The organization historically represented 80-87% of the province's university students.

It worked towards improved funding for education in Nova Scotia and the elimination of real and perceived financial barriers for university students.

Schools who were members of the CFS largely remained affiliated with that group's provincial wing, but the DSU, ASU, STFXSU, and SMUSA—as members of CASA—were left without a provincial lobby group.

SMUSA entered the alliance until that fall, following a successful referendum and the ASTSU that same year.

[1] In August 2012, ANSSA's board of directors voted to change their name as part of a series of larger governance reforms, and alongside an expansion of the organization's research and engagement capacities.