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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and 7 a$ {& L& p( d' K$ r& l% J
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment 9 @1 G0 `8 \* T4 M/ ]7 V
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for . W/ g7 i. e- s3 }
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
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8 n6 j* B3 b( K8 i- R! Y/ tthe current price look at this link
4 F T/ @; G1 B, vhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% : x1 r$ H5 T" z* R0 R' A# ~/ R
increase in housing cost!5 C; [! F" U& n% x. e9 ^
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying 3 X. Z: l8 m- B1 _- |
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.2 b: w+ H9 E9 h. R- x" W5 X$ G: c
% X# D1 R) }, e+ t& V IOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university 8 C+ y, s/ J+ g5 ?# a# ?
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international ! n9 G/ \2 y+ ^0 ^; G/ T7 S7 K
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
6 E, d4 j9 ^2 H, q# rthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
. ]* V/ I V' Z' G, Iand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were 2 N, L. l$ s) N/ i' Z2 T
asked to look for a residence on open market.$ R; K$ K2 O) H' u$ [
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
- |* ^( @ i7 o5 K! w: c8 e* C- U1 v) _increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
1 }; n- W! Q% o1 ?, yexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our % |. w' N. Y7 K/ d) A, ? Z
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
3 `$ u4 Y' h7 d6 W=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after . \3 x0 _5 q6 z) a r" S
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
! [3 \/ m' Q2 {5 Eimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
( T4 O: \( x% \; x! I; tgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of : n, D3 r/ A3 W( \. o/ ~% P
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was & k$ H- e9 c* |
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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G1 o i5 `# W6 o% V0 [& r6 JAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of * S4 V( I8 | _1 M1 ~
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
% D, `( v' h) Z3 R9 o. b( B4 Vfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
# k F) Y4 }( |, G$ Z- P4 z, Vstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention % @$ x3 p3 g" j& O
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
0 u! ]5 D( ^8 H3 B* O" p% uespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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4 F1 H& Z/ W3 ^9 s! g, d1 u7 Sinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
- y2 V, F( x# ^' u( xgraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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) ]! i5 H9 |4 U) C& K6 WPlease come with your experiences and ideas.
# Q. r0 u9 Z1 F9 L. A* M3 C& Q, wThank you all/ W5 z7 W M9 k8 u/ q. t* ^
Ali |
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