 ʻ( 0)  ( 0)
|
When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
- h# d+ {5 c/ Y( ]/ wmy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
; J3 U6 E a8 c/ C: W! K- K Gin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
; T$ N3 U0 V, M4 c- u, C) x680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment- V4 a& k- M" V4 A- Y, ^; Y2 t5 A5 [
+ e# v6 w1 H1 m {is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for+ m/ j$ |# U2 ]: L
$ a' A% B' r0 T8 ?! w/ K
the current price look at this link - ?1 _: P5 U! S+ u
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% 4 R; P. o# d1 ^ F' P
increase in housing cost!
. @7 n. s2 G- {# `+ A. x9 J) a1 O2 l8 Y3 A2 E5 m: E9 Y% v6 V) A
While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying 7 I! K: R0 |1 |4 O
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
4 p6 q n" Q6 U! a2 ~- w0 m ! C' O; g D7 x U. k' W: q
Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
4 i3 j$ q0 q5 i; M& c2 e/ e* pincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
& p7 o$ t+ {7 E0 _# f* w; |differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
! ]. j& v. r, B& }& t' ?2 ]the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
. h' x8 T9 _) G8 {* G2 c& gand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
. u% @$ R2 `9 t7 z( t* nasked to look for a residence on open market.9 Z: _9 R5 u3 m
% P7 P' N) l1 D8 f
While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has 9 L; w0 X% D5 N1 ?
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
4 e% H/ j1 b8 oexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
# H( P7 Y( d6 C( H1 ?0 sadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
0 d6 m$ c# G' ^$ E% l- |2 ^=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after ) Z! }7 y L5 h& R0 U# M7 f
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just 8 H4 K0 o; {+ _& U
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am ! r- x% W \2 O& z
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
, ^1 c2 g$ f: Qus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was # X. d* Y L4 |, i$ o ?3 o) A8 Z8 W
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
, I% s5 [9 D0 [( k2 x( ?. E' ^- r$ w2 V+ l# p4 r0 v
Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of - G) I8 z$ Q* A) Z/ K
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
. b, A- n# Z+ ?# kfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
- y" u- U. S: jstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.- [+ i4 w# ^; }) g
8 G8 \1 ~6 [% M# v; D" A( pMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention 9 U7 O" }1 O3 D, F4 v0 G, |
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and ( u7 r" x# E; c) U/ c/ ]9 F
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take- ^; ^( |% [6 ?% d1 @0 _/ E2 n
3 J2 H0 k$ }- b( o
initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
7 \ {# O+ j6 Q. N$ dgraduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs? F" Z9 n7 M2 x( v2 {7 s2 s$ V
- |3 e3 w7 T4 L" O/ ^
Please come with your experiences and ideas.
* c6 ^( I2 y& t% }- B* |9 zThank you all1 m$ ]8 ?/ _4 M) g I: z7 ~1 I) [* l
Ali |
|