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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and 6 a, A; q |( I( c% c0 Q# R8 B( d; }
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment : \; p$ F- o6 X3 D
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for & [, B: ^! p8 b* i ~: d. j5 r
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
$ e* y/ d2 O4 H+ Y( M; R * Z: n* {: ]7 L# m4 b0 T
is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
$ K# D" K) T6 \8 j) d
, M' u9 |' m* V- E' K' V. Zthe current price look at this link
. I9 a3 @. M$ W5 Thttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
0 w- K. j1 e0 f$ w: Pincrease in housing cost!
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying & I. f3 w2 n `+ `: s9 a
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.6 w8 `- m& f4 j0 V" r/ T
+ N4 u( L' ]% l7 n; d& l3 S( Q
Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
8 B2 f9 Q* f; O; ~. V* T2 |5 [ kincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international : m+ d6 s, k, n+ ?' i! ?" N4 Y
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, 9 l8 S7 D5 k4 w
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
& D, \0 o3 U7 r* ]and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
; F1 \0 T& P m8 R+ Z F& V# S/ z6 gasked to look for a residence on open market.3 \: H- n& y' J) j' L* n
% y6 P3 |3 r2 u: T8 a+ \ \While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has ! i; d9 l! b3 z
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
+ p5 G; t( Z z) N6 Qexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
0 V) Z3 T7 {/ Y9 @* a) d: Eadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
2 X3 \0 S! p% R% r# q=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
, r) [; [) T# I1 {) w* p Otuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
$ }) u# @; C' Q, Y" z( c; Pimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
; [5 \, Q: `: b7 ~+ Mgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of 6 `* {1 @7 a+ p/ e' d) L
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was 5 p. p m# p/ U
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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* L- V/ ]7 X; X- y& z6 i* ~Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of 4 y' Q- _8 Q/ m
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants : z# N' `8 b( ]& q! `) @
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
* D: `, K E# }& z* Kstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.+ @" r5 u; n! D
$ ~- C6 q4 x/ D$ GMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention # X9 t0 Y% @. k) K8 F
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and + ?+ {: j0 W5 E
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take# \' d m: ~1 b# g0 [
$ X3 [: [# s. \6 Einitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
4 \/ L+ O; Y- }' f0 xgraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?, e( _- C' T$ O
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.$ q N# }" S0 R, }3 j
Thank you all% b' ?1 X/ s. W+ U
Ali |
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