Adult Learner Awards Program

Since 2002, we have awarded $215,500 to support adults going back to school.

Updated February 2026

Our program helps reduce the financial stress adults face when returning to school. Many adult learners have balance school, work, family, and caregiving responsibilities. Awards help cover essential costs like rent, food, transportation, and utilities so learners can focus on education and building a better future.

Adult learning boosts job opportunities, closes skills gaps, and promotes social equity. It also benefits communities by supporting mental health, confidence, social skills, and civic engagement.

We offer bursaries and scholarships, working with community partners to ensure a fair and accessible application process. Priority is given to vulnerable learners.

Bursary Program

Each year, we award $750 bursaries to adults who are working toward their Canadian Adult Education Credential (CAEC) grade 12 equivalency.

In February 2026, we will award up to eight $750 bursaries. These bursaries are generously sponsored by Master Packaging, Rotary Literacy Foundation, Rotary Club of Charlottetown and Canadian Tire Charlottetown.

To qualify for a bursary, you must be an adult who:

Has not completed grade 12, CAEC, or GED
Is 18 years of age or older
Has not received a bursary from us within the past three years
Is enrolled and actively working toward a CAEC through a college, technical or trade school, or private training (classes may be online or in person)
Is actively engaged in CAEC classes and study

Applications for our bursary program are currently closed and will re-open in December 2026.

Scholarship Program

We also award $1500 scholarships to adults who have completed their CAEC or GED and are enrolled at Holland College working toward a diploma or degree. Scholarships are generously sponsored by Master Packaging.

To qualify for a scholarship, you must be an adult who:

Has completed your CAEC or GED
Is enrolled full-time at Holland College working toward a diploma or degree

Scholarships are administered by the Holland College Foundation.

“Making the decision to return to school has been one of the most rewarding and gratifying experiences of my life.”

Agnes MacDonald winner of the PEI Literacy Alliance Adult Bursary

“Now that I am finished and graduation is upon me this week, I can’t begin to explain the way I feel. Excited, grateful, emotional, confident all rolled up into one. It’s just an amazing feeling, and I never expected it. I would recommend returning to school to anyone, at any age. Remember: ‘better late than never.'”

AnnaMarie Drake

“I decided I wanted to better myself and further my education. I was scared. I didn’t think I was smart enough to do it. Then a good friend said to me, ‘Norma, you are smart and very capable of getting your GED. You deserve it.’ My partner has also been very supportive of my decision to go back to school. ‘The only way one fails at something at something is when you don’t try,’ he said. So, with those things in mind and the encouragement of my friends and family, I enrolled at Holland College.”

Norma Stac is a winner of a PEI Literacy Alliance Adult Bursary

Ready Set Learn

Imagination Library

Adult Learner Awards

Social Emotional Learning

Gift of Reading