Half a billion pounds will be pumped into shared and integrated education over the next decade.
Secretary of State Theresa Villiers yesterday announced a list of projects that will receive an immediate boost of around £43 million.
This cash will fund the construction of shared education campuses at Limavady, Moy and Ballycastle and integrated school projects at Braidside, Drumlins and Roe Valley.
The funding is being allocated under the Stormont House and Fresh Start Agreements.
Money will also also allow an additional 17 shared and integrated school proposals to advance to planning, including the second tranche of the Executive's shared campus programme which will see development of projects in Fermanagh and Antrim.
The Brookeborough Shared Education Campus will involve St Mary's PS and Brookeborough PS, while the Partners in Learning Shared Education Campus will involve Duneane PS, Toombridge and Moneynick PS, Randalstown.
Existing shared education campus and integrated school projects will be accelerated with more places made available and improvements to accommodation and facilities.
The money is the first to be released from the Fresh Start allocation of up to £50m a year for 10 years, and is designed to unblock through investment in education and early years nursery provision "one of the most persistent obstacles towards a shared future for Northern Ireland's communities".
Ms Villiers said many of the schools to benefit are oversubscribed and wished to refurbish buildings and improve facilities.
"The Stormont House and Fresh Start financial package will support progress straight away and also paves the way for sustained funding over the next decade," she said.
"Anyone thinking of sending their children to an integrated school should be reassured that this is just the beginning of a substantial investment programme. Existing schools will be strengthened and new schools created, ultimately benefiting not just the pupils that attend them but the whole of Northern Ireland."
Executive ministers also welcomed the announcement.
First Minister Arlene Foster said the financial package "allows us to move ahead at pace to deliver more shared schools right across Northern Ireland" and offer facilities "providing a new learning experience in an environment that will encourage respect for all".
Education minister John O'Dowd said many more communities would now see the tangible outworkings of political progress.
"The completion of these projects will see an additional 3,000 pupils being educated together in shared campus schools and enable increases in enrolment at integrated schools of over 1,400 pupils," he said.
