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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
0 Q- I1 ?8 z$ M# v! @my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment ' y+ p: w; D& G: N8 T
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
+ ?& X+ `1 m3 w3 p1 m4 I680 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 for3 X$ ~* T* n# ?- _
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the current price look at this link , V7 w v) \0 Y* W/ n; Q3 _
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% # i+ f6 e7 D7 C+ q7 R! v3 Y2 D
increase in housing cost!
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2 ]# ^+ J7 s# v8 ~3 S; eWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying & x/ a5 i* i( y$ B2 H6 z
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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' P- r& g8 R; f/ p- lOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university 8 @5 `$ N* N) F% {+ Z" {& h
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
/ u1 G4 s, {6 X+ h& m; ?; U( ~% Adifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, ! K" e7 A, ^2 ^ P8 B3 Y3 r
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
$ f8 ?. O0 m `5 Cand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
8 J8 s7 g, |4 |& u: ^7 xasked to look for a residence on open market., y+ v# R. b% ]
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has # k+ e' |* [7 D! V6 p# Q
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid 2 b! q* B6 X+ r% Y1 Z/ Q
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
4 M# _& {! X$ z7 E! H4 zadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
# n0 w4 Z; s1 E5 p2 N# X3 t=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after G) }2 x5 O* a! N; x( c2 r* q5 I* |
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
4 v( J# [8 ^! }# A& C9 D9 dimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
4 {& z& D* w w" v$ [9 Egetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
! m* W9 F# S n# S3 x. ]; |0 kus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
* v% Z* Z- ]% l# v" z: qadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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1 \: K6 q. }- p" ~9 u! R$ NAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
; I7 E) O: f. m5 uAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants ; q- E3 B4 o+ x; X% k& m. O& ]
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
5 K! F/ w6 w4 M% tstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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( Z C1 T) d- z, o9 aMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention : N W7 E. b0 z5 o) P" \( |
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
S1 B3 M- _5 y* V0 {1 f3 zespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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. I1 W1 e5 r. c8 V8 ? v; ginitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
# r/ i% m: P6 R3 }. Q; m( Cgraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?9 y! a) p/ T) r9 N, k; j1 y& l
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.2 ?5 l& b0 p6 I* D7 D& n0 G! c0 H
Thank you all: ]6 I3 u p: o3 T x
Ali |
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