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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and ' j8 R" i, m: }' O1 y& C
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment - r# v' T6 E5 }2 z' o7 m# D
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
$ K0 B- }1 u; @' p7 h680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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T @) S1 @+ @( k6 N9 v4 M9 w% c3 y4 `is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for: j# }& B6 @1 c' B. o
( T6 K$ [9 J, w2 M3 U: k" Z2 J: bthe current price look at this link
7 x A* g6 m: w! x. S. n1 |http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
0 w2 y8 r c( f0 o% T) X1 ?9 Xincrease in housing cost!& n1 A8 ^0 U1 e+ S# B+ E
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying 2 d- _* ?7 c! W3 W
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university , O d" C, [( f5 n+ L
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
' ~4 j; j1 y. l* h8 Ydifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, ; y f* ^7 F2 [5 j8 q/ D- x
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers ' @' p3 _7 y$ G2 P: }
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
/ ?* e+ Q3 _1 v& s; g7 S& @asked to look for a residence on open market.- Y% E/ u( W9 I2 |, O% y2 g, B
' y: l0 B; ]' B) J0 S3 I7 hWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has . _$ |& W7 ^& v( }3 U
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
7 l" v- |, b7 d# H4 k' Y: t1 yexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our 3 i9 f5 O2 f" ]4 G! d
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students ) \& n+ H, ]- E: G
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
6 b& R8 x7 S- N4 N& s3 Ttuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
) c! G, t( M2 c7 D- J$ eimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am * |4 @# T5 l b7 c
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of 1 S* a: y; R1 b, J" C
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was R" E/ C" i, h& k+ f5 ^8 G
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.( h- R5 q9 q! y/ `- A' w5 h* h
3 G& s8 I! ~9 \Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
2 Q4 B3 {& I# u* J4 \Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
: w9 ?+ O( t4 ^) ^from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate ! J8 m$ C9 o2 i
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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3 B" w! j0 q0 QMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
. A8 ^- x$ ?5 V4 Fis to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and 2 c n1 x+ B* u
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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5 Z; [1 I9 R+ [2 o% D$ Rinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for 0 `) }& M$ E% u2 u" }# ]. |
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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7 m* N' M* ?6 X5 y( O' VPlease come with your experiences and ideas.: }( Q; ?! `" K
Thank you all
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