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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
8 ^9 ~5 n5 ^7 _. n! X! Nmy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment 0 a; l7 i: p* P
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for # x+ i. c0 }6 L
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
$ k' i; [6 ^9 J- g2 O + u# m( J, D7 z+ `1 m4 k
is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
' `3 W7 |- x, N' K4 ?- O: R b' K, R 6 O7 m% a t- {& ] A% d
the current price look at this link
# h" u+ P( u8 }9 d9 y/ z9 \! bhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
0 W' F; y3 ~ G9 N+ ?2 Jincrease in housing cost!
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0 y9 K3 a8 B) }8 lWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying 0 X$ l3 y' J: E: x5 e4 s- {4 M
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.3 e2 Y" ], R: g8 v. z' Q- J& _
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
3 C0 _! u) R. e) \0 Oincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
* U% ~+ q" f8 C; O6 @differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, ' i! u" u9 q% s& H( \: J
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers ^. D$ u$ l1 D1 w, ?
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were 7 L8 V1 M: O& Q: T
asked to look for a residence on open market.; W& C; }, f, D% K) u" I+ R
8 z; `9 s" H! R$ H7 WWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has ( D U( c; t' c7 M, ~, l B4 }( |
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid 5 ^( N( s" y; i! |8 y0 ?+ s" v
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our ; s7 J. |9 x1 M+ C$ T0 c$ n m4 A
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
1 f! X" E5 _- }& v& p) @: U" W4 `=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
/ g3 o7 f3 {# z# I7 wtuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just 1 t* |# v5 p- I- J! h* K
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am & R3 p3 ]2 [ ^1 A: E
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
" H' s2 g* z5 t! u0 [us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was 5 t& m. U. v0 ^7 F7 k
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs." c l9 ?3 n& F* |+ c+ e
. [/ a$ h+ P) P: j, B7 m4 uAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of 5 F/ u$ S# F" F6 h3 k
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants % ]" L4 B& u& c* R4 } J
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate # T6 X- F. A8 t, z7 \5 }% h
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.) R! e4 x+ W6 N; ~
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
: Z0 L; V& q* ~$ G P! @- |is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and & t3 I, B4 N3 x, ^: f: p& |
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take3 ?9 ]: `# h# }' ^/ r4 _, E& K
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initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
. |2 ~; a& v* t; p- y' Q$ L( i1 S. Tgraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?/ ~) v2 X2 l. L+ g% b9 _* ~
3 P! B, K' q. a# NPlease come with your experiences and ideas.* Z# L. F% B8 c/ c. F/ r
Thank you all
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