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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
7 J) t0 D7 @7 K" ^ ^my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment ( O( `8 b$ k* O% U* x8 x. q
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for 7 l7 C, r3 z3 z; Q7 C
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment5 ~5 b7 V( @4 I! g5 n8 ^( L3 Q
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for5 {: r9 k: f; L' o+ T8 `( T
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the current price look at this link ' ?# M: o) {' Z; f( _1 i
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
9 N" q9 V: V& ?9 U) D: Jincrease in housing cost!
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' Y; n* _& V! T# MWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
( J6 ~' \9 k- L600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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" O. @. T8 v* B( fOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university
3 s! ~- n) o# a& n+ e7 w6 t& ?increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international 7 d: O8 H" y3 z8 q4 `$ H6 {
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
0 k4 N+ a# Z- Kthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
0 Q$ S1 ?) j' s: xand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were ; k$ @' A6 r7 [7 V7 w; L
asked to look for a residence on open market.
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
}+ j2 a0 |' Y8 \7 V: b$ F* V& Fincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
# e& P% A) d" b1 vexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our # D6 r% M2 c+ n8 ^
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
6 G" p+ o" D5 u1 k& G6 V; I/ A=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after ! w4 J [0 r, \/ g' D1 Z
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
$ i& J; x9 H" \, K9 P$ \0 E9 Mimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am . A8 V; L- N6 y) D! s* g2 E1 r8 g
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of - I5 K& J* G* O# D4 C R z0 m
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
7 D. \3 _) E; e& r. y, iadmitted 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 - W. }: c; t) ~5 |
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants & N" e. `' E! W& _" o" D$ s+ S3 V7 {
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate , Z5 g @( f. O
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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- Q; j b F' H! sMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention 3 F$ G" s# Z( u! q/ B2 ?
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and / c. E' n' \2 x, f8 Z" G2 ^% n; U% ^
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 3 N5 e# u4 I d7 l: C
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?/ g" T N- o4 }3 X2 Y$ l! N8 ]
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Please come with your experiences and ideas." |: E0 l& i3 @2 Q( I( s
Thank you all
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