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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and ( J A' e# H- H" G
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment : w' ^1 a# p3 w
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for & L4 G* k' B; c$ W
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment% V9 ?) b4 ]3 O4 k
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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the current price look at this link
+ k$ i4 V# ^7 a$ g' }/ yhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% ; m& J* l. U# C- i8 {
increase in housing cost!
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying , D/ Z( E! D% g
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university 3 \" N5 N' }" y# p% r% j
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
( u3 U* x. N2 Y% Edifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
( p8 b% y; O% v" Q! H* E7 }the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers + a5 C/ x6 A' z4 i& {% S
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
6 k1 W) x- m$ i4 H! Z7 wasked to look for a residence on open market.8 E' s3 P( S2 r3 t
- S1 X' B5 Q" V5 Y/ g; p9 OWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has * I, ?! n$ W* W3 P1 r
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
! h* T. J- J) e% i4 H ?; Dexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
/ n+ j: N4 Z; o# i# w0 ?admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students # Y# g- A1 i' {, T. k) z& D( ?
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after 9 N8 O0 X& X+ L
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
8 M% @: g# m2 t3 q; C8 p& Ximagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am 1 v7 I' z, k0 F6 l/ c, C& P
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
/ y0 _+ o) z1 W) y$ u3 \! Qus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was # X( Q* s T" ?( i
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
# @8 _0 f* z# t! p6 @Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants / ?: Z" k+ d* G Q* p& ^0 X. O, L" K
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
4 j/ |9 c& [' b; s3 Q. Nstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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5 _( |& N# Z4 J# }My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
' \" L1 D: `7 C) Qis to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and 9 k' M! [5 d9 T2 Q
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take( b. Q1 S" v A
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initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for # ^- d/ \) k) L& W/ q& \# a, U
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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( g# ^' f- d9 `# K j5 TPlease come with your experiences and ideas.: C9 S' ~- `4 O& H2 E r! z% x
Thank you all
4 `/ O! h2 T. }Ali |
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