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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and 5 _ D. G3 @5 _% }; F6 f
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment 1 T% M2 t3 e" A8 m! }
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for 5 u0 a8 z- V1 D/ ?$ d) ?4 j
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment* b- t, b7 U$ ]( M
. o8 b$ Y2 v" E: o3 _& @) {is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for6 v7 y* b5 \+ _& R1 a7 Q9 S
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the current price look at this link
$ u( e0 ~3 l6 D3 S9 n* Mhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
. ]# b+ P! ~. n! {increase in housing cost!
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! {' e+ G* \+ x) Q1 O& K. N4 T5 hWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
. d$ \5 }0 F2 K# m. I/ L/ g; f5 @600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.; H3 h$ w& H5 j
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university + a! l4 X9 S8 I9 L! ^( ]; a
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
* Q' R4 J1 T, Q5 G% P2 R9 r5 ydifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, , S- m8 f/ u9 |1 f
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers 2 P: l0 U4 O, }+ Y: a; w1 f/ T5 Y
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were 7 r! W2 E, G2 f3 N/ _/ ?
asked to look for a residence on open market.& j# R0 R0 f6 q. \* z
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
* K" O$ c5 ?( f% Y- @increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
6 }9 R# Q& q4 `% Lexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
& H8 U( O. o% s- t9 ~admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
4 }3 J: i( A* h2 o=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after & ]9 `) g+ L3 Z7 U. q; \5 c3 X
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
4 s0 k9 B- N; y+ a5 h7 W1 Iimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
, ^0 c1 q; C" P {! _, n7 Qgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
) ]& y' B2 |- G% eus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was / ~2 \% X7 g' t' v* R
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.% j$ _* y. N9 f
" m9 d4 R& V4 P, t) B2 _0 j$ fAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
& w5 b. T& O0 w9 X0 TAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants # T) X, ^. Y, d, g+ _
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
! b3 q- t- s: ~$ ~6 Pstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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" \8 S/ r7 N0 P7 h7 {' C' GMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention ) V2 z* e+ G1 F0 P4 Y( t# q
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and 4 [1 S" M0 h4 r9 ]. ~, I3 N
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for - f3 H8 y/ o$ U1 h6 {$ K
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?: ~% t: u$ {, r9 }4 [
1 p3 J' a% X9 x- u- VPlease come with your experiences and ideas.
" ]1 p$ N$ A" F; J( `Thank you all
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