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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
& H: F b$ ? L; e2 _7 k( \my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
* G o4 P7 H0 I6 i8 J. J9 Rin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
( Z3 N* G0 @. y* c) e) k680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment. ^" _9 `5 A* O% T) @9 }
5 H3 A L5 _9 ], f) }is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for1 m$ z1 N1 C# Z, g8 z$ p5 }
2 ^/ |# E1 k: Mthe current price look at this link
- n$ z( x& T; Q8 U5 B4 Phttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% . U0 { x" _( s% l( e+ S
increase in housing cost!3 }3 }) b* Y# i+ o1 O
8 y$ o( m3 ~& w3 i' D0 JWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
9 y4 O f4 ~, d600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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3 f- _/ e6 K: K( `* \Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
4 g6 k' E9 _0 Z& p# [8 X! Y hincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international + E5 r. l) u/ w; D
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
2 N& J: s0 ^( Pthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers " F8 H5 ~0 d C2 T6 o' x$ f U
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were + f9 O9 Q+ A1 @; G
asked to look for a residence on open market.5 u1 O; o6 D9 d. E( a
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
) h1 B" @; ^* T1 e( ]increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid 7 J0 V F9 K, q9 V! a, ?3 w1 V) X
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our $ h2 @! O& e% N- b" Z
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students 7 n2 C3 L5 t& T% A( }# ~# m
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after 3 n1 K% Y O( [, ]" {1 h# G {
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just 6 ]) Q; \! Y% J' g4 N- s
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
6 |! _1 t5 X' Ygetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of : c8 w& h! E/ B; y S8 E% E" P
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
' h! U) e% o- F! Z, Qadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.7 F2 Y8 n- x( g" }9 v% A+ Z
5 O4 e; d2 `5 z' L" S3 oAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
: I6 \5 q' E5 B" t6 c5 |# J- ]% Z- IAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
3 n$ ~: L( M4 B9 Afrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
; k8 o! s3 I$ R0 B: v7 Sstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention 9 C2 f* X1 n$ D) l
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
' P5 N5 P x. p/ }, aespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take# |: ]7 l% |1 w; f; R2 V
& m. M" T( o f! Ninitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
5 B6 `1 Q5 f: G8 K- ?" tgraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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Please come with your experiences and ideas. Z5 ?* @* [$ A, O0 _
Thank you all; \9 _0 I& u: [6 e
Ali |
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