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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and / l8 [8 N" P8 W
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment % A2 ?9 T# }6 W0 L- k% U
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for 0 l7 w: c. R" h/ [( d5 n
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment7 |8 r! I n6 p- S& E/ f. H( c
# f& |, j( \" A7 y5 W9 his more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for1 h9 F6 D/ q$ f1 t- b/ E+ ~
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the current price look at this link $ c- _4 j3 x1 z4 @' }3 y- E$ ?& Y
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% ' p" o6 ~! X5 b/ b+ l
increase in housing cost!& A" D9 H; y8 n
0 x- L& S& \8 A2 e+ v1 g7 ]1 R1 c- DWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying Y5 z* G8 k8 F
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month." U9 ~7 F: `, j% e: C# R
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
6 @* r7 V1 `% |) |( C5 Y! O% Yincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international . K, \& {6 E- ]7 N7 {! R( h
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, : g+ u1 \" L) c1 C, f2 a# M
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers 3 C: f& @6 G0 F" ?" P, H
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were $ V9 n/ n$ u$ |: l
asked to look for a residence on open market.
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4 F7 C$ w5 c% B+ RWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
( \& D, R) o! o& x' l: ~increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
. B4 t2 i) M) t. f% b. uexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our t X+ s* W5 D* {7 D& U, B
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students - m) B9 i9 R0 Y4 F$ [; K. B3 [& }
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
! a' P+ \0 b7 U+ Qtuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just / q) ^2 C9 Q% A* e+ z
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
2 ]4 B" b% A, h/ O3 Sgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of 8 v- N6 j8 ~/ k3 G" Z
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
; ]1 P3 B7 n# e- r6 _admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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; {- i1 W3 [+ j9 X0 i& OAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
; f8 a' N# O) o6 }Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants 1 x2 V2 x% _4 w, A8 s
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
2 S7 }, t2 U" j# ^) P) ^# {students are the main pillars of research work at the university.* g6 J. ~0 Z9 {* E1 I; @/ \7 ?0 i$ Z
; R; H9 n7 W. j5 wMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
8 V' B: i2 X( e; ?4 C( J5 Xis to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
5 \7 L4 j4 M* b! R3 U. qespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take5 p. K( W( P0 c1 U" K8 O
! D" t3 }4 `! W& ~* m! @4 Binitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for 3 ?$ O y+ o+ K, S6 {3 i* ]
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.7 H$ o6 M/ f* |; H. u
Thank you all2 x# {6 w; U- @& j! P
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