41% of Miami-Dade County households<\/a> are ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed), meaning they earn above the federal poverty line but not enough to cover the basic cost of living, compared with 34% of households statewide. The survival budgets those families fight to meet do not set aside a single dollar for education. For many first-generation students seeking to pursue a degree, money once used for tuition is now needed to live.<\/p>\nAt Barry University, we see this tension every day, and we see our responsibility to serve as a bridge connecting students to myriad local opportunities. Our work starts with making education affordable. By offering one of the lowest private net tuition rates in the state coupled with millions of dollars in institutional financial aid throughout the year, we can help bridge the gap to affordability for families and students who choose Miami. Meanwhile, the financial firms, health systems, technology companies and growing enterprises that have planted roots here can lead the effort to build South Florida\u2019s talent pipeline with smart, strategic investments in students and local universities.<\/p>\n
Concretely, that means more hands-on learning tied to real work. That includes paid internships, apprenticeships, co-op placements and industry-designed coursework enabling students to earn while they learn and to be career-ready the day they graduate. It means employers at the table helping shape curricula and learning spaces, so a university degree maps directly onto the skills Miami\u2019s growth industries need.<\/p>\n
Partnerships can be more than long-term investments in future talent and can provide immediate and profound value. College students can offer fresh strategy, current market insight and working solutions delivered now. For example, Barry\u2019s Ad Agency students ideate campaigns for local businesses, and who better to advise brands on reaching Gen Z than Gen Z itself?<\/p>\n
Pathways alone are not enough if students cannot afford to reach the finish line. Too many leave college without a degree because one more semester becomes financially impossible. The single most powerful thing an employer can do is help close that gap \u2014 fund scholarships, sponsor tuition for students already working in the field and back completion grants that keep promising students enrolled through unexpected hardships.<\/p>\n
This is what a workforce strategy looks like. Students who receive employer support to earn their college degree become skilled, loyal professionals. In a city where competition for top talent is fierce, homegrown graduates are Miami\u2019s most durable pipeline. Investing in higher education is investing in a company\u2019s own future.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to redesign how we connect classroom and career, build partnerships and reinvent how we think about learning, and integrate AI and experiential opportunities into curricula across disciplines.<\/p>\n
Miami\u2019s boom will be measured not only by the towers that rise, but by whether we invest in higher education with the same vigor as other major metropolitan cities. Help us keep our talent here in Miami and build a future that lifts everyone together.<\/p>\n
Mike Allen is the president of Barry University in Miami Shores.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A view the Miami skyline from Biscayne Bay on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, in Miami, Fla. D.A. Varela…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389422,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-389421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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