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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
+ C' h+ x7 I" J1 m8 A) kmy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment " {8 o5 Y0 a; X
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
) I8 m5 A: Q7 s" s* u; u9 p680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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' Q r$ `4 M$ Z6 D0 `; k8 U( s/ |is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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. [: @ m: B- o) Y* Z3 |. |( ~the current price look at this link
/ D) u/ C, D1 d5 b' U+ f( dhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% & U ^' L+ o; A# M9 d: O- ?. q+ x
increase in housing cost!
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
3 E; y' }/ x$ l" s1 o: I) J! d( Z600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.( S- M: l4 C+ a4 b5 U
- b, ` j9 S q! U( @& C8 oOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university
7 ~5 v, u( g+ rincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international ) i4 ^ p- N- _! r0 x8 @6 A+ L2 `, d
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
) |7 k/ ~2 i5 Fthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers 0 b+ U. S1 w; f. w
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
& K$ {0 L5 m& |3 M ~asked to look for a residence on open market.% d3 |7 A+ o. V
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has ; a; u% t4 \3 t' a7 x% u
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid + _% L9 F& }6 |$ {
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our 6 ~$ e0 T9 u0 g' s8 ^+ S, f
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
7 _* n1 m% ?6 |/ l- f=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
F {" m4 A$ N% S) f: @4 Xtuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
5 u. z& v( s* i bimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
. n. k4 U! z& L# E! pgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of 3 d/ v& t+ g# K* L3 T
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
: ^1 a* H3 |5 R+ A& Xadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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8 C4 {1 _0 f FAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of - ]3 i4 M8 N9 ?! r' \
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants + ]1 }! X0 y' b) b" [
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
- Q# n8 [; J/ R( n1 q/ ~* zstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.1 ?, m( g' K5 J6 X* T$ w3 l" w* x
+ j* H( s, r! B _My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
! a& \3 Z0 Y4 ?is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and ! b0 B5 G( r. G1 ~5 W- l" T7 \
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for $ n" W- u8 B3 h" E: t4 y/ r
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?- ]# L; c! K. N8 }
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.+ _. D5 i; r% ^- x! L3 ?) N
Thank you all$ z3 f! X5 J' p; A' X2 j% Z
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