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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
. y* b( x5 H U% o4 Emy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment & X4 R4 f& {" ~- f, b. |% L
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for & u$ X+ T" y/ _. s) T. o7 ]* @
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment2 E5 K: G( t, b7 S: {/ Q) f8 g
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for K& u" \' `- y: b0 M, @# e" G$ L
c! x: |7 r8 t: @6 f# c8 nthe current price look at this link ) c9 }( h, i3 Q% }& t" x7 o
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
) B, X* ~$ w0 {5 H9 h" Z$ zincrease in housing cost!
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying $ X9 E' b8 T% v& U+ D
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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0 w% G& N6 y _/ D: v5 I: w; zOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university
0 d% a$ Q6 {6 Gincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
3 g9 C0 t2 X6 {; ^& `7 Sdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, ) V1 v4 m* n& j7 D/ B
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
/ W& t4 r" n9 q. Gand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were - d$ W3 t" s0 e- z ^
asked to look for a residence on open market.& c' P& u! z) L* G) b! D8 W
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has 4 K6 u8 n9 M) o F4 a! k5 G. w
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
( k3 p+ O: x$ Aexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our 1 V4 ]; b! B) z$ }' [: U$ p
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
8 z$ \1 s' _& j ]=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after + Y' c' Z* w: B; k
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
# v/ W+ `& m- k& a$ s8 Simagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am J, V8 X. c2 k. D9 f6 k9 M
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
. c$ X: s2 Z- G `! H+ M2 ^us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
: [5 i V0 Z: }admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.4 O G7 O7 m0 y+ p1 w. N; l3 y
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of * _ t, L8 m$ i5 E$ ]: c. |
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants . i- D( m7 k _ f
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
; i$ \; x7 a; w. ustudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.# O) b: b4 D5 z/ a2 G3 s0 l( ?6 B
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention 4 J2 R$ Z+ m( _- |+ O( T
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
( v, h: V7 R N4 I! Lespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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" ~ f- f5 e, yinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
f2 G/ S! z8 `& igraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?) f5 O) Z) e% }- R% o- C
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.5 S" _6 e( ?% X n8 v& _' H
Thank you all
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