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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and . M; E5 |- q0 f
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment " I4 Q6 \) w7 N, [4 o# m
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
* K' d" |$ K0 |9 w* m0 Q680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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0 B5 D) B0 q; D7 O$ Tis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for6 S( D: |( s5 U1 ]. ?! U$ f: M
Q! T/ e* M* q$ B3 n1 uthe current price look at this link - g1 Q- z1 n0 c' D, _
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
' ]6 x S+ O4 G `3 R9 oincrease in housing cost!
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying 1 U7 x4 G' \6 o- Y
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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9 ]/ A* c% }; Q" N5 BOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university
& _9 j3 u# o9 `: n& b) t$ qincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
) G% a6 @4 s3 y1 j; p4 ydifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, * p9 e, k3 v; |" L( E' D
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers 7 H0 G. c/ D- ]" j
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were 4 e( A; |" `4 ]& c2 n3 O8 I0 |
asked to look for a residence on open market.
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
1 t+ ? D5 V6 k7 sincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
3 w7 X o" {. w3 Z# uexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
$ y. f; T) _0 J0 e3 vadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
3 P L# B7 a+ ~" o. V+ y=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
- ^+ [- T9 H# O/ ^9 J) _tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just : k1 H8 ~7 W9 I. U) y! e
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am ! l8 d E0 y: A @( y. R4 a
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of 4 a2 F/ F# E% ], B
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was " I" E6 [- K; g1 I8 L4 e7 f
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.7 ^' u4 l8 j& m, Y+ f& Q
5 J! ]$ y2 w# P2 A) jAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of # Q1 u9 C$ U/ i* R6 G9 ~
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
7 f0 T0 e5 A1 K! ofrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
( V* K& ~6 Y- ~) V W2 ?students are the main pillars of research work at the university.6 m# P+ z, l. Z9 w" I* y# l
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
# o! r! K* r) Q* `5 l& Ris to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
# s! G6 C' y1 [4 B7 A+ F5 sespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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0 _8 z) w5 }: T" Y/ h- _; o6 iinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for : E9 |6 j7 x0 y
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.
/ b8 {* }" X5 Y/ O' RThank you all
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