Following an extensive review of the university system in Nova Scotia, at the end of a third MoU with the universities in Nova Scotia, the provincial government announced in 2011 that it will lift the freeze on tuition fee increases but will cap the increase to 3%. Grants to universities will decrease four percent in 2011-12 and decreases for future years will be negotiated separately.
Nova Scotia's current student assistance program still leaves students with significant unmet need and the second-highest level of repayable loans in the country. The Nova Scotia Higher Education Branch reports that approximately 20, 000 students apply for assistance each year.