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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and , _" N- Q, n* K! Q5 C* R
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment 0 H, [! x4 @' z% L
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for 3 j# _' [) v4 w
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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$ G2 M9 H# ?4 cis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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3 e* t! g9 K* J* p: B" g; d' ethe current price look at this link 7 @! t: S% T7 v/ P
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% / z" Q. T6 {. W7 X1 {, W) I
increase in housing cost!7 _& t; O% \0 P/ X8 r. w0 M
4 V2 f7 B) ~; d$ P6 Q# j, S2 _While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
0 t' r; N4 g# k600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.' O7 b9 \& k/ H
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
: J! k+ o; {. K ]increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international ) z( e0 f' Y! k& A0 M
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, : O# R1 @: o2 v4 v# m- {
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
5 k9 ]( _( F% K* p3 t! H' Oand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were , ]) F) c! i6 h* y
asked to look for a residence on open market.3 |- C. J0 R5 r+ H# U
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
. n: N9 k4 \0 }increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
5 W( m0 K" |5 V c2 `exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
) J3 s: u7 o( ladmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students ) L( M# i: x7 M e3 z
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
" Q) V2 F! B8 Q/ r4 Ituition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just 7 j2 |* o. O, c* y! r+ F. r
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am . U" D! l4 a' \, W' m2 D
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of 3 v: |- P$ [9 R( `. H, S
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was - v- q2 |. r* E2 t9 ?: p
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.5 b3 B; q& D$ N6 W/ Z5 S
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
+ y9 I( t2 N& r6 k; x ]0 OAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants 4 N; c( c- h( f& u H
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate 3 U+ z2 G, W7 o0 V3 T A+ E; G
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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+ P+ c& G6 I3 }9 I. s' v. fMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention 8 P- |. ^% J* L( K
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and 3 q5 c& M8 L& z6 }
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take2 Y* e( ?1 U# O' }
- u" T; P, B6 E2 Cinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
1 M* j5 V, r- g6 i- Y0 Igraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?6 ?: W" `* c% _3 P8 w* H
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.# W# G3 X3 ~% {8 p3 A- t
Thank you all" f! Q, ]' k( P( D8 H n3 e' I! z6 e
Ali |
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