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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
$ }( Y- }( d' z6 m5 U2 D" q; Lmy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment & H, m. h' B5 Y' n3 [! g7 e
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
" ^# s( o5 @7 |& _/ b680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment* w# D' G8 R* O
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for7 n; N# Q9 @$ t' h
% b. ~# F) F: \8 n# _" {the current price look at this link
, k- J- [0 _ C2 F8 ^http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
* x" B) O# ~, r1 ]3 Yincrease in housing cost!
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- I1 r- ^! ~/ f6 I/ c& RWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
. Y7 j$ y6 j! E7 W$ D9 {: P600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.& y! d, \* ?9 T0 J, k
1 K- t* z2 M7 [% v9 g4 a" XOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university & S, s. c1 o* F2 p# q
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international + D3 A8 i3 N- R6 |
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, & C/ r h( a6 X; q
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
! ~0 D6 { U/ U3 tand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were + W) m+ h9 Y! R$ X7 S2 J+ I! \
asked to look for a residence on open market./ Y% L& k! Q+ Q, s* r
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
, Y0 M* |- X5 g+ m9 {increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
5 \* x B" g% L9 D$ _exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
0 X2 {" u6 b2 u/ p5 t1 r+ q& a4 D! C+ _admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
3 |5 [0 L. |. }. B& Z3 q=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
0 ], |; w- ~2 {7 X6 x1 E6 y3 Etuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just % ~9 E3 A4 Q- Z& ^4 T8 V5 b6 f
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am ; f s) n7 t" x( x
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of + M* G! N9 Z1 g0 M5 G6 R6 Y
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was + y$ `- \; W* W7 U. U7 f3 g+ X
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.$ j+ X( m) ~& n- y$ u/ @8 u
8 \" ^ X" d6 D% z( PAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
2 M4 y- i0 b3 O3 B" e9 ^+ [Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
$ J- D" U; U6 B7 bfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
' I$ x1 D9 I+ u0 R* d* y7 g' Lstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention * U. M" M, q# z
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
, e2 {* L3 h/ }3 H# H0 E9 M0 eespecially 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 + ~" w# o; n& z* P0 u
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?8 E! ?* `% {1 C; u; C
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.
" E# X; ^4 k6 T3 w+ IThank you all# _$ ^8 ~' A0 u: M
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