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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and # |: Z0 L9 p ^, u3 c
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment ( C3 g R3 I# d3 }" l+ V
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for ) n$ U9 Q! T/ e. Q
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment3 G9 k; r9 M0 O/ b- z
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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the current price look at this link
- }1 x4 i5 f0 A$ l5 nhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% " E) ~: n8 G2 h& r
increase in housing cost! s! ^9 r. M) d
- q& g, M7 k1 Z; n+ mWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying / [+ O! t0 Q0 L: J
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.) H+ f, C: G: e, I+ a
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university 5 {1 y7 W. l( L, e6 m9 J! C
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
F% }& {2 _6 G3 _; j6 Ldifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
- P4 N3 R6 H" f8 U% n$ n: Rthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers - Z+ Y0 F1 O8 P7 O7 x
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were , L& o/ O% E& T! A& I
asked to look for a residence on open market.
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0 M9 G+ ?7 e# h0 q# K0 h( DWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has 6 J( s' N" p# B+ s, q
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid / I3 z1 E% h3 v5 Y" d
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our 8 O$ M k* p9 x# y1 s
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
0 @5 v3 Z/ B7 C# M, M) [9 I=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
, x5 |3 Q+ z+ w W$ otuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
2 Q1 P2 V0 ~) F+ J: R% bimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
/ u: Z; \9 w0 j" g9 f6 sgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
: V5 x c* K: y$ @0 Qus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
! e) n( m \; {. s" E1 J( s3 Hadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.! {) b/ B9 p1 a; H8 {# W+ b
) g3 v' `0 b5 V7 GAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of 4 {) M, W# u; z0 F% c
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants ! c/ g6 E+ ?* Q
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
( y; N0 v7 M+ J( R# a2 mstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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0 _2 x/ C R) Y' o) X, Y4 `My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention 5 E. Z! K" N7 [2 k1 K
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and 6 u B8 w+ i9 @1 j% A* A
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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( X* f2 p$ E8 K$ h$ L# ~& ginitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for : g W6 J% R) V/ L [
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?/ w2 {+ @, y v4 M
# t% I! p& D2 ^Please come with your experiences and ideas.$ Z# C# E' b4 Q! N* g
Thank you all2 \) y0 k* i2 d C8 h- Z) W
Ali |
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