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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and , e# f) i7 P0 d) _
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
7 |1 c4 P0 m$ ?: X Z7 Min one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for 1 x: c# s7 Z: V
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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, l: _/ A: }$ a( K; Y$ uis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for1 r7 L8 U4 `3 O8 W# L# N) O
2 w/ Z# o; l4 E3 \, B# tthe current price look at this link
# ? S3 G# T) J' j) e7 M6 e4 V3 phttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
" w. k1 Z/ w& Y. E8 r e# R+ eincrease in housing cost!
5 e- G% ?' R' n) m& H, c$ [0 E5 w0 s
While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
5 G2 r( _! |1 n' A/ \& S; \600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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! f' W7 \3 F: N% Z& a/ D9 ~Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
4 e+ u7 b4 R! Z9 T) dincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
& z0 j7 _- I8 b" i% U% V! fdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, + Q1 m+ Q' U: P# R: h* h
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers 2 b' x% q3 R+ E6 G4 v& z' q8 w
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were ; e9 j7 h4 D, N$ h+ B/ ]- p v
asked to look for a residence on open market." {) e- }. x; G7 r$ N1 y$ D
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
5 @9 v0 B) f) P. _increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid " K/ Z( r: }# N8 J/ S7 U. A
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
, O' o+ h5 n, ^. `+ X5 O4 Uadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students ! Q4 F# [1 `8 y% y, U6 Q
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after 3 v& E+ a5 y# e2 f8 g
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
: Z D, G0 n( P) \imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am . N6 O' w& D4 g ^
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
z/ e3 M1 T0 n& H& |- N( Y6 X+ qus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was ) A+ t0 Y0 t T8 f+ v$ C1 E- l0 o
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.5 g$ Q [7 Q, {! \
, O0 T0 G- O5 ~( vAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of , S3 Y' y# e2 }' c- E7 k
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
$ \/ P& @9 x) S# H+ Ifrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
4 n$ h* `$ w6 ^* Jstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.8 v' n' B% l, o, U0 w
4 o- C1 ^" C7 y# m# ~My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention ) ?- T V; {; v# ^
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and ' V. w) M6 b) s0 _* a! Z
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 + J$ _) Y0 P8 G- |7 V
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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( s; u4 [; _% X1 @Please come with your experiences and ideas.
: v. Z7 T7 P) _. A" I3 I3 `' QThank you all0 }/ o( r5 e8 t# e7 T
Ali |
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