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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and 7 @8 Q5 q5 ~8 S6 R; U( @4 M7 Y
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment 8 W, p) C# A0 ?- ?
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
6 ?% r0 H1 F" k8 p! e8 F! @680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment0 W! f4 b: }8 j* G: K A
3 M, G3 x }3 J* g2 @" z6 M
is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for4 I( }+ P1 W/ P; V% \
3 I' W1 N3 M2 o+ M% N* gthe current price look at this link
! \/ C L! P3 h0 H1 lhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
0 ]2 l- Y {+ Sincrease in housing cost!; A& M/ q+ d! Z r$ Y
3 t% K& E7 [3 \% i6 c- hWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying ; P1 I# y) g6 n9 V4 Q$ D6 G
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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5 j% r" _. S" I& x+ }7 H$ rOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university
* f4 [! \ H+ Uincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international * r- ]- N& O c# m
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, 0 B' K% w" A m% `! b. o5 I. V
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
- W' a8 G4 j5 V) {and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
/ z3 Q6 Q$ m# K* easked to look for a residence on open market.8 i& Y" z$ k5 B' M- X5 o
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has ) o- E, G9 @4 j: _
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
/ O) \; {$ d6 U! d( O8 G5 |, U* [exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
. a3 k/ I1 I* sadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students 2 o+ V1 ^# E5 N8 v3 i
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after 7 ]1 Z; ^% z) O/ w2 l! J; g' \& K
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just 6 u* n; v( n9 |* w* S9 m
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
9 K* @0 F! O# ^8 s% a6 X; Mgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
0 H0 a; W% m) n3 Mus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
& G; C, S; }/ D6 _6 r* a0 eadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.2 ]3 l$ N1 C& @4 }
9 V$ f2 ~ j, r, P& ~4 L- A$ C) U' @
Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
& ~4 g: @5 s, hAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
& ^5 l3 E7 M* u6 ~from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate 3 t5 N- a* A) U0 E9 h8 W7 `& h
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.) S' u% ^1 {+ d$ q
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention 1 z% n+ h' h- k- a& \2 X
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and 0 v3 u+ R9 N5 L ?4 w
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 4 k! |' H* a) X. }
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?9 L X' ^ f8 ^+ l5 I- a
4 a8 X& I+ |2 V8 L; l+ IPlease come with your experiences and ideas.
U7 K7 C! E3 A* U, oThank you all- F6 k" i& w6 ^7 v K6 B
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