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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and 8 }, z( Q% F9 V
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment & Q3 {5 M- e: g! `$ r4 s8 l
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for " r! ]% q, q+ t" L
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment8 g. v9 i) M' I9 h- a" z1 z. t% V
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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8 ?; n* c! s6 vthe current price look at this link
6 B9 I6 w* w0 C% M0 `http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
' Q( x# b5 T# r& Pincrease in housing cost!
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying y P3 E/ m3 }( I. `
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.9 ?" \! G4 g& _! C
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
5 T! j. e( a8 k- ^8 Z$ y: K) `increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
! l: J6 i) I3 edifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
& }9 i" \! d( M- pthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers ' n+ O" G2 Z, t6 V: h1 g: i, p
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
" `; S/ b0 ^. x% [: J( K6 sasked to look for a residence on open market.
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: L" n9 c, J! h' D4 e8 lWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has , q0 D' j0 s# T. \0 r, W3 U
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid " @* o3 S# C6 N
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our + [& W* ~( L6 ~5 N
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students * v& p. V1 ?( f, m
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
8 D- J ~/ c5 S. C! ptuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just ( t# p1 f" n, o: Q. w: q
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
( _0 G0 [4 K! \, D' I/ F+ H s' lgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
1 W q' |2 f) M7 l9 lus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
& S3 ^) F. g p4 O ~, Nadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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* \5 l3 `( A7 k) KAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
9 I4 @) Q/ A& q3 T0 V0 sAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
: ]* z' T* F/ B7 {( l+ L" C4 g( cfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate ! g" ^* H& u& M. L2 X
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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0 z+ ?' c/ p' HMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
7 y1 Z" l& k# His to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and + ?# T# P. x* G U9 e( [
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take0 b1 i) q) e% j# h
9 M+ D. n! z; H2 w0 z# J- o; ninitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for % k9 g, i* O/ z5 h/ n
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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# @2 R# M; O) V2 h: dPlease come with your experiences and ideas.
; A* u9 j$ [+ a AThank you all! ?& w! C, v. ?9 \* L2 \. I
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