Ms Howells’ comments come after she announced a further £19m for the higher education sector, with £18.5m for estate maintenance and digital projects to reduce operating costs.
She also said a further £500,000 would be given to “support the international recruitment and promotional activities of Welsh universities”.
The extra funding comes after Ms Howells’ stated earlier this month that no additional money was available for the sector.
In response to this, she said “things move fast in politics” and the additional funds was “not money that’s been left over from the education budget”.
“I’m really pleased I’ve been able to secure it forward for the sector.”