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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and 3 B: e3 w# R4 s$ f
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
8 S' f) w; I9 F; a6 N" X! Q cin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
+ t: h" v) P P/ R680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment6 N* K5 }6 m6 `+ U
6 z: H$ l- m. ~3 G" k; \is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for6 Y" h3 P4 s, Z- V' o
: l% k( z8 b( dthe current price look at this link 8 e7 C. `- _! c( J. O3 B
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
9 g& ]0 m* y' y% uincrease in housing cost!$ S, ^. |& ^2 [1 l, b) H& O
: p& n& T+ y& L
While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
5 w; `8 \, y% U6 A& v! [# O) h5 v600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month." d' _6 g! r8 P% O; n7 q9 h
: H+ v, z( K3 t, o% F9 POther costs of leaving have also increased and the university
# N5 O, o) U7 yincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international , `$ h: r; o: Z; u2 M/ P+ C
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
9 g2 m$ e( o8 Athe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers 1 d, c* s. r2 \9 u6 I, b
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were ( }: I* m+ @2 c4 j( F/ b, a
asked to look for a residence on open market.
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8 C; s6 S% Y% _While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has ' ]! f$ t5 ?% ]* u0 ` V+ M) r. Q
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
. N; X7 d) c4 ?/ Y2 n2 N& _exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
' ~+ Y" d7 q6 w/ Z3 h( O# ?admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students % s( L) s4 F' Y# d- e* z
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after " Q$ H. a5 y) P+ W1 ?
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
8 H7 k: ]' X4 o* nimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
. ~. Q/ d) a! L& l# C! tgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
: w2 i+ {& y" G2 v/ [) Qus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
4 i ^4 t; W( [$ ~& n! Cadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
- C( p% O* b1 T+ {" J) Q
' O; T8 D) c0 `; {" G6 I! v. y* ^Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
O8 l3 \8 }0 ?& aAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
4 a8 @3 k1 A: |4 }: ~from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
4 }3 ~1 f7 u# c; Hstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
/ w* e# ~0 p1 Y* [) Z' f
+ y3 i% C' |& FMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention - x8 i* F* ]' U/ V# M: G" r
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and / w0 | T0 h* k" d
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take# `. U; u3 Z- Q) Q! w" M
I$ F- g2 h6 R2 m$ f4 j- c
initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
! F/ z4 V! t- q- rgraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?! ~9 G8 U. @% Q* l% O- B' Y! |
5 `3 k4 Y; G1 b% N7 TPlease come with your experiences and ideas.
) M- Z' E T; m4 U2 GThank you all
6 S# R- e5 _8 p% v" RAli |
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