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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
1 |1 Q) C5 P( M C, h1 Umy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
. ]1 J. |3 {: \. F1 sin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
5 o' V) o4 X- t* R7 e, P680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment4 {" Z* P" X# E4 ? n; c9 `( f" m' s
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for. m6 S% i0 }" y. Q+ {; V
0 D7 O# a8 a/ x3 `& \1 ethe current price look at this link 7 U$ |5 ?( R7 s5 m" U
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% / \( ?, w7 c- F4 ?1 V& S {
increase in housing cost!
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" C& s7 z6 F$ F" YWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying {6 Z& ]- b+ E! F' O8 |
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month. \" U. `1 D6 o
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
! {: ^3 [7 D( {5 F% Rincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international 0 C- P3 ~2 [" L
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
9 g+ _9 U9 U0 |9 B- }# b5 Lthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers 5 L/ W& W# F/ k" y
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were , t+ \' Z8 u% _
asked to look for a residence on open market./ p: e3 b* i8 i
# D+ H' k6 j$ B- w, a; [9 P) i# q3 TWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has : j" A6 z/ B$ G. w/ M5 L r+ o
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
3 C7 i8 m3 m2 g6 cexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
/ h5 H# Y; ~, |4 k4 D% j9 Nadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students . J* I9 \- T9 [% ?% s
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
7 F* b9 \& k: f9 y$ P, Gtuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just # x a* \8 L \+ J+ ~8 B) i
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
- Z, O9 Q4 N( Cgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
) c( s0 _" _% \) Fus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
& z! ~% _) @+ m! f8 d) Y) _admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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; w. @5 }% S1 G- w& m. @' @, EAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
+ ?/ |9 ~* U) kAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants + `# _. H$ o- k
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate 1 Y# k: A1 u1 g* W
students are the main pillars of research work at the university., k5 ]- R- G& s, _4 N$ Q* f5 A
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention 2 S6 w2 P0 w1 e# M1 m
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
u) W2 m4 c8 l+ X; hespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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0 G7 H* r4 W( D* [! V4 ]initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for 2 c/ s, {3 z6 D/ k2 r( w
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?5 |! x. G6 w* r; R4 J9 ~+ h
6 ]/ G0 C4 f: A1 Y6 H' B, I" ]Please come with your experiences and ideas.
; v% O! i, D" UThank you all
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