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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
3 C. m3 P L( x- y& N0 O8 smy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
% ?* r3 I# E7 Jin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for # [; D7 d6 R: T$ K; b' W2 i: k
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for" A/ W3 z5 \4 {
+ m. x M6 g8 [9 F: S" Z# r$ u4 h
the current price look at this link
* u! {6 i* L# F1 i, j- Rhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
' w0 y3 e+ I7 y- hincrease in housing cost!* O8 @- {; J! W# M1 l6 _6 }
+ `- D& c6 T+ S4 E: R9 `' GWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying r' k# ~1 x: C9 Q5 r
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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" E4 u$ Q: y2 E. n( q$ NOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university
5 S8 S/ M# t& E& F$ y8 hincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
/ g" E! O8 \- _differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
* d1 U2 x4 R0 D6 q' G! Q$ s' P8 k+ H2 r& Zthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
}1 Q( ^0 j3 y$ Q- e# Nand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were ! j* u" `% M6 E% C) N) n9 G- x1 J
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
: Z' v2 C! W! a/ ^# `$ H1 ^7 ]increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid 9 g* e, B7 B% a; i/ D
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our 3 t l7 ~6 L! x$ N9 q
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
6 |+ l5 X4 Z" _3 B- {=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after 0 |* \3 O; X4 C! I, {
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
/ \) u7 D9 @. l3 }: f8 }& x; J* d9 h& Himagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
. E j6 q. t- G4 \: {. ~6 Hgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
. [: a. c c1 |1 N8 Gus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
. f7 m0 [$ \8 m* B' A hadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs., J* o8 u* t) v- c9 A, ]9 D I
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
: y& G1 j. Y& {) J" z) RAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants 2 v; O3 a( ` M: d8 W {) Q- x
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
2 \4 l; Q9 q2 m. o) y5 V3 Pstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.0 |) b7 i& X* y9 }$ z' T
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention 1 N, V# G4 v- T: {
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and 0 N3 y4 k E# l) i6 X
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
& T, H; N' h3 _, h8 R. M# ]graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?1 X& R: A q0 `6 h- _7 n6 E+ v
6 L3 F i1 q( ~3 K o iPlease come with your experiences and ideas.
6 \* [9 T+ M) ^Thank you all7 [8 _+ X- G7 t. ~& [+ m% b, [, ]# f
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