth to co-locate with specialist expertise," she said.

"The project is not dependent on the ability to raise money to create capital infrastructure, we think it's important that we can deliver education now.

"Tamworth's university doesn't need to look like everyone else's university."

The project, that once hinged on a $10 million commitment from the federal government, will push ahead with or without the financial support of Member for New England Barnaby Joyce and his colleagues in education.

Enrolment has opened for six courses designed to meet local industry needs from business studies, to community welfare and wellbeing, creative industries, event management, sports equine management and sports science.

A campus masterplan and design will be completed in the next 12 months, with a view to break ground in 2022 to 2023.

"With the kind of investment we are anticipating it won't be one building, it might be a series of buildings from accommodation to interactive classroom suites," Ms Heywood said.

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While some classes could be run out of AELEC and the sports dome if the lease is approved by TRC at Tuesday night's meeting, others will continue online, or out of the UNE building on Fitzroy Street.

A new partnership with the Tamworth Regional Conservatorium of Music means Bachelor of Music students can be tutored by highly experienced staff.

The university campus is expected to be a $100 million project by the time it's finished and Ms Heywood said she hoped the federal government would get on board soon.

"We certainly need to secure another quantum of funding and at the moment that is a dialogue with the federal government," she said.

"I'm sure we will get there, but we're not waiting for it, we're moving on and developing and strengthening the case to make it easier for everyone to commit."

The working group was ratified at a steering committee meeting on Tuesday.

The Leader contacted Mr Joyce for comment.