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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and 0 f. T. ^4 T/ q Z) ~! b
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
0 i, }$ `- D2 N& u& X0 l+ Y9 bin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
7 d q* i2 Y5 `+ j$ `( x680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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D7 Y7 I! N3 x" L" x7 o8 [% his more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for) p9 s7 x3 M; q0 w
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the current price look at this link
) z( Y% _* q# u% @. ^http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% # e! W3 j1 }2 @
increase in housing cost!* K7 f* z" R7 A' `2 R& ^/ G
3 b9 X! y/ s* A2 D QWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
& ]9 ^/ K2 j; U4 R/ z) k600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.. L7 \0 H# z# k; z) ~. A
! N7 V1 q" a$ |Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
2 v* T5 b! g6 I: h2 wincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
0 e4 r" k6 R6 k) U+ u. ndifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
- J/ u; f& u0 zthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
0 q6 A: O4 i& t. l+ U5 @( Land most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were 8 `* e4 K2 q3 T9 _8 w' { z+ S
asked to look for a residence on open market.: L7 L% ? @6 E- s
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
7 R o$ U/ o' Vincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid 0 l- O+ e/ k1 u# B. v$ V2 e
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our ; P4 l8 k2 s1 d; Y* u) j
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students / F0 q- H" \2 F2 E0 ], |
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after 3 a" l# f( l; n/ ]# o
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just 3 g9 j" N; S6 q8 |6 l
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am 2 I2 F! p9 o: V f
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of ) v$ J) P5 }* R$ ~+ v' J; X
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
2 f: S2 H, J- B7 Q, j3 Zadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of ) x$ [; C2 H5 x8 P3 j) `
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants 8 B( u, D/ S9 |# t) W1 F
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
9 f- Z1 F* \0 ?* Q. tstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention 9 K* V) K# D% N; |. F
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
( R6 q& V% ~0 u' t8 C/ z- hespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take" J5 c2 V* _3 Q0 H+ j0 w( A. s
( r; L k) s$ v+ x) ?' Tinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for 6 T: ^5 z% w S6 G2 ^1 r
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?( q1 c" Y. w' {6 x2 q
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.# F5 @/ J" K8 w% j# N
Thank you all& ]& }, W( [5 p; ^! m8 @% a
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