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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
8 q4 N! X5 |' \6 P" {7 Kmy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment % P1 W& B' @+ Q* Q$ z. C, n( k# U
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for 7 u8 z2 D3 H* T3 ^- a$ d, V
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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( L7 Z% \- h3 j. n9 H+ t# `is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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\* Y$ o7 n8 m# Q1 athe current price look at this link
( S2 M7 W. ^: I+ z$ Lhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
4 W; {: e6 H+ g. w4 q# O0 Rincrease in housing cost!# j O7 W. i/ W3 R" m
$ }- Q/ J' H+ N' L) v# `5 J6 s3 y$ aWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
5 j. m' G! O6 e; Z9 g600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.) l O _, |4 b$ {2 j) \
8 e6 C4 j% p g9 W( HOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university
$ d2 _& [2 M2 r* P% b! E8 u5 Jincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international + e/ M. ?2 }8 Z' K
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, - i7 ~* M" l3 M1 P" O
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers 6 D4 p1 _1 U+ g
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
Z" m. ^: h% y/ V: t \' Tasked to look for a residence on open market.- }0 ]; O9 t- ?' u; X
0 w% I5 q2 Q1 }# ZWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
p. M# ]% l7 T/ Q L/ b* Eincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid 1 f: z3 z( L3 a( N7 j& q ^2 I8 \
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our % a h; W* [& R. m8 M, X
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
- Z+ O3 H" @' ^5 m: ~" r+ T0 E=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after # a8 @3 X* K# V& T% w
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
( H: f. H2 J0 v) a' Z; Kimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
- f2 k4 {8 d; k5 ]1 Igetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of - }* |$ N, V+ w7 F2 b
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was , B3 w. O0 [0 N
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
f( }7 s @. A" P1 C0 Z2 \# N' NAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
8 Q" X a+ s, Q+ P- I. `/ `+ U6 n' Pfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
8 |6 G6 K* v( c# j. V* Q, U. ystudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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5 {" M+ N( I7 K+ O' NMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
7 c/ w. b$ z ]" X ^! \! p0 W5 jis to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
5 G9 h8 y& ^- `5 C: U! u; m( _especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take5 u& ?& `+ p5 L$ K9 d6 l
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initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
. c; S6 X' k: L8 b2 t- b$ Pgraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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/ u7 k( g. q; bPlease come with your experiences and ideas.
/ x7 ^& M: X$ rThank you all O+ h) [! b2 d1 F( ?* u
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