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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and , \ o9 W1 L6 S0 g0 u1 m
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
$ n% @0 h8 k! W2 c: F( ein one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
$ b5 \5 [$ h! |6 C% O# d680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment6 ] k) _# Z% b1 C
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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the current price look at this link
1 O$ c1 n3 I* \$ H5 }; _1 ?http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% ) N# F& P) @' H' Y1 h' I
increase in housing cost!. N* v2 {, P" k9 T/ ^4 C4 w
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
6 S0 C5 {: U: f7 O* K600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.( L8 R; y: X8 W% ^5 O! |
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university 8 \9 W$ d' }; N
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
( Q. q9 X, ^0 r8 y" Z |differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, % `2 z9 M) k( Y0 z( L
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
0 o) |# l: _/ Y2 w/ F0 Aand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
& N: z( u% L) m! fasked to look for a residence on open market.
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
! a6 ] C: x2 Q# Cincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
q3 R& _: V3 E$ N3 Rexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
) x* s# v! ~9 k# padmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students # d7 a2 n/ o5 U; O) J
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after ]! ~; K/ j2 J9 ?* e$ h' }6 i
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
# J) I5 |. f! \: A. O B. r Aimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
, ~0 J) B! g& T2 xgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of 4 I6 V% f! r1 G8 L
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was * J( W' i& k( l* `' r; l4 j
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.3 i4 g3 q. j, O3 L- q8 a' U9 f
4 R2 n$ b) w/ G8 n4 lAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
, C6 Y8 w2 b& _. s7 m$ s! |4 PAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
$ f7 j1 v5 g% J0 W0 @- m0 Qfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
3 e. i# q; {! r! W3 x1 l. F+ Vstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.- ^$ N7 e9 T n( K. A, l3 u
' b: E# v8 s# HMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention ; y: h3 K. k& O5 t& A! R# \6 ^
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
4 v4 U! a$ C( h5 Nespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take9 K. u( A3 h! }2 s7 D
+ n( N0 e2 S+ h( E: n0 jinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
4 R1 C/ `5 H$ ygraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?; v0 }3 {' N: J! r' h% L' N6 u
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.6 o- Y9 w8 Y2 ^; X+ m# W( a" E
Thank you all
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