Hundreds of students rallied in Halifax on Wednesday to protest the cost of post-secondary education. (CBC)

Students rallied in Halifax on Wednesday to protest the cost of post-secondary education in the province.

Police estimated about 2,000 students from several university campuses gathered at Victoria Park on the corner of Spring Garden Road and South Park Street. They blocked the intersection until police officers let them through, then marched down Spring Garden Road toward the legislature.

"The Darrell Dexter government has let students down despite promising to decrease tuition fees while they were in opposition," said Gabe Hoogers, the Nova Scotia representative of the Canadian Federation of Students.

"We're here to tell them that was completely inexcusable."

On Tuesday, the Nova Scotia government announced that it will cut university funding by four per cent in the next budget.

Marilyn More, the minister of labour and advanced education, said funding for universities would be cut by approximately $14 million in the 2011-2012 academic year.

At the same time, the province is capping annual tuition increases for undergraduate students by three per cent for each of the next three years.

"It was trying to come up with a balance," More said Tuesday.

"We want to make university education as attractive and affordable and accessible as we can within these difficult financial times."

The minister said she's not convinced every university will look to make up the four per cent shortfall by hiking tuition by the maximum amount allowable.

"They will have different priorities. They come from different starting places and they may not all end up making the same decision," said More.

Memorandum expires March 31

Rob LeForte, the vice-president of education for the Dalhousie Student Union, said he expects tuition to rise by the maximum — three per cent — at every university in the province next year.

"We do expect that, because if a university is losing four per cent of their revenues coming from the provincial government, they have to make up for it in some way," he said.

The province has had a memorandum of understanding between university presidents and the Department of Education, which included a three-year tuition freeze. That memorandum expires on March 31.

With a three per cent annual increase now allowed, undergraduate students could pay an additional $154 each year, according to a government news release. Out-of-province undergraduate students could be looking at an additional $185 each year.

"Students and the population really know that in order to advance the economy here in Nova Scotia, in order to ensure that jobs are created, in order to keep smart people in the province and people of many talents in the province, we need to have a accessible post-secondary education system," said Hoogers.

"Our big message here is drop debt and decrease tuition fees."

The student protesters walked with signs that said, "Education should not be a debt sentence" and "A university education shouldn't bleed you dry."

"We've suffered from chronic underfunding for the past several decades and if we're trying to generate a smart economy, that isn't the way of the future for Nova Scotia," said Hoogers.