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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and / s# D; |" F% D( w, Z. C' Q w
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment 7 d. r' G3 j: h0 I/ c4 i
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
6 n6 f- m7 M2 l I8 F/ n6 x) f680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment% c, X0 j7 V0 g
2 I5 g$ t' T) H# s3 M) d0 @is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for" I0 y3 `( J" w# j& V7 R/ q! ~
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the current price look at this link - z( i: |* Q8 \: _0 L& Z* X1 h( m
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% 3 U: a! m5 t* q1 N9 H4 k, Z
increase in housing cost!
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; @: |; a! f: h! x6 iWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
: c b# b7 w, |. G: z& N/ K600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.6 ]9 ^* x5 F7 { ?2 K
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university 5 I! L; j" ?( u# o$ H' c
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international * x: ~* f! A. `
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
: U; V. A0 j- ^& w N( dthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
/ e& |( F( N2 O9 U6 u& vand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
2 W. s; G d7 F ~$ W* E0 M& U# Wasked to look for a residence on open market.
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& V, W" i; r. i% i# z; KWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has ) P4 O; Q% K. r; ~9 e
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid / p: o2 o% W! Q2 I# D+ i6 P
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our r5 d) h# r I ] O3 _
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students " h7 s- W# i2 R* k5 H5 R& _
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
4 H4 L9 g* a& m+ Q$ Htuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
) L9 u+ C+ |6 v! k9 `; pimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
4 f4 V8 r4 T0 ^% m( L$ s7 R) l2 \' rgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of - Z; B# ^4 h$ ]" r- b' ?3 x
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
: M2 S7 {$ A$ [admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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! s0 i& g% F! K: l! c+ _4 aAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of , ~! S! M/ t/ O% |* u( B
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
, K# i, p; z4 B5 G: Z+ F! Qfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate % o. d) C, N7 ~7 R, z
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.8 j5 ]/ a0 y6 k! H
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
8 d. k+ w O4 h" e- Ais to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and . M4 X2 s% l9 _1 p
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take4 K" f3 d* ?. X7 \5 t0 N9 ~
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initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for 8 G' B; ?/ E5 ^3 s
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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' B3 a8 A2 |! l& ]4 S- d$ d* E( wPlease come with your experiences and ideas.
- O3 J, C+ P( g. m& |Thank you all
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