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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and , R! z, D& l/ z' n% d7 G# O$ o
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
+ g8 Q9 H+ }/ P( Pin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for 6 I7 a' p% B5 i& Z$ l1 \6 v
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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. W0 h+ c1 n! _6 A1 z' {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 / M8 X" a3 n9 _! b! G9 r# i
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% 7 t7 N& |0 ]. w% o' Z
increase in housing cost!! w' B: g; p) H$ C4 }1 E7 `/ `
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying . \- U5 S2 A( I. A( t
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
& ~. ?) x( K0 q4 \7 iincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
7 D. `4 C7 `( |+ J9 _differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, 3 W3 A) x# C% v* X" m$ G2 {2 s
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers - k( C! d7 l1 g/ P! W t- |% c
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were 3 H- h, Y8 M3 ?
asked to look for a residence on open market.4 U8 W( F9 [6 w) x7 J( M' c
: W. @6 I8 A* D) K2 Y: wWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
' j' h1 [* z! _3 Pincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
7 R2 C: B$ o' pexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
- N. X" Q. a) z8 k/ {% f5 Badmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students ?2 Z, p) m* G1 R
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after % x5 A7 {; l3 Y% r, q! k: n
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
( r, i% ]8 n# P% ~2 W D( cimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am ! `4 W, O* Z: z- |- y5 p
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of : E2 V) W( o* ~+ k
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was ( W5 L9 H3 a5 _& @2 c _" H$ D9 R& G
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs. {! N6 G- ^4 i9 h" s% \
1 U9 p% d4 Q+ y) ^# RAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of * q8 s) _, s, I
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants # A( r, s! K2 W5 h: R ^; S) U
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
% B0 p) v5 V8 q/ ostudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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1 K( x* ]" o0 \: P, UMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention - k; H6 {6 t/ _) [; d2 C( _4 b
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
$ y3 G" `: V- R5 H+ xespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take8 P$ E9 {9 E( r2 {4 e
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initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for . ]9 g3 P- ~; E' J7 R/ ~7 V
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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* O3 U( a& }0 E& \Please come with your experiences and ideas. z0 [" e; c1 I/ c1 {6 a
Thank you all8 D8 D) D( e+ m
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