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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
& T1 g. s8 m9 @3 t! _9 S- \my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
8 l; V3 }& J: i( x- M) q1 Cin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for X7 m( b6 A# R* D' C5 [* W
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment b$ e9 F$ x% g! `) i x
8 @/ _# ]- c7 s, c. J6 Y' kis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for, j" x+ F2 \3 ~' Q( Q$ Q2 n
. E& t& c6 p0 c5 D6 jthe current price look at this link / H& w1 k1 C& @! q8 _) {- k0 N
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
- k3 K/ Y$ e1 i! q$ @% j, aincrease in housing cost!
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
/ m' n1 i+ }; N4 i" \600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.6 t2 Y' P+ A- r( f
" A" ?" P3 {! h& J9 nOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university
* \8 i- W9 D! v5 o2 V) {2 P* wincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
' i( v3 }4 v j& ]3 ?' @$ y0 H5 Qdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, 0 q9 H1 `7 b' X8 ]. [9 H' Z. \
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers ( `* p2 s6 {/ j& l' Q8 {9 Y
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were 3 p6 `1 M9 w! R+ W4 T3 A2 E
asked to look for a residence on open market.4 @! T. ~, b* z% G* f' A
" i" F! a i. F6 p' RWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has 7 C: n/ {5 x4 [: `; ~5 f& j4 M
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
( {- I: K, W, t$ ]# l9 f Rexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
, t# k0 G7 u9 I: _! L7 dadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students " B9 U' @# `% h- J& f
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after % I* Y, g# h7 v1 s4 m3 A
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
$ W3 }& w, ? E( l7 Q* y8 Qimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am ) g5 ~0 q- |+ {. P, H' Y
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of 3 g, y5 u& ~9 y2 D/ t- ^
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
; R* `$ b G. T3 t' ]& ]7 s) Y: p6 Zadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
1 W+ e2 S" x0 O6 DAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
, R3 [3 {: u) f4 z+ I* xfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
8 E# F% D5 u' E: Jstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
( m$ e- u4 f! Z4 Eis to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and + W; K6 T" y" P: ~5 P+ m
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take0 T7 a% j. e9 m6 G6 M1 x- V. X- D
# L3 q# s1 D# ]: d: Hinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for 5 p7 ]5 u1 G! Z c4 q' _" C
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?0 L E5 G' b% z7 M8 V1 Y# ^
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.
2 @4 r/ W0 t# v& { |Thank you all
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