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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and 5 @: z) K" y4 X8 L! B' s3 k
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
- a- W4 ~: B: H* S6 q; M( `in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for # g) T- p& P7 W
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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$ m& e) u4 ^* p. `, v# n% Jis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
6 l; l! a* {! t2 ]; ]" n- @. ]! g . X9 @# k; J) T, e1 B9 n1 {
the current price look at this link + b* _5 ~ m3 L
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% 1 I2 f" m- ?) z& a. Q
increase in housing cost!5 X0 A3 F! q* n% L. O6 Q. ~
$ s0 u. L% ~. g/ R/ ~While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
P0 z! ]# z$ {. ^7 F5 s600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.# }8 ~1 c1 j e! k7 j1 N7 N/ I8 c
1 i* S: i( L; X5 i+ B# uOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university
; k4 y; @6 r6 {7 j Pincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international / _3 ^) G) D n" h0 x; l- C
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, % u, p3 M# M3 l
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers % ?6 a3 D& \" R$ M& C p( }
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were 6 ?1 T& J9 Z$ W
asked to look for a residence on open market.
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
# h3 o4 K7 O# x+ Z4 w& a* eincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid 8 v$ [# }9 K1 @6 w0 N9 y
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
. ^& y5 T1 y- u5 M6 y- P" |# ^admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
% {% n9 I& N" a$ X# N L# _=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
( D, _8 L9 ^% e0 T& I; xtuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just ! j3 F( u. [7 {. i' d5 U
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am @5 p, q1 ] A$ ?: O! G: Z9 f
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of ! A7 |/ v/ \( ^: ~1 d/ z+ {
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was ! r, X0 g* C+ K9 c- @/ ^% F' I
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
, L1 B' u2 h3 J: B( @Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants 5 m% O7 }+ I9 k1 I1 n
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
l* t" e, \% C) ^) Qstudents 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 a U6 d6 e" W. ]5 P, j0 H9 @2 I* p1 ~1 D
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and ' Q* O/ F7 H0 T2 z" n# v8 s; i7 |! T$ m
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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- K7 c& o0 P; S* W* a4 `initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
' T" n6 W/ }# g( `& s3 c O5 Z6 b, `graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.: b: G# o7 i3 [/ A' H5 T( e
Thank you all; s1 N+ A; E" U# C' S1 b* i" J
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