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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
, Q; q/ o1 L4 v+ ]+ K7 u' umy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment + \7 ?! C8 C" _. h7 T
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
8 m' k8 J c4 h1 ~1 Q680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment* j, F+ n4 a2 L4 g& A% C, r
4 t0 `/ A5 j3 Kis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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7 O* q& Y7 D+ s* ?& k* Uthe current price look at this link ) j4 W+ t8 e3 m! U( i! q
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% 3 J8 _8 h' [4 [7 s \
increase in housing cost!2 a" b! s! D3 X" S# X# b' E
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
% q% L6 ?+ J7 y5 r600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.; w# i' o$ @1 ~: g/ c
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
0 g w. E Z+ G. oincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international 0 a' J2 B" Y, y) A e; ^
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
; T- S) Q4 R$ j x% M& b$ {9 r/ p1 Ithe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers * i- {: e* {! M# F$ ^; c$ R7 \
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
' P6 N, x1 a) A% d7 Z. E4 tasked to look for a residence on open market.6 b( Y2 ? t8 i1 h1 T( G
! _. v# i4 \2 L4 s% @While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has - J6 i Z9 f5 c, P( T9 W6 b/ N& c* a
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
|- a ~7 p; X2 r& j o) |exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
( E* P }$ S8 T6 r8 ]' a; _admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
1 b- ]: T- n& J; o8 R=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after ( O; U# [, f. b1 N+ @0 G( C
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
I- l% ]! \4 vimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am ( W* ~6 u3 [" { x
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
5 R+ A9 p% T: p+ Lus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was 1 N$ U9 [8 U. `2 | _
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.* z1 w$ U8 f) I, {# ?
2 E8 D: S+ ]# y& ]& t! y2 n+ fAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of 8 _- }5 f I( W- {
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants ; b/ J) u$ j4 b
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate - ~/ i! O8 A3 E( x
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention 1 m- d2 J# @' o: Y- J8 Z4 G; d
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
' S7 x4 b, J5 e/ x3 p, bespecially 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
9 g5 t! T C egraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?4 a+ ^9 D! V+ P- Q- T+ g
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.5 ~9 C3 _+ T, L3 W6 W, A$ H
Thank you all. G# e, G/ Q7 ]% J% I
Ali |
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