 ʻ( 0)  ( 0)
|
When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
' f. V' M7 m# e# m- V) | ^my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment ; h1 p) O* x0 D
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for 0 Z) X8 T) a# n' s5 F S4 x7 y# H
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment6 t. M( T! m; Z
! @ G# |# W) Q H* _is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
) I8 i/ j/ }+ w / G) X6 I) \2 d8 a
the current price look at this link
. j! U7 r2 M! F% A: uhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
1 B! z' E& S) q' H" Kincrease in housing cost!) W& [/ ?8 E6 i' H% `1 u
* O+ W: }4 B5 K: E0 wWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying 4 e+ C) w/ N* ]: K! O5 G
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.* s& y2 A( f. w$ D, T+ H. ?
8 U! B8 L" I: j. k3 V0 A5 |
Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
+ q$ {; j3 |7 h+ C kincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international 1 K0 {* d; V' L( v' z- {% M
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, ( c: V1 i, E/ h& [) P) g
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers 6 D" k, ^* [# }! J3 p/ \
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were + F2 `3 z7 ? X+ }) n
asked to look for a residence on open market.
+ E4 B& @1 k" A& S/ q# O. {5 r& }% a5 Y( Y
While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
8 |: }* s* H% a4 m( pincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
4 d4 w2 _3 ]5 |5 E( y( uexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our ( `9 ?/ f7 @+ j/ `# {) f
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students . |# n5 m( A4 v4 f
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after : U0 n6 E4 F8 w6 m
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
0 ?; t" j* i0 e4 ^) r/ ?imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
) G- H/ d, |4 x; Q% ]# p( f# igetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
- E1 `2 ]' D: n- d3 B, Uus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
9 m6 i; }# L) w1 m% l% Xadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
. c, b2 n. v' V0 m! Y, G6 a/ N8 ^) b3 m" Y6 `
Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of * [+ `4 D, y4 O3 j+ ~8 i6 e! N
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
( t0 U- g) E9 mfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate 6 v0 H/ O0 E- P g
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.3 A/ u- v1 b, @$ D- q0 J
& D) V; \8 i& P4 A* dMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
3 z! ?. ]) I! K* _( P) ]is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and # o F7 W2 A8 @! a
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
$ I0 C% S( E7 w
1 h- n7 Q$ [9 E+ U( y- ninitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for / S3 t) j8 D" _- Z+ t( l" c
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
+ V/ ]' x+ Y3 [- c' D$ t! w' H: @
' E% n# \( T) P- ~: \: yPlease come with your experiences and ideas.% G* w( q6 Q0 p4 u F' b- y* ]
Thank you all
: {/ m9 n4 Q* ], jAli |
|