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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
% |: L. [* Q! f2 n4 W, [ Bmy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment - @8 a+ r s" E
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for 8 G# a3 ~7 g( s/ ~4 K5 V% n7 V
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment, H0 l& d3 M* }5 m6 M
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for6 b" F4 \- g' \. {. C% U) v
& R& E+ u6 o! |the current price look at this link 5 @- H$ V. \/ G9 A( F
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
% A5 p! c' G* K& x' Fincrease in housing cost!
, R! o, k( \$ c6 N5 ~& t
- B+ ]* ?+ u3 t# O. i6 d! |" d5 XWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
: j! q- B- m% X7 @) ] d: y$ C* M600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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' \: x, z5 L3 b& a. X( IOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university
) n' B5 g [* `' @' Sincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international K' l5 e; D% u
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
, ^3 a+ J; p5 G# ]! t. J% A% Hthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers * d h# b3 i# w' Z% C3 W
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were 9 c, y% R' w: }. A3 }; X. x2 {
asked to look for a residence on open market.
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) T% g4 d" z' c/ E* XWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
. D, a) u9 {4 N9 g. Z8 X2 S2 m0 mincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid . w$ P! \/ i! E2 d% v
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
% ^ U: Z, Q) l+ X2 {admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students . i) o$ O$ j) } b: d
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
/ q* g# p" A1 f& Ntuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
" C" o! ^4 ]0 q1 @% D3 q3 wimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am 9 i6 N- g9 D5 N: {$ w1 U8 p
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of ' Y- K5 d3 J/ Y7 {% b" o! b
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was ' r( o% U# M! e
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.# o% M" A; i' ?
6 F8 ?6 T' x/ S/ }5 SAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of ; A& ` I2 | X0 ]6 J! Z
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
) N7 k. X* q6 Z7 p) p1 n# f& Z6 ]0 nfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
9 S0 d; p/ ~5 fstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.0 D" q3 n! o3 O
: Z, X. M' K! gMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
6 N4 K2 P4 V; A5 eis to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
! O- o+ b( q n4 x* uespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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% Q; J! ^; i1 U, [initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
) M' c. @2 h6 J/ \3 M8 V Ograduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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2 x6 [5 g, e5 K% M: m, V5 I( MPlease come with your experiences and ideas.
" H9 Z: G7 z3 [. H n1 zThank you all9 ^8 R1 d3 u. u& l$ _ Y
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