Students Praise NS Liberal Promise to Introduce Graduate Student Scholarships
For immediate release
Halifax, Nova Scotia – Nova Scotia students strongly support yesterday’s Liberal Party platform commitment to introduce $3.7 million in graduate research scholarships.
“Nova Scotia needs to compete for graduate students to get the most from our universities,” said StudentsNS Executive Director Jonathan Williams. “This new scholarship program will help Nova Scotia to attract outstanding student minds to our Province and give our graduate students a much-needed boost.”
Since 2002, the number of graduate students in Nova Scotia has grown by just 22%, compared with 57% growth in Ontario. While Ontario’s sheer size contributes to this divergence, these figures nevertheless highlight the need for Nova Scotia to compete for graduate students.
“The longer that students study here, the more likely they are to stay. If we support graduate students properly, we can retain more of these highly educated individuals to help strengthen our economy and counteract population decline.”
From StudentsNS’ understanding, this new program would be similar to the Ontario Graduate Scholarship: offering up to $15,000 per year to 300 graduate students. “We’re really excited by this commitment from the Liberal Party,” said Dalhousie Association of Graduate Students VP External, Patrick Visintini. “This support would definitely help students make ends meet and make Nova Scotia a more attractive place to go to grad school.”
“Graduate students contribute to world-class research right here in Nova Scotia,” said Williams. “The Liberal Party is on the right track in supporting graduate students, though they must ensure students are included throughout the design of the program.”
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For more information or questions, please contact:
Jonathan Williams, StudentsNS Executive Director
(O) 902.422.4068
(C) 902.483.5480
Patrick Visintini, Dalhousie Association of Graduate Students Vice President External Advocacy
(C) 902 664 4162
Students Nova Scotia (StudentsNS), formerly the Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations, is a not-for-profit and non-partisan advocacy group that represents 87% of Nova Scotia university students. Our 37,471 members study at Acadia, Cape Breton, Dalhousie, Saint Mary’s, and St. Francis Xavier Universities and the Atlantic School of Theology.