 ʻ( 0)  ( 0)
|
When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
3 `, Y: H6 j Ymy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment 9 t, E$ G/ H8 B2 f. `
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for , Q* P9 E' B# T
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment4 V& K- {$ w, w8 @9 I( I& u2 n" `
5 x7 F6 D" `6 j6 s3 X5 S
is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
6 Q( I3 A& i/ q, I , \3 E. X0 C' H8 \& n+ f: P' K
the current price look at this link
5 v- l7 `4 j3 a! ?http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
" q" {" @+ T, D$ A" q3 O5 Jincrease in housing cost!
6 F5 A) c" G" _+ G, w8 B5 J
0 ^9 ~' h: w1 L2 _! a% cWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
6 ]9 |4 Z) y: u0 @( S- Y600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
; X/ j1 |% I% w' u
% _3 h0 z8 M( e/ j. g/ ]Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university : i- r! X0 ^6 b7 z+ g$ Q
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international $ v7 s+ o. R) I" d& |
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
N5 L( v- m( m, p; Othe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers : O3 M4 G% r0 W7 g/ }
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
. [) l( t$ `7 a( @5 B qasked to look for a residence on open market.
5 P" X$ K; K& r# X) ]5 s% n6 b$ I% T7 o. E
While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has . M5 o: n8 N2 O' {, [
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
( ?, | Y* B8 Y! i Q7 v. }2 aexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our * |5 D* y0 i$ I$ E9 _* r
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
" w5 R+ y9 e9 i E# a=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
" _; j2 D: c: E- `% Xtuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
3 |9 q' p6 w0 z+ Q) D% Y( Wimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
+ X& R# w4 b& J! v3 R" Ygetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
, d# r a2 Q' E/ J8 U, A0 sus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was ' d- S. \( H$ p4 a8 |
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.3 R# _! I0 o7 N2 v: a; o
' {) q; k0 x3 U# b, E4 `8 A( U
Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of / x6 a7 D& s5 j& O
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants & c4 ~# F" \3 j
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate 7 ]$ k6 y2 ^ ^" q) E; H+ s$ J
students are the main pillars of research work at the university./ W3 W1 C3 `( K: p
, O7 ]0 G# f* k# J x# cMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
+ v8 ~8 v4 K" y' \: {is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and 5 k- |" G. `( C4 ~
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
% e q8 b+ `' E$ z' C
e/ F5 z2 O5 dinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
& Y& @% C, Y6 j/ A3 m6 @graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?: m* d& _ V2 S6 k- F6 q
2 Y: W/ Y, f" C U+ n
Please come with your experiences and ideas.$ r% E" z& q& X6 U7 V
Thank you all4 o' R! E" {9 a p% P% d% J! l P
Ali |
|