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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and - c! @& O7 w. z) F$ _
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment - ]$ i6 p% b" A( L* |) {- w
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for ! s) C2 h5 E/ T# R$ f C
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment. u5 y6 F) O- x
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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! Q& o5 l4 K8 S7 m) Wthe current price look at this link
* w* [2 p9 F3 Y8 |, @+ Whttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% , M- n9 n/ E' E! }/ F5 Z4 g4 K& K
increase in housing cost! q, n, Q+ i4 `0 p7 p
; w( z6 A$ o2 f1 sWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
. D# J) T0 X2 k2 r; R- V600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.9 z7 B) P0 Y: z$ s6 y d4 s) t
0 S) z4 R5 } ^, y6 z& AOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university ( m+ S4 R6 W- B" k
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
t9 r1 j4 U1 q; x9 m/ vdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, ' e- @" I; _, k- s
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
( i" q' [, \; }* j) ~3 yand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
! n2 d ^( ]+ Aasked to look for a residence on open market.
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has 1 I& [0 |$ |+ _, O* A
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
6 c& u. `4 i# F+ M5 F) J/ }exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
9 {: c w5 j9 b! V3 D/ l, e* {admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students , N5 S5 Y+ V/ V$ [
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after ; x% l3 W% G( E {% [& F7 s6 y
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
7 e4 }1 a3 G$ O9 z7 Mimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am 7 a0 _* \! y* B, E
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of 8 P% D9 ]7 L& E2 M5 d$ w3 @
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was 3 Y* `3 \2 R( u I! P8 w3 Q
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.0 t: E- h+ E$ N! b: U3 U5 O
7 H' }) D( r; B# p0 yAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
$ a- f& I- Q/ _+ y! n- g* ]Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
8 I- {5 Z7 k. S C7 bfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate - J) f$ Y1 K" R) M
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention . C- S) \% @: n. `2 H! d
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and 3 ^3 U. N# c \9 z6 q5 M; _
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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3 c* I/ s" W6 ]8 C% [initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for + Z; i) ]: f2 N2 ]3 l
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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% [. ^2 M( C1 ?& SPlease come with your experiences and ideas.
2 O" }+ B+ n1 |1 T6 H" j7 YThank you all
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