StudentsNS celebrates government partnership with Junior Achievement of Nova Scotia

Halifax, N.S. – Today, the Nova Scotia Government announced a partnership with Junior Achievement of Nova Scotia that will ensure Nova Scotia students are provided with information about student assistance beginning in grade nine. StudentsNS celebrates the government’s partnership as it will mean that are students are better equipped to make financial decisions surrounding post-secondary education.

“Growing up in this province, it would have helped me to have important financial information earlier so I could effectively plan my post-secondary journey,” said Chair of StudentsNS, Fallis Thompson. “As students, we are always looking for ways to pay for our education and it is important we know about student assistance earlier.”

Especially with the cost of education increasing, every student must have accurate information surrounding the opportunities to finance their education. This, however, does not remove the responsibility of government to make post-secondary education more affordable for our students. Direct investments into the system are still needed at the post-secondary level.

“It is our mandate at StudentsNS to ensure that Nova Scotia has a accessible, affordable, post-secondary system that is of the highest quality,” Nick Head-Petersen, Executive Director said. “A strong student assistance program is essential to ensure all students have the opportunity to attend post-secondary education.”

StudentsNS has consistently prioritized student assistance investments and has achieved results. Over the past three years, StudentsNS has successfully advocated for the grant to loan ratio to increase from 30/70 to 40/60, increases to the weekly maximum student assistance allowed, and the elimination of interest on provincial student loans.

In addition to this advocacy work, StudentsNS published a report about transforming the student assistance program in 2013 that can be found here. This StudentNS report called for exactly what the government has partnered with Junior Achievement to do: “deliver timely, accurate information on post-secondary education and student financial assistance to students within Nova Scotia’s public education system.”

This partnership will ensure the proper information about student assistance is delivered to students when they are beginning to think about post-secondary education and allow them to make appropriate plans to achieve their goals.

FOR INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT

Nick Head-Petersen, Executive Director, StudentsNS
Email: director@studentsns.ca
Phone: 902 293 7232

Or

Fallis Thompson, Chair of StudentsNS
Phone: 902 585 2127
Email: fallis.thompson@acadiau.ca

About StudentsNS

Students Nova Scotia is a not-for-profit and non-partisan advocacy and research group that represents post-secondary students from across Nova Scotia. Our members include Acadia, Cape Breton, Saint Mary’s, and St. Francis Xavier Universities, the Kingstec and Annapolis Valley Campuses of the Nova Scotia Community College, and the Atlantic School of Theology.