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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and 2 a. t+ q% W7 `
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment * X5 h# [/ ~ H0 E5 ~& x! R
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
$ \; _/ ^+ \" ]% I: E" L680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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b: n0 D6 O2 p# e' I3 cis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for( H& \% Z4 X! `: b2 b& ?$ N
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the current price look at this link
+ p5 h5 j. ^ D: w* O# ?http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% ' q: F0 X" ^4 o4 q4 x: L$ e
increase in housing cost!
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% K- N# f4 j: k7 y% t9 sWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
: Y) I' j0 k" h9 N0 H600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.# ^. Y" f1 F$ z( G3 i8 X6 q
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university + g1 O( v* z, C) o
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
! j0 z" ^. T% j0 l# [# ~& z8 Hdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, 1 i; ?" T" i" v0 ]7 F' p
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers 7 K/ @8 e& H6 _/ g! \7 j0 {
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were 8 A" [# ` M! D; `) \8 l8 X
asked to look for a residence on open market.4 Z4 i4 t9 ^$ b' t8 n# z. u" {! s8 R
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
0 W! H1 @9 r! L, ~2 p* S1 Dincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
( h& T" S. K5 W; x$ ]7 B. texactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our 3 G. S! r: J4 J& {9 H
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
. d/ d$ l6 l: w7 c=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
( U& r* A/ k8 ?( m% D; ^" Ttuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just : R2 u5 O' q2 k8 w5 i' D
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am + x2 }: I. t( ], z; Q/ Z8 a
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
. J$ r$ x9 }' Z4 jus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
" ^8 _% p* h5 B) {2 k6 Hadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.2 V9 X8 S4 A+ s# N
! g6 s7 _- f( }2 w' F' o2 yAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of , z! u, I( B6 G
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
4 [1 @1 g: n4 m& Yfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate r) `$ j" u& n# |$ p' R
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
/ F# |$ F/ y, f/ ]4 n8 ?+ g& W* Kis to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
7 g( {# N G# h" c0 M$ zespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
0 D9 J# v" R5 X/ z) p8 a% N- s* Zgraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?% {4 `* f; {* {& i
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.- F4 e. X2 c+ P1 W/ b
Thank you all
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