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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
0 W! Z; ^0 [, w/ a& z: o2 R, j( Imy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment ! ? z/ n9 a8 x& X
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for ; Y6 ?! ?: p( T; R6 k& X
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment1 Y3 ?) t8 u# S! m6 h
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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8 t/ b! J; c2 i" [the current price look at this link
0 M0 a' z+ R& S4 Q0 Ahttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
+ [9 h4 c- }* R2 d* w! eincrease in housing cost!
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' B3 x; x9 ?- W7 |' IWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
9 F/ x( p! i' ~) G1 W1 u- S0 {* @600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month." N, {1 N' Z% t# m! K4 n
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
$ N: X2 Y2 F, R" bincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
2 Q# ?2 u) f& {! R- Gdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
/ h8 I) ^' m6 q0 R% Zthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
9 n$ J# z( H& P4 i s2 l; Hand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were + j4 g" M( E# G# t" B4 V" J2 ~
asked to look for a residence on open market.7 m, z! W' Q5 g. ]
% m0 y, A, R" F8 d3 B$ KWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has % H; k8 \! X' \/ Y6 k' B
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid - v) M! z i6 [4 R5 N9 S
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our 0 u. Y4 s) r. \) m+ x( S0 ]
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
. {9 V5 q- z M+ P( n, h. |& k=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after ) D+ D2 e; {! j! S, D: \) E* E4 L
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just ) @+ y: y3 q7 v4 d7 u# t& c U
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
2 j% V! Y, i4 p. T6 R1 D& ]getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
0 U. J6 j {) J0 l& _us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
" i9 D3 C# i1 Oadmitted 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 ; b& G6 y: R+ r" t/ b
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants / i; X7 {" |9 q W# c$ }
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
9 D1 m7 `2 O, A, Pstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.( ^' e, @* t" F( K) F3 J+ b
4 `6 q2 z1 M6 C! L AMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention 5 W! ^" G( P/ j- c9 H5 {
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
9 _( N; \% p. I2 C' {* c: eespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take0 t; e' B9 n3 ]7 h) G; ?& f
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initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
, r8 x% ^- l6 H! Egraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?; n$ Y a+ W- S/ J4 V
$ e7 c5 l, X w' m* _Please come with your experiences and ideas.
4 G! |, Q; s/ @3 q' w K. FThank you all. D: @, d- D" o( }) ]( u
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