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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and j# B) z, J2 Z
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment . t& V! x7 _& C
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for ! E9 k1 e2 w6 R# x6 M1 D
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment# R% f+ N; a0 b/ x7 H% J
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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1 E, ], E+ H$ f5 I( Kthe current price look at this link
* y# d( ~5 w$ F5 i3 lhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
6 l0 {6 c& n8 fincrease in housing cost!- a7 e8 i( W. w" `* j3 s" l1 h
- j1 S4 ?, W6 P( Q0 ^While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying 0 R! ?2 j2 o, t6 f( [
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 , L7 L7 s% _7 j3 ]
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
0 u4 L2 q: v) G; l4 Qdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
2 [- h K. V; S( m3 Mthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
, r7 l/ g3 f, H0 kand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were / n3 f0 _" H" ^4 x
asked to look for a residence on open market.
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
9 g; m0 ]3 I" T0 i1 r0 Jincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid ' Z; C; e- R, [' `+ w2 A* @3 Y }
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
0 a7 H8 e/ Q& H9 o% p) ]admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
# m6 n& k5 Y3 g' d3 z" M" y$ p=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
" H0 a% y( _' o% jtuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just ( N& N R( ~! i
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am # V4 a/ z: ]+ A4 ~3 K$ E
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
; B! p* s: M( a" W$ g* C1 g2 g$ }us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was : n) w1 v; _8 \6 k" l/ J2 i5 o3 U
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs." E- G4 {! P+ M
8 f7 m O% x. e0 KAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
2 ^3 x# _* E. F+ T1 f# lAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
, E, Y/ ?' C4 f$ E% D0 x' cfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate / z# `- H; C/ g( B1 W
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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/ |% i# U m6 U& n* ZMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
6 Q* z+ _2 C5 ?: Fis to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and i6 O ]) E2 n
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take& s: E- D$ g: B. H7 a! ^; Q
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initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for 4 O W( ^$ H4 I5 K
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.
) E( Z4 Q/ ?4 [- m! }7 n3 [Thank you all
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