 ʻ( 0)  ( 0)
|
When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
1 }- L1 _) w9 b: y8 d( V6 Fmy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment # X& n7 w& Y, u
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for + ^0 C5 h, V4 q" ]
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
: Y+ ~! m# [6 ]& r5 H
% E5 F5 M" Z2 ?. dis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for! R2 p$ v2 l; v( D" \
: R3 i8 R) B8 D6 b7 N0 q7 A5 E
the current price look at this link
% s! u- \6 `4 }/ _1 k& p8 f4 ?http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
1 s J% Z: E- H: O1 f! g# ^increase in housing cost!7 p. a1 ~: [! F
( D$ d8 A% S* f. \6 n% |While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
% u- S4 O! f# f/ b" O1 H& ~600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.2 d" j: {0 W0 _* f
$ T" a8 o# a# F7 ]& Z: b; z
Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university : _9 D3 A- l* B$ A- R+ Q2 _, Q0 F
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international ! B# i7 g3 {+ p8 n$ M- G5 z
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
/ J6 y& f+ S5 g. Q' ~the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers * g4 H) a# D4 F7 M2 j" j- n
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were * S b/ K' j" Q" j+ y$ Y: C. X
asked to look for a residence on open market.( c* v7 n$ @/ g% G' g) J
2 t7 T: f, o5 @8 M* L
While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
4 P0 V/ Y) ^5 o" `increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid ) x6 m) p7 v7 G% s8 v! i& x
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
: [- n* s, j8 Uadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students % n' \3 h0 ]4 C$ A( ]
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after 1 i [* ~. j3 A9 \" O- i+ l* ]2 { B
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
: A& T5 f6 Q. @5 D) Q4 rimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
, V8 y0 {7 p# p" y' r* f: X( agetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
1 V* U/ w& O" s0 X$ Z6 d+ K+ Jus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was 8 m) ?0 C) L# a4 a2 T
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.7 T, b- ~3 A4 b! P" \
& _0 z2 S s3 d- Y/ }( }+ n
Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
2 C |) N/ H5 d4 J8 B$ `8 ~. AAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants / ?* o. r8 L2 a! H# _" T9 J4 h
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
- A8 m& n4 q& W! m2 {' m( x# jstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university., r2 Y' f& U5 N" H0 I/ X
* k! h8 w4 t, ]My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
4 b! q$ O! L$ ~$ W7 Q# Ais to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
8 P9 R& [7 j6 j2 J) Xespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take0 [+ Q: b( P4 ]$ b
- e6 g7 P1 u9 {! `) i3 \9 iinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
6 S1 s" z& a2 k0 s- ygraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
" h1 w, C' }' r% T2 [
- e+ a( {" n8 `1 j3 Y& APlease come with your experiences and ideas.0 f0 v0 `" j! H9 x2 Y3 \
Thank you all+ m: c+ |% U& \! i$ d
Ali |
|