Newfoundland and Labrador has had the same growing pains as other provinces in developing its own form of education and now boasts a very strong, although relatively small, system.

The direction of Newfoundland and Labrador's policy has evolved rapidly since the late 1990s, with increased funding, participation rates, accessibility and transferability.

Government revenue was based mainly on customs dues, so grant money would grow or shrink depending on the state of the economy.

The Education Act of 1876 set up Superintendents for each of the denominational schools: Catholic, Church of England, and Methodist, which made up 90 percent of the population.

Shortly afterward, in 1997, the remaining 18 campuses were amalgamated to create the College of the North Atlantic, which provides diploma, certificate and degree programs throughout the province.

The Board of Governors for the College of the North Atlantic is responsible for directing the affairs of the institutions, determining courses and programs and enacting bylaws for the conduct of business.

The legislation enables the council to function as the mechanism for cooperation among its members in joint planning and coordination of common activities within the public education system.

Furthermore, the legislation facilitates the institutions in establishing new operational alignments in support of an integrated approach where all parts of the education system work closely together.

One of the fundamental roles of the association is to create greater awareness and understanding of the important contribution of universities to the social and economic development of the Atlantic Provinces.

CAMET is dedicated to further enhancing the level of cooperation in public and post-secondary education by working on common issues to improve learning for all Atlantic Canadians, optimize efficiencies and bring added value to provincial initiatives and priorities.

[37] It is composed of five branches:[38] As with many Canadian public colleges and universities in the 1990s, those in Newfoundland experienced a huge drop in government funding and had to deal with budgeting challenges.

[39] Since 1999, after years of funding cuts, program closures and skyrocketing tuition fees, access to and quality of post-secondary education have greatly improved in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Even in this environment, however, Memorial University and the College of the North Atlantic have turned increasingly to private funding in the form of corporate donations or short-term training contracts.

[40]: 32 The Newfoundland and Labrador Government provided $3 million funding in 2006–07 to match, dollar-for-dollar, private sector contributions made to Memorial University and the College of the North Atlantic to support various infrastructure projects.

[50] In order to keep post secondary education affordable, and in an effort to keep enrolment high, the government of Newfoundland began a program to freeze tuition fees in 1999–2001.

[4]: 63  This replacement funding was followed by a commitment in the 2008 Provincial Budget of $56 million over the next four years specifically to continue the tuition freeze at Memorial University and the College of the North Atlantic.

Some of these trends include: Demographics of western industrialized nations are heavily influenced by the high fertility rates and births that occurred in the 20-year period that followed World War II.

The net out-migration reached a very high rate following the collapse of cod fishery in 1992 which marked the largest industrial closure in Canadian history.

It offers programs and services through on-campus instruction, correspondence, mobile teaching units, distance education and community outreach.

[75] To recognize on-going changes in the skilled-labour market the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador struck a Skills Task Force in March 2006.

[80] Although general gender equity has been satisfied in Atlantic Canada's higher education institutions, areas such as technology, science and engineering are still working towards achieving it.

The Labrador institute of MUN and the Happy Valley-Goose Bay Campus of the College of the North Atlantic provide a college-University Transfer year option.

Post-secondary offerings in Labrador include Adult Basic Education, transition and university transfer courses, business, applied arts, trades and technology programs offered at the Labrador West and Happy Valley-Goose Bay campuses of the CNA, as well as an Aboriginal Bridging Program at the Happy Valley-Goose Bay campus of CNA.

An additional $250,000 was allocated to assess facility requirements necessary to accommodate aboriginal enrolment at the College of North Atlantic in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

[83] Memorial University continues to secure access to the Post Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP) for members of the federation of the Newfoundland Indians and Labrador Métis Nation.

The Aboriginal Human Resource Development Agreement (AHRDA) has helped to fund over 100 students in Newfoundland and Labrador in the 2007–08 school year.

[86] In November 2011, Memorial's Presidential Task Force on Aboriginal Initiatives that grew out of the university's Strategic Plan issued its report.

[87] Memorial University, through The Glenn Roy Blundon Centre, established in 1992, is committed to providing and coordinating programs and services for students with disabilities so that they can achieve their maximum academic potential.

[90] In the 2011 Budget, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador committed to $400,000 in interim funding to begin the implementation of the Provincial Strategy for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities.

[95] These guides include the current and active Memorandum of Understanding between the 4 college systems, Guidelines for the Development and Operation of Transfer Arrangements, the Association of Canadian Community College's Pan Canadian Protocol for the Transferability of Learning, and a Memorandum of Understanding between the Association of Atlantic Universities (AAU) and the APCCC.