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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
/ P, F0 @1 M9 n5 L3 y. C5 Pmy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment 8 H Y5 O2 h* P' y* a" A( }
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for ; }1 Q4 N6 }/ Q {4 V) E" f# ]
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
- A, n+ a: b$ |1 a6 w
& u0 ?5 \: A9 U' e; @" b4 Z. s4 b# }( }is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for$ F8 K6 u1 \! _1 [/ H4 M' d+ s" J( P
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the current price look at this link 5 H7 U. w6 ]! t* {& J. A9 ]9 T
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
& X# r! m/ g: ~7 T7 s o1 \increase in housing cost!
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
d& D6 k+ Z" r5 i0 d5 k600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.7 F y6 w9 j0 e
/ U: C" ^9 _6 U& N& s& yOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university m4 E" |) ?* K" N! l
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
0 j3 f/ v! q$ R; w. U0 C3 adifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, , r1 j J/ { _* e5 ]
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers ! R6 h+ e+ U: M- o$ P8 ~+ }
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were 0 Y5 C- B/ C! {7 m
asked to look for a residence on open market.
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3 s+ H' N7 k5 z& X+ WWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has * e( x6 g! i: h6 D. R p+ }. B2 O
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
' n @0 w5 A4 u- O0 `8 P% m/ sexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
1 X7 o n. R. `( Jadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students 4 p3 H' g. V% f0 d4 z+ x" Z6 Y/ `* F
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after # M9 ~# q) {' P, o; M( l4 H
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just 6 O/ E; B I: ?0 Z/ ]
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am ! ~4 t$ @' p4 z# }/ G
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of 2 {( f3 |, i; s6 ?6 W. y
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
" t _3 }4 {) L, {$ u0 D1 F# Jadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.$ q4 e6 a/ W- \4 Z1 z) x, N
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
: w) @3 ^# s. j/ RAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants & X8 v$ D3 [- r+ i2 U4 Q0 U( N
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
& i7 [2 t8 F9 p' |3 t5 U: `* Ustudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.) z: f3 N+ M2 g* Q
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention 0 C, D% b2 Z( J' n; H; y
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and . p+ E/ W8 W$ y8 {/ v& f) g2 l* v
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 % q4 [% m# ~1 T4 [4 }- {- U) q
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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. B$ W3 J: T$ k6 oPlease come with your experiences and ideas.
3 L3 P. y. d" gThank you all
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