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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and 5 ^ K) d2 ^' n
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
1 E) i6 k- {0 s/ l3 Hin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for ' v$ @ P: s, ?/ A
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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4 n! w4 U( y2 Eis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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/ Z) J. h1 A; d9 e2 athe current price look at this link ; O" _4 V. z/ ^; i( [
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
1 I& ]7 l8 A& f# ?/ c) O% i& }increase in housing cost!* M* m8 L7 Y9 W% B& {& c2 w
+ k& b! \! A ^While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
# q1 o; M4 X) b" F7 X600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.8 X% \% p# ?: {: [5 ?" @
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
2 V* _- E! ]% H. g8 J# L4 J5 K1 l% I/ Lincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international $ b" R+ {% z" w
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
/ e1 p8 S4 a; A/ Z9 `the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
) n5 {) V0 G+ ?% Iand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
% e- W9 r3 ]% u3 ~7 Wasked to look for a residence on open market.; K @) ?, o( m/ W
6 g; j& Q0 w m+ {$ U) E4 KWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
7 t- z* ?8 ^ L7 o$ `4 b) X- Gincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
2 w6 |4 m l9 J$ p" w1 A! yexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our % X& u- L" ^* b8 p
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
9 g( C; c; L* t. w. p! B=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
" y; Z$ x: y. ^0 m. v: ~tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just 7 }5 n1 T' k0 x& a* X
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am ! {% m. C9 ]/ M7 V B
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
' Y0 @! O' y' E p* r' Jus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
+ w! Y; x8 c7 _7 W% c3 X+ Ladmitted 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
# \7 a4 f4 N: s4 k- r5 KAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
5 l$ X& e/ S3 U% I6 T0 ]from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate 6 ]- X! r. y2 }2 m1 R
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.6 w9 s4 d, Q1 }# K' x7 e
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
2 i1 u+ B# h% F7 b, ris to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and + |, L& p$ K) I" A) L. ]
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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2 K! I* j$ r7 V9 Hinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for - P( u5 I& A0 o$ ~7 R
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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1 B! _8 \/ _$ ]1 i' c3 S" \Please come with your experiences and ideas.
4 D8 M" x0 [+ \ r8 H' LThank you all6 g( i1 a1 Q4 [; ?5 p
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