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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
5 s9 C5 n" p/ ]my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
" M6 i4 M9 ?" s- t& G5 @in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
7 R' I4 L& n( y9 M0 c680 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( h4 e/ {4 e9 u& U$ F/ v/ m. L: L
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the current price look at this link * b2 O' E) g5 m) F0 d
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
) w7 o' H, K( Q, uincrease in housing cost!- I8 g$ f c) s- ^4 n
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
1 J' y$ E* D2 C, K/ A600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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/ i$ x k. i8 o1 h$ _Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university + Z S% Q3 u: G+ V0 l8 @7 ~ K
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international " U8 G( V F% z1 E# [4 w
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, 4 v/ A5 l7 }: i- ~
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers 0 d8 }7 N2 w; t, ?+ i" i
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were . ^5 c: x0 V" G2 e
asked to look for a residence on open market.* |5 G; N8 \: ]% M0 D
' Y/ q# y: Y; e9 A( l* bWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has ) L* {' j3 F k* I. q% a
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
0 |8 w. K/ X( K& A a# zexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our & c' a" C0 f2 N% Y0 d
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
. S8 _: ^4 E( R=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after 7 Q: d7 H( R6 {; j+ J5 k
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just 0 e4 K+ b8 C/ t, n% G
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
+ k9 ]! c0 j8 n! g P9 C4 i- ?getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of 5 k5 T; i0 c9 v
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was ' D5 r6 x; J- ^7 P# B
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.. l9 K, [% q$ a
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
# k. {) a" y9 UAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants ' w) L& `6 k* }4 _ E5 s2 O
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
0 Q0 i5 U0 ], C2 P/ p& n% Wstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
* ]9 ]! t/ P. L0 _/ n8 J ris to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
) V% \ ?3 v" ^' b) x: Respecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take. i* c5 M0 G) J6 `$ O
2 Y9 e$ L8 X$ e( P6 W5 ~3 O& W4 Yinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
: T: W3 w( H, l2 k0 `graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.! T7 o+ b- R( L, m h
Thank you all- Z5 ^3 _. \! w, Y! i
Ali |
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