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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
% V- ^& A& B4 `. Q* O) u9 h+ V* Vmy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment * f! l% r" ~ d7 a! p" G& v% y
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for 3 b7 m7 ]& K* Z) h$ k A0 p
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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the current price look at this link
* f$ k) o3 n* _1 g i, g. l5 Fhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
. ~; [. D; l8 |' |, Xincrease in housing cost!
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
, v9 Q( J/ G1 b+ [- {, e/ f& U600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.% z& o0 C3 ?5 i: T4 s% R) L) d1 r% A
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
, v5 T% r" G( V& ?. Y( m3 f; Z* h$ pincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
2 ?% o2 p3 R% x$ C. l7 b' {differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
1 x& L, a3 G, } R dthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
" ~$ _) N b5 F7 wand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were 1 I0 Y) X {# V, l* ~8 {
asked to look for a residence on open market. z# r* U9 ^2 T% L$ E: N
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
- Y8 G0 K U" q! ~0 y( X: Fincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid 0 `: c0 b& `8 K3 a- \
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
' O j& @& c4 z7 n+ aadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
! M* Z# Q5 l2 w' v! m, O=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
& a: O( p$ |4 X/ Z* P3 ltuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
8 `. [9 M* e# j& ]# N3 q: `4 t4 Limagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am ( _3 R# z, q8 C$ E3 j; \1 W
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of : @' P0 f3 i2 e6 m' j* j
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was - }1 J! n: ~$ y2 k! Q
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.# B' F% Q0 V; S) w& Q6 z
9 T# Y: w* F* r/ ^3 @Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
# F" h7 M+ g$ V+ p9 iAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
F6 ~- Q6 ?7 E# b7 m( ~) xfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
! y0 c0 e) K( z* r7 j% \4 C1 Xstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.' w( A' ]+ Q) F) T& ]
2 O5 E: H8 ]' X1 u8 H* M/ S% W) ?9 [My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
6 o6 O6 h7 r' W1 j" ais to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and 3 p" I# v1 L/ Q0 \- t" b. R- E
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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W* Q4 V& r6 p; kinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for " ` G! z- {$ L& `: G3 W
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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Please come with your experiences and ideas., U# ]: W& e( s/ N0 ?1 |( d
Thank you all, M" e) j7 j" P" @/ D( k
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