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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and , ]$ v- d6 D" b4 ?/ x* L; n% C
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment ; ? H4 l2 ^4 ?, b
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for ' f4 B. v6 T' V5 ]. A3 O
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment, C) M Y' M( g/ z! i5 x
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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- V4 g. }; J$ K, f- U' G+ Gthe current price look at this link
% h6 R1 |. f8 X; \- Whttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
1 g+ F. @8 I L5 `: d" mincrease in housing cost!
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying 0 o. X, z5 v" Z0 Q4 V4 u* K2 [$ n
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 ! i7 P6 K* W9 ~$ |
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
4 }8 _; f* E8 ?, g$ f1 E: Jdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, 9 I% M5 P1 g1 H
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers 6 m2 B$ w2 m' e% _
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were - W. c$ x a J7 Y
asked to look for a residence on open market.8 A. Z- T1 H4 ~3 h( B8 L
3 E" x9 C! G1 YWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
- h" m4 H' p) Y$ P" m ^increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid " O: e, w, u/ n/ D+ ?# b
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our ]) l- i8 z( C" j
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
1 ^& B2 u- M) Q9 T! {& o8 l=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after ! b8 c9 x9 j* f. E1 y1 E& H
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
" ~! J# h9 Y% g7 |+ M" b3 a6 Himagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
: w/ |; O1 D) y8 tgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
, T* X4 u8 z+ Pus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was # Q3 [- i+ ]6 E( U& }& t
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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! h$ z7 l% ^! |8 j: g% lAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
5 m9 l4 y b) UAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants " Y n' j% a: q2 c( W
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
1 q4 |- v# S/ U# h6 Wstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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, I; N5 f8 z+ k+ Z& J! {9 [My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
$ Z# I7 v" a9 B1 D, Cis to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
4 b( Q+ z7 |9 |7 respecially 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
) D0 U O) ~3 A# U# N6 d+ Jgraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?# V* J5 r6 i& Z3 B
3 u! ~/ _" T8 [( iPlease come with your experiences and ideas.
4 G2 D/ y/ r! k! m( o& AThank you all
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