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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and 2 p' h6 T6 B% z) h% ~* c
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment ) b- {7 [7 u3 e( ^ y7 W
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
! ]! w. G! O4 ~' u# A+ a8 F680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment+ C0 u' Y2 s, ~* E4 w
' T! D0 G4 K1 J* qis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for' H0 t2 u* O5 p7 W4 ?; ^1 @5 y
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the current price look at this link * H/ y/ S0 T* M" j0 Q/ Z2 I+ p# b
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
$ S: f" D: |3 P! x+ L0 ?increase in housing cost!
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying - p5 B; X- D+ n; F% I% |, G' v' w! u# v
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.2 B0 n4 g/ A) {1 S
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
) p) @) F) x, D9 [ M9 iincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
, \+ E, g) L" v3 w; Mdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
& y% w' O5 U! u- Othe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
& P7 d7 x" J* S4 j. Uand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were ) ^2 y; U2 h: g0 E* @) \3 J
asked to look for a residence on open market.
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# g6 U9 I' S/ N4 j6 }9 |While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
& _4 u+ k0 x5 g: wincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid * L y# z4 P" u0 ~; f: G
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our 5 j& V' S N& E& a% P: p, N9 s- h. d
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
( A6 [' D2 [: z5 R=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
. l7 U! [" Q+ a2 Ytuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
; o' S$ [6 w& bimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
\5 \2 z0 Q% @0 dgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
" M# z) X+ r1 L p8 _us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was : y0 ~0 l1 O+ F; B3 [% |
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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. s1 `. _6 u/ D- YAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
+ S* R1 f) z5 P4 fAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants 1 v% b4 f3 J4 B3 ^" v
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
m4 M( B4 R4 F5 A. a4 T5 a* }5 Ystudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.- q5 O# z* Q' V0 _9 Y
/ U. I8 N8 {. QMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
- Q; b* c6 [$ g& Sis to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
" ~* p$ K! w/ p# h9 aespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
/ U, C( R. I4 {* egraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.
# D, I2 Q! U4 NThank you all
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