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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and # R& @& F; m/ T: F( i' f7 C
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment , E7 Q' U; ]+ I9 o, I4 R# C3 a4 a
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for ! ^+ s! q! o, s
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment2 K0 [, l, o0 z! G+ E" P/ L# x; W
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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' e2 n8 K2 z+ S8 J7 u( nthe current price look at this link
/ n$ ~3 T6 d2 `5 u |5 R3 U# E; Phttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% 6 ~: Z/ a! B. D/ f9 s* \
increase in housing cost!( r3 s- {% V- c+ D5 |% r4 @
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
7 X" I' E: g# G5 w5 e600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month./ l2 ^9 W2 o8 T
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
7 n0 N. s) q. \1 E/ J+ N6 dincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
, r+ g+ X, n c$ r$ A; `* ldifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, 3 Q3 p2 o ~/ I2 g
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers 7 [+ J1 \, \7 C6 S* V
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were ' o* [4 Q0 P/ f
asked to look for a residence on open market.
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
. b" Q! z' T5 Xincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
& ~( N& v0 q5 yexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
/ D+ ]0 K' Z. d+ kadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
% l5 Z; ~$ @9 f: ^9 A3 N9 z0 S4 U=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
/ Y+ }8 E. s* w+ Dtuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
~2 q7 U- u* I8 g9 C( h& Limagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
8 T. w: d. M+ X- N. S# F$ tgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of # L7 b8 x$ F: D2 V
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
! w% n# J2 d: E* J0 G% j+ N/ iadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.1 i& t# d1 {6 }' F4 r: M! e1 {
; N) W/ X: z( TAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of : q- o" x' e1 p2 x* D
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
* j m: Q$ {( X {* l0 \, Qfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
' {' m- H' N& w/ A' w x' G; Jstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.3 K4 Z7 z& T: `7 h4 ^% ?# C( S( d
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
8 h; D! m: d/ ^1 Q: `& [is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
: e: V7 K( m$ L4 ^$ _ J w# `2 Vespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take7 s% I' M- m; X* o3 Q, v# ?$ Q: v7 ~' D
5 B, O; J$ u% Binitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
8 ?/ x. p: Z. v4 R6 K* F/ M7 A& lgraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?3 b# a. t' V) [) D, M( x
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.6 L2 v) d' w3 j: Q6 \: s/ T
Thank you all8 {) h6 [2 L9 ^
Ali |
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