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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
, h5 ]. [- b; v, }7 @my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment - V. r/ v6 y* D- U. M
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for T* d, s' T# s0 y) G. k6 i8 r% E/ t
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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7 w4 W$ Q6 S8 Y) u5 E( {; O# Bis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for. t& g, H- J3 I% @0 ?
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the current price look at this link ) s) [6 N* i/ V" B# O
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
$ h; m' |- s6 }0 Aincrease in housing cost!4 h7 P% W R+ Q8 i! c
( T; V4 m) F$ R4 }2 iWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
/ `2 x, W: F Q. Y( p' A600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.: m6 q& l+ F: A) O3 H
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
8 C( U& t( H( V- Mincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
& ~6 r' c" j/ H0 y$ U9 Adifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, 8 g9 b; h% T3 a: }& _7 f4 m
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers ; P6 K V/ O! z6 M' X4 ?: f. ^( o1 O
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
8 }6 h: v$ b0 P% U- P' h$ Xasked to look for a residence on open market.
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2 B4 P1 p% A. mWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has 3 ?2 l$ ]8 m. A/ g' H9 u% |1 w/ q- m
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid ) B! d- i6 P; z, V. h( }
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
1 d6 x- h: r5 H) Gadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
, Z% _8 H) c. e7 |+ {; U=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after g8 n( s+ ^. m+ [. t4 I8 G' z. z
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
$ Z0 R" D% e; K2 `! e4 @imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am 6 A) P w, [& j
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
( \! M& M* c6 d8 Nus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was ! N: {/ y2 h6 h3 [
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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3 y5 n/ G; d' ^, @7 GAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of # g0 n- N* u& e/ j
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants 7 F& e( c, ^7 r
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
/ h4 F$ [( m, E* x( f& m7 c& Cstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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. D$ C0 m" F2 b- b2 M( NMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention : K" ^+ C5 P+ Z: f
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
/ N! j7 L; O( Y# Y9 b! t5 }- h. gespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take4 j( }: B- i' x
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initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
% L5 G5 V6 f2 X% j4 C- ^* S0 e% Dgraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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& Z! H; n+ D5 f( k$ O# aPlease come with your experiences and ideas.
5 p& E3 J1 Y2 ?2 x& oThank you all
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