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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
% P/ _( [8 x8 E0 B: ]! Kmy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment 6 `) A5 O5 ~' P0 D6 g
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
4 ]4 O% b/ t) c- {7 O- m) q% r. g5 s680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment0 _3 \/ R& h( Q7 Q: U
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for, N' J( D6 R! A* H1 s5 ]
4 O( ?0 v" ?. K8 ethe current price look at this link + u1 ]- r! e5 D+ P+ B
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
5 U7 i) g& a2 r/ K" Z8 {9 X& ^9 Gincrease in housing cost!8 U a: L1 |9 x, ?3 T- ~( Q4 {. Q
1 d( X* L7 d* F- t4 lWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying 9 q: f- H- O% w
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month. D4 s2 V+ ?; n6 w. J
9 |+ a+ }9 \& ?0 _Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university , m- u- C! [# m( {/ q* |
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
9 ]1 c ^9 z1 A$ S% }( U- l. Idifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, , Q/ u% S( b2 p, G+ Q; K5 w
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
3 e$ Z# W6 g [1 Q2 ~3 Yand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
8 q- k; H7 E G, P: lasked to look for a residence on open market.8 l! ]+ v2 }: l$ ^& B4 m- X$ i' F
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has + L& ~- w* h% T
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid 8 w- |8 w) K6 @0 p
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our . ]: x" `' z: C. |) e
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students ) F$ w( E7 C: R% k( j
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after / x F1 a- ^% G* |, q
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
. ]6 v+ n T1 p7 Q/ {* S; wimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
- o3 X# q; F& K! r1 rgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
. {* _; c9 @( A9 X5 m' I* eus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was 2 ^! f H1 n0 o. C/ k
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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& B! k; O1 z( U. [. pAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
$ H4 W; d1 [, gAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants ! S* S9 ]0 J3 k$ y" i+ L. }' e
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
, k1 ~% c3 J' u4 _1 I3 ustudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention ; J; z- U/ t0 H
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
: G8 @& F# t; S& tespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take: i& A2 b% f: L
; }3 [) b& @) {initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for + m2 O2 |7 x+ ~$ e' g
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?. y+ X% d' p7 F$ R6 L/ D
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.- s0 g9 t+ i5 Y0 S" f7 v
Thank you all
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