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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
" W$ v7 F- P; Umy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
5 K2 B, R# g1 r3 zin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
! b5 N" R8 W" X& E/ c680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment; R O# X: g) b$ @9 f" z
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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% m0 e; n; l; [- bthe current price look at this link
- X1 S2 s1 R% a0 W. mhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
v+ V# a9 ~% l# k4 p" O' C: Nincrease in housing cost!, w5 H7 K. u0 e
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying # n0 R/ u2 b) D
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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% R' R! F- {5 X/ A$ T1 J+ p( vOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university : ]3 I7 o" E, Z1 V6 B9 m
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international 5 I& g; q' |8 N2 u0 E0 Y* d5 e! Y0 n4 T
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, ' B6 J+ W$ v3 u$ h0 u0 v- X( D
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers ) J* t4 I6 s0 Z6 s% J7 K4 |* s3 @
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were ' u, [2 {8 ?* E5 q, a, p- G
asked to look for a residence on open market.
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
. F% b j& m2 tincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid $ W5 h+ b4 E- u" N- o4 ?0 u$ Q
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our 9 H0 q* F/ I6 l6 h6 _# j
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
7 J2 Y& i% z% T+ \0 g3 m2 m=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after : @; @/ Z4 w% s: l' |
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just $ w9 E6 m y- U( q. k& F$ }
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
" }" j( y' S% n: ] C ?getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
% B# s/ t9 D1 ^4 u8 vus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was 5 K8 R: ]' T( X$ l
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.1 x: K+ R. \& Q- _7 Y' K7 _
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
, u) A6 c5 _8 Z) i9 W6 f- v9 {Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
5 S0 t. N5 u/ g9 V; {1 _from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate 3 U; A8 |3 b0 k
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.! {/ k/ R( Y2 f* O' m2 ^6 M% t
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention - t- O$ O+ Q/ J: ~$ `
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and * k8 \9 H4 X4 X% d* U* M7 N
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for 9 i( S( A3 p+ n: l5 Y8 F
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?# Z( Z8 I3 q! _. h
2 X( z# }6 B- yPlease come with your experiences and ideas.
! a" |9 s: ^" L" Z: VThank you all
9 W& l' ]+ T' a- ^. t3 N% R% gAli |
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