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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
& H: c3 Q% J7 O lmy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment 6 T; s9 h" b9 h3 H
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for # J& A9 v2 } @ }1 y* `- O
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment3 k6 L0 U8 R% K
* o* [0 R8 e: a- m# F/ B5 xis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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8 ?9 y# h6 A, l* o; g% fthe current price look at this link
( r$ L4 I+ I- J4 J2 rhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
9 E) E. l, k5 v4 T2 kincrease in housing cost!4 j- f* D$ j' ^, g5 o! g9 g
' X0 x# n: O% O) q! rWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
1 d8 @+ D3 \; i, u6 v5 ]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
0 X! D2 E6 w4 sincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
+ B. `& R; ~ jdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
9 R6 I7 ?, \- n" ^/ g/ z: Dthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers - u- ]& \- ]7 L% a0 P% @
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were * q8 P7 v" f2 i) j/ x3 J
asked to look for a residence on open market.1 z. l, c7 b( i9 X1 B
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has % R# i" V8 [8 M' H3 `/ a
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid . i, U) _/ d; I- p ~
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
& {' t* t3 x+ O9 R4 f: x8 N$ Wadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students 3 p. B0 G3 c$ h3 F6 `# L
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after 2 ^5 u3 F+ I2 j% n/ s' k( ^" d
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
; A; g# f& r5 F# n Simagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am % g2 o, |; F. o1 @9 b! v# {
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
( I5 t$ T& Y6 P7 C/ }us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was . `4 y$ ^: G7 M" F6 X T3 }
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs." A" R- H! w9 J5 O9 s
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
1 u3 z! X8 R9 L9 i! E; p' [Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
' ?$ r1 v' Y5 S7 y [8 |from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate / y W" Q( h( c* @+ r
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.' o! z+ ~& s" a0 J
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention ( I4 u" ?. p; I/ D' v- X& Y o5 _
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and 5 c( ^6 e( `+ V6 o
especially 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 ; H% d) O; k) [+ b9 `
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.- E- d) ^/ o% ~/ V- y$ j& n
Thank you all1 N& C$ S. h, t( F
Ali |
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