Every little bit counts when helping students pay college or university tuition fees. According to a Statistics Canada table on tuition fees, Nova Scotia undergraduate students from Canada paid the highest tuition fees in the country in 2023/24, at an average cost of $10,548. That’s nearly 50% more than the national average.
Since 2018, the Credit Union Atlantic has been giving away $10,000 in one day to Nova Scotia students. Last year's CUA “10K in a Day” campaign video announced 19 winners.
According to an Instagram post from the CUA on Aug. 19, this year's contest winners will receive cheques for $1,000 each. Their annual back-to-school campaign is open now until a minute before midnight on Thursday, Sep. 5. Students can fill out a ballot online here in under a minute.
The contest is open to anyone studying at a college or university in Nova Scotia who is a resident of Canada and lives in Nova Scotia. Students who are residents of other provinces are eligible to apply if they live in Nova Scotia and attend postsecondary studies there. One ballot is allowed per student, and multiple entries will be disqualified.
During orientation week at Nova Scotian colleges and universities , CUA’s “The Better Way Street Team” will be seen around some campuses. According to the contest’s website, the team will have free school supplies and “extra chances to win tuition money” in person, so if you see them at your school—say hello.
The CUA says that since beginning the contest in 2018, it has awarded over $68,000 to students at the big Halifax colleges and universities—the Nova Scotia Community College, Dalhousie University, Saint Mary's University, the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and Mount Saint Vincent University—and $6,500 to students at other schools across the province, including those at Acadia University in Wolfville and Cape Breton University in Sydney.