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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
, T0 }' H$ B) k" o* P7 H/ @" i) rmy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment & ~& o% _- J; [7 j; E, n5 B
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for 9 V$ O2 @6 Q# q2 p
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment8 [3 F2 r0 ^( n; t0 J6 b
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for! H+ O2 P% K# A- v- e# y# @
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the current price look at this link ' X0 S6 V. r; N9 N+ d
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
2 i3 E3 B0 @0 ~ K& m. s" kincrease in housing cost!
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
M ]7 S* p% \" }) K* i2 q) P600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.( b6 Q; Q8 e) R
@5 a9 L/ K6 T3 h) iOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university + S; f; r* v% a' f
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international 2 z" @% i. }8 E8 y& @- n
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
5 `' i& l! d9 ]" Qthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
1 n9 j: S8 D9 ` i8 Cand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were $ {/ K# L- d3 @. ^7 F W! _( y
asked to look for a residence on open market.
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/ u5 |. i9 q& U' A J! p) xWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has / J/ j8 T1 |! s. G; S* T" v9 E
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid $ \* ? Q3 s& _! `& R
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
( n, N1 h% b) |9 jadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students + d& K+ E3 J) g$ _' E4 J
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after D7 f' n5 a$ H! G1 i6 F' k
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
* p I) u6 K! j$ x+ K* [1 wimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am 1 |/ K# \/ C+ G" S4 {( O
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
* Y1 X1 f5 [8 A( G8 Xus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was / K$ E* F; T: e) O/ J4 x6 B: u
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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8 d4 c9 d5 r- t, HAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of " b5 y1 V9 ]1 K; _
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
$ F, k, u* {# ^" V4 kfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate 3 b0 S$ t* G9 [: m: _
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.! m9 v& O" ] N2 D
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
; S/ }. x& i) Q3 I/ C' f: Sis to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and l6 g7 r+ U7 u
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take+ w+ h" U) |- A0 Z0 B8 v1 [8 d& R
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initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for 5 [9 Y0 J6 v& b' k H4 I) e
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?! U) x! g u) |; m+ l' U/ P; `. E
& U6 i; O$ V3 M. A$ L6 ~1 PPlease come with your experiences and ideas.% {& d2 r# b: u7 O& | \
Thank you all
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