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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and # N. ^9 i6 f9 K* s; k: o5 P9 {
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
5 D0 o* C; _2 R! j/ E1 A! r; bin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
. R3 n8 c! F% w- g, f- \' ?& m680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for) [1 u. ]) `$ R
/ I0 j/ H9 G/ C1 K: ^the current price look at this link
' T; p/ V6 N6 h6 I: S+ qhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
% A9 D( X ~( S3 B5 e& Nincrease in housing cost!
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying 6 Y! {9 X9 s$ T C
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month., _, I) C. ]: s# A8 D! x, b
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university 5 W) G: i1 b B. A- ~2 y
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international 0 _0 C* Z9 N% Y# H
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, 6 I# u9 J' Z* \8 t% ~+ L: m9 W1 a( G
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers ) `! S( W ^) ^% B, D" d+ d; q4 z
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
7 X; r* p8 O# g: j0 _- V- ?asked to look for a residence on open market.
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% j& Q" S7 m/ d; k& `0 q7 l" cWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
6 _7 y& A4 U u& L$ Wincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid ( k% z+ L; J3 p$ P2 s+ w# @0 ?
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
6 Z [; ?/ q! W+ v4 ]8 Z" Q' Vadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
( V. i7 u7 s2 J! U8 v=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
1 O, N! j' g9 v8 G" S/ [tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
. l0 \6 G" e+ \" n. N2 gimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
; M% u8 s% b5 a2 J+ {2 Q0 Rgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
# N% k2 m7 w" X9 bus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was 7 j3 T/ w6 `9 M+ P5 z) M# p
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.+ r6 {8 M6 W1 C, J6 r M
7 U" E6 X/ |( cAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
7 S3 T" ] P7 @- yAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants 2 v9 ?4 G. W# t% T' D/ H
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
+ e( H6 f" k, }students are the main pillars of research work at the university.9 S8 W: u! M! K- v+ ^- c7 H, w
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
6 r/ n3 H/ v. E3 B# B4 a$ e Mis to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and : l/ J# @: u6 N4 e& B
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take1 i4 C8 v8 I6 y' h
4 H9 v1 G- W Y0 uinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for & f, j! \3 o- A5 u+ U
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?$ R1 N" o x# W2 p2 {
" W! p* ?8 e- H1 M ePlease come with your experiences and ideas.* I' V* U% m# a5 |/ ~! m; S2 F
Thank you all h# z* i$ ?$ U' ]( T) l
Ali |
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