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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
1 j* R7 P3 r) w# K( p$ W! C0 tmy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment + `9 h$ L) K {- H6 ?
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for # a8 Q5 E* C: O) q( c
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment7 K" ^/ y% U7 p0 O$ z
# B% `' k9 [+ {5 X- ?1 Vis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for! o# u0 q9 E. ~& _. w' [
3 g# {% d. G1 ^the current price look at this link 0 X. i% ?7 Q5 H& p# W. H" A
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
V) s" W. v* n* K! oincrease in housing cost!
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
9 Q( h9 m- [: s600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.! R5 b$ O: v# y: N, ?
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
9 \" X, c8 N* J" uincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
, o1 o m4 J) Z* S, q( y, F8 Z% `8 mdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
# ]7 r3 K: x( o( F- R1 ythe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers 5 ]: s% M! \0 C. W
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were / p3 b/ v( R; m" W. K, U
asked to look for a residence on open market.
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% g+ ?# {( B& f: l' M5 S& p V# kWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has 6 W. I. y% n6 K; W. O. M* x$ E! w
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
- P @$ S- K9 _6 [exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our , ~/ E/ j \7 p# ]: b. F. }
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
9 E3 d$ C3 L( L) r( D3 ~& g$ S ~4 @=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after 6 D: m. Z' d* |" B6 m8 h: U( t, M
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just * w) z* K7 e% ~' V, b
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
6 P' k1 ~8 H: \getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
* D3 U P* E' C! b6 U- }us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
/ W' |7 x$ ]9 \( B& B: y8 {0 Fadmitted 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 / Q. E8 k9 |' z
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants C: J1 ?: I% l' f5 @
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
2 ?/ D8 ?2 f, c+ }- c1 `7 vstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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0 r* t8 V* M n1 I9 oMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention / ]+ _$ E. z: Q% y; E* G$ x& Z
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and 4 `+ V3 h+ r6 e6 p
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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. ]4 v) V) {% U9 s' {initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
. d7 L% \% C7 Q- Jgraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?/ d/ V; O2 [% |" r
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.
7 t/ t7 e4 b3 e& }- \& WThank you all5 H# @* U, P' g$ O- o
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