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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
: S9 U; @& M7 E! gmy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
$ W3 d% _' Z0 e6 fin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
$ @; F7 W* e# U9 o' y8 u3 {680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment6 p9 B* u& _( e4 I
! }4 O9 C: p* G9 r0 Bis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for5 F6 s$ C! @3 D9 Y# j
8 N6 v3 J2 T6 C( i; ithe current price look at this link
. x9 L& s8 ~8 {' C9 [+ whttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% : h/ ~5 h3 S s" g
increase in housing cost!6 e6 p3 m1 T }
; [$ |/ H" X( S7 o
While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
7 p' R x! \: ?+ o# B+ h* x& V3 K600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.+ S, q# k4 o" c2 Y5 {( C
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university " d9 K2 p4 h, `4 B
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
* H5 f+ k& g9 K( d! S6 l" sdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, # |2 J. j3 f- u- E
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers , P" |9 n( f4 u% ~/ B; [
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
& n6 S; O, M* B8 Q- h8 J8 Oasked to look for a residence on open market.
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3 Z0 @& v, W# H- B* { OWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has ; S8 i {, _( N; R/ X
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
1 O( y2 ?4 z+ U% k1 dexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our 3 N) x$ m- f- f
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
% f8 n0 ?! L" \1 O$ v$ e=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
% c" x$ T& [6 Z3 gtuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just 5 T4 y Q7 [+ J6 x$ r3 Z
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
; _2 f7 M1 d& U4 l Vgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of X+ B; [1 D) v9 `% z3 W7 n. N
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was + f5 S7 \) n/ g6 O, d) J
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs." N9 B8 ~! j3 x6 n7 B, t
2 ?% k0 L6 h: ]$ j! l; PAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
; y. Y* p4 y* o4 I& q X1 PAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
7 l }- K' C- q; K" {* yfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
: M+ i$ u1 u7 W( T9 ustudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.) l! t/ C; h, m4 i1 x R2 v
) B4 c1 ^& \; R' u: UMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention : l% _. v' w0 t: H, z$ h& h
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and $ j5 Y$ C7 b6 m8 P8 T2 }
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take s1 l( G7 d8 j9 w- C: a$ S
9 i2 L' y* X6 q5 \; K+ l2 ?5 pinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for 8 ]6 G' v$ k' q3 z G4 V( G
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.
+ {/ p. R0 \& ]6 }8 LThank you all* r+ n; b1 v& y- U, s
Ali |
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