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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and ' k2 J+ v8 v) l
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
* X* c6 V1 N! o! p. n$ Min one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for - |5 d/ I; d3 q3 W2 ] g
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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/ Y1 e! a; z" H, W4 \0 f& iis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for O8 ]4 |/ b' @$ \$ C
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the current price look at this link & J7 w% d# @5 U: }1 O' |
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% 6 _+ R s. n* F! r. O3 @4 o, k
increase in housing cost!
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) Y7 }$ \8 ?0 W, X: {1 @6 {While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying ( i) o) R" @' Z" l) Q! J0 ^
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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$ Q% u; X; U* S4 D* |6 k# DOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university 8 \- N3 j* L. v, J0 b
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international ' {: ]3 Q0 }3 G( h
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
" C+ X- D" Z! c2 c5 ]the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers ' X7 Z9 v- S' k. l9 {4 X8 N8 V
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were ( D7 H, k9 G. a- e! |" g
asked to look for a residence on open market.& T9 F/ g2 ]( p8 P$ U
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has / o& S& c" U: ^7 p+ x0 k$ q; R0 }4 |1 `
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
% O3 ~! Y7 G9 h+ N4 H% e, U) W( p/ U* g6 Hexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our + r' ~( r/ Z' y4 V6 a
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students + k3 h) F" k/ h9 G
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
# l {6 {# @8 ttuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just ; @" C3 o$ Z' v
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am 8 [: R+ I) t6 h0 ~! u# U/ J' b
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of ! m4 X; x: [# u H L
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
; g# S. r" O+ s8 p) b- E- ladmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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, J5 v$ B6 e$ W. c! v; xAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
( Z6 J! @- r3 E% K5 ]Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants + W8 I! Q& J8 q) H$ y5 P. H- s
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate 3 }2 D# K1 Q/ {( e3 K* @
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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# ?" z. {1 Q5 o/ D( TMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
. K' k/ P* n8 b( |; N5 c; e) O. |is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
$ r- _& L7 O; vespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take5 ?- I. N* M; T% K2 k
: {7 e& b# ^; w: a0 O/ y Qinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for ' U2 y7 J2 J" v) F u5 e3 i
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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( @) d7 l$ n7 e, P1 W1 v' `Please come with your experiences and ideas.
, j& v0 q4 I* [) r) |# ?. w" oThank you all5 k, y5 I+ j6 e( v
Ali |
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