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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and 0 ^1 Q& z3 O5 g
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
1 B) U1 R5 P- Vin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for 7 u3 i, ]# v! z- r1 l
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment7 S/ Y% `6 Y# o8 P4 `5 @: s
0 l/ E& Y, B$ {( N" r9 l$ K% `+ P9 R
is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for. w$ v) {& w d4 W$ k2 Z
- e2 M V) L2 Y9 m5 M/ qthe current price look at this link 8 {9 w( v0 ^) x n
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
% `0 u% R1 n* r: v/ _increase in housing cost!- i6 m+ {9 P2 I9 p3 y7 y+ g: y
' E7 D+ p4 w" ^ Y9 OWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
1 ?0 H0 v+ p- @+ N6 V6 l4 Q$ B600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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4 E" w, p! R, x% q& oOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university
9 L+ W" }! c7 l& _5 H$ qincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international ' z9 ~# `- D- ]. y5 j9 x0 f* ~
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
3 g/ I" U5 F! R3 e# dthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
% o8 I5 k9 ?7 A" n- C- R7 Dand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
* c- S% M) z% \1 w& S H8 V, Jasked to look for a residence on open market.' a! L) C" H8 s+ U$ E' o* M9 E
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
$ A9 h+ _$ p( \# `8 ^) Z: @( w- pincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid - W; C2 r3 J, |6 O( ?
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our - j2 y* L8 A j3 e; F# J0 E1 e
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
& @$ k+ ?% Z. C5 e=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
$ }" X, v/ k i$ J3 z- i$ @) mtuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just ! E% U- F7 j7 s) p! d2 Q0 R% F& ]
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
( ^: P7 c1 A/ y+ \getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of & P- ]+ H: ^8 j" H
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was * h. i/ \8 L& l% c. X
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs." x/ `# c- t6 t( o" C0 X
+ q" H; {+ n! zAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
( D# Y0 f6 c' i4 d+ F( r- kAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
& P u! J/ ^7 p5 e) wfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
( p$ L' d: I3 K; O Qstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.5 J. \# ^# c! l. w/ s h1 D' ~
" v% K' S. v( i1 _' L5 GMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
# n! [' x! g9 F) u. H1 {- @is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
+ w9 W' q4 I& {, G: R$ Oespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
7 x7 s( b; w( f0 _# X, N' A- s # |, X; n' h0 m4 G* m6 n" k
initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
4 M H4 w8 d9 l9 b/ q! Z& u; a& igraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?: }. s& A2 {5 u3 R- B7 f/ b
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.
) s% C; v7 r! O- ~+ lThank you all
& |, H7 x8 v" z$ R3 n5 `Ali |
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