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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and ! ^* Y& V, H' q" g, T# k9 B
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment 2 i9 j5 F2 X3 m( o) c5 B7 }0 _
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for " x$ p1 M8 p6 y
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment+ m9 h3 j: n1 Y% D
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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, f# z* ?+ k9 t% c& r' J0 G* ~0 Gthe current price look at this link
% P- O& S% A% t, bhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
% ^; P+ L# ?0 E) J# Kincrease in housing cost!/ F- l" c8 o! P! R) Q7 H; H2 c
* S( U/ }$ x7 q# e5 j! QWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying 7 _) m) y6 }/ X7 d
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.$ O) q. R7 O8 W( K
3 G5 i* }5 N2 h) QOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university + F( h4 G; f( c6 u# @& Q
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
& M. T" u' G0 y& ]* c7 Qdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
1 ~: D4 q5 t' x# q) w0 ythe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
- v+ F. {+ q' K6 F& @7 f' Z' uand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
+ h7 T" M4 Y; f$ \' b3 fasked to look for a residence on open market.
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0 ^' G$ _) P& @4 f; kWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has $ u0 m; i& x K/ _
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid ! Q4 N' ~! D! `8 |- l/ o6 B
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
9 w5 h$ S! L! g% Hadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
! C g. ]; M" r+ n T( |5 S& D=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after 6 j6 y# @7 q! |; u, i
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just ) k% s/ I* j4 Z3 B
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
! k9 c. a0 v/ G" Qgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
! Z9 n7 W/ w" g( b3 Cus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
% U; w8 w3 q: z$ g: k8 dadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.$ }5 Z% U" z9 a
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of 1 n% \/ O/ ?+ v! j- r
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
6 Z7 Q7 w2 m# ?4 @4 e! m3 T( pfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate 0 z: {6 F) N, |2 }$ ^5 K
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention * G( u) z5 p" i7 m
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and 3 |$ m& v8 r! Y! i3 @
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take; U+ j X* K6 c, I O
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initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
0 m6 Z, i1 y2 |8 {graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.
' c& o# ]% r. kThank you all
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