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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
0 A7 N- B6 S; _( B( g3 d7 U) Fmy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment 3 z! D# M Q2 ^+ J
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for & F" A# x% c$ e1 l' A0 w4 ^0 K/ {
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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% h" y& q% G* } d, |& H% ]is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for4 x6 Z8 o' y1 N) ~5 m: e
. l# @: Y r. ^8 K( V# B) J+ N8 Ithe current price look at this link
9 S1 K% w5 [6 i e R) w$ v7 n" Ihttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
/ _, C Y$ f, r/ t* oincrease in housing cost!1 L% c3 j, P8 p- i8 a* l4 m n
- K( l& e$ k( u \6 yWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying # s7 w: v- F# k3 ]
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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0 ]+ k$ _! x8 \/ B! ?Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
9 I4 u" Z3 T% T# T J1 {increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international ' l ^0 M7 f- Z+ V7 n8 H( _; }* g0 d
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, - e% v* T9 E" O$ E1 s" k
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers 2 L, r/ N" G3 s6 ]& u" M
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
& B8 E6 n _3 F. J/ E' tasked to look for a residence on open market.: q; U8 s/ v! j- K( C, h# p
) s. w t9 v; W' K; ]While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has B8 |& v" y Z% E0 `4 M* N( z
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid ' j& ^' {- x/ b
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
$ `/ P9 j1 w, G- n9 s `admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
' W* I: ~2 u' t! C. H=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
- A1 L0 J' H4 ttuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
, V+ e- B% o% N Cimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am 6 f5 }7 s/ f* g% S/ A
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of % O8 Y6 U7 i8 W! d
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
- C4 D2 v7 ]# u* K/ `' H& {5 Aadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.: ]6 O& t5 H3 G7 n
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
: u2 ~6 w5 Z" \+ c- L1 t& [Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants 2 i' T6 V2 a3 l# @6 J1 Y2 t
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
1 W: X; y- v) _7 n# p5 l' Ustudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.0 E# Z1 X2 J1 L2 j. \# Q. Z+ y9 r
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
X6 X4 L8 A7 n5 l0 h- t; Vis to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and 3 q4 [9 d" q* i8 p
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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, e- Q1 r( P( X! Ninitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for p/ `. Q$ b5 e" P0 A
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.
2 `* G/ V m% J; _% `) [/ C- PThank you all3 R1 j0 N$ I, s
Ali |
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