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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and 5 a# y6 C2 i8 [5 P' H- a/ H v9 g
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
- ~$ h _4 E! j1 c6 B, x" Gin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for + x# W: g- a6 U6 O, b+ `5 c& Y! x
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment2 Y7 ?) Q1 K5 v, {
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for$ }3 [* j7 h' q9 ~4 T( p) w; A- @4 R# U
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the current price look at this link 0 V" e2 d9 ?4 r3 H/ ]/ t9 Z
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% " e( V# ]* @6 N5 K3 y) G
increase in housing cost!% E( G! W- W) m7 `5 `0 R" G: ~, }$ e
9 I# v2 L2 u. f" h& O0 O, gWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying : }( ?" `$ z& F0 ~% h) P
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.% F! Z; H* m; x8 `$ \& h
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university : O. K+ L5 C: \+ [2 K
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international ' Z( |6 s9 [& Z6 e% Y
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, # N$ J' q5 h k/ K( B' s
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
( S- K- A+ Q' |; R% vand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were & ^ V% T H& y( N1 z* z8 D
asked to look for a residence on open market./ c' K1 D& ]$ B/ y; W/ G6 A
% ]! Q, @# V1 y. b' |" xWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
5 ?1 J5 |" [2 g1 n. c& Z! Aincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid ( c% x- g1 e% D
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our 3 P6 z7 u2 v$ I0 y6 J i) z- {% y
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
+ o) N9 W+ O5 w6 t=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after ' I$ B! X# S6 S
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
+ I3 u: ]3 u* U' K$ Gimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
. x c m$ T: I) ngetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
- R; @$ Y0 G, f3 d7 Vus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
! h: ^7 B' T+ n% B% U4 M9 ^admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.8 C5 w; L5 w& I7 e. K, m" i
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
. [$ Q* k' i- NAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants ! L1 X& _) u6 Z0 c( \: D4 f) r
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
! p, r/ r8 [5 ~& H( B3 d; L- z- sstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
" _; y9 P# y4 h+ Y% X9 @, Vis to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
9 M4 d" ?. U0 m# T& Gespecially 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 : Q- X& |2 U. p
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?. _5 @0 w" R# o) v1 l8 t
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Please come with your experiences and ideas." {+ [/ t1 Y& d7 O0 d' ]/ a+ r
Thank you all
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