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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
! O- Q5 X" s4 p# ]: Amy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment / d+ m: _! S1 E' x
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for 4 J9 |/ u ^( t# y/ L1 s1 R' @. G/ W
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment4 ^& ?* J' M& O- H
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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2 y1 u! i5 Q7 Q0 q: \6 Lthe current price look at this link
4 o# W& e2 ?0 K; F# G% p& uhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% 1 `- k9 q- _' Q# B
increase in housing cost!/ p z! k2 m( y
0 x1 L6 {* I+ \8 g3 H0 MWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying - q9 E. |; f* f2 q! [! L8 S3 [% L
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.1 n2 P! T* U) m
4 c1 N% I/ c' I. m7 ^* w- `3 ROther costs of leaving have also increased and the university , H/ i& n, _, W: ]' f/ J0 w
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international ' ~' C/ W* c* n$ }4 v
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, ; e% R ^ k8 X
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers / ~. s5 H3 x. X7 t% @
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were ; g% r8 o9 P; t
asked to look for a residence on open market.# m% V3 e/ b5 X; M# d4 P, k0 e
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has / i. d$ Y! Y& L; W
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
$ e0 V2 C" q9 o/ P1 eexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
& S2 o+ x0 m6 P; F0 `- D2 ]$ Kadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
8 E& D$ i1 ?- u; w; d, \/ l=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after ; ]/ o7 g& N# E! S
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just 4 a1 W, Y6 k/ X6 \$ O* ? ~* s
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am % w0 y, p8 p4 P) q @
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of ( ]1 | M8 c7 V0 J
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
Q" [& `) o+ e% s2 _9 n( b" P) p2 Gadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.% A" q* p* c, X% j- U6 n
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of 0 x" M. q1 ~3 N4 F, Z$ P
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants % n' P0 `. i7 k/ c6 ]
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
+ c( O! {3 a, ~9 z9 [* L& o) Ystudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.0 p" w! c! E$ k, Q9 e$ S7 {3 \
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention " Y# w* [% C, W8 c
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
0 p" _$ x5 y: i* J$ Z5 h' g( u3 Nespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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4 n9 {, k6 O+ A- Pinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
, _& {! c* [# F5 m( B4 \ n, C# Cgraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?6 P4 |9 d9 \2 D5 ~+ H! z
: m+ j: V% d0 |+ PPlease come with your experiences and ideas.
. Q1 X2 ?( A* B$ HThank you all0 W' Y: a! x$ A- L6 I# W
Ali |
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