Miami Dade College students will spend a full academic year solving real AI problems for South Florida employers before they graduate.
The college has launched the AI Elite Talent Hub, a 10-month work-based learning program. It ends with a paid summer internship in 2027.
The first cohort began on August 24, after applications and interviews earlier in the summer.
Companies Bring the Problem
Participating employers submit an AI challenge. It can be a business problem, a workflow to automate or another AI use case.
Faculty and company mentors then guide selected students through training and project work built around that challenge.
The founding employer group includes Leon Medical Centers, DataRemote, TriMerge Consulting Group and Barmade. Costex Tractor Parts, Seabord Marine, First Wave AI, MDM, SNT_Labs and WTRway World also joined.
The college says more than 15 AI transformation projects are part of the program.
Employers commit to hosting one or two students and providing mentorship. They also fund a paid internship for at least its final 10 weeks.
They take part in speaker sessions, demo days and final presentations too.
A Longer Look at Future Hires
For employers, the design offers something a short internship cannot. Students spend a year learning the company and its project before the internship starts.
Antonio Delgado Fornaguera is vice president of innovation and tech partnerships at Miami Dade College. He also founded the National Applied AI Consortium.
He wrote on LinkedIn that the model goes beyond classroom work. Students, he said, “will be working with companies on real AI transformation for a full academic year before they graduate.”
That framing is the program’s main selling point. Students get a project and a mentor instead of a case study.
Who Can Apply
Eligibility is not limited to the college’s Artificial Intelligence program. Applicants can pursue associate or bachelor’s degrees in AI, data analytics, software engineering or related fields.
Associate-degree students should be near graduation or moving into a bachelor’s program.
Students need a minimum 2.5 GPA. They must stay enrolled throughout and take at least two classes in both the fall and spring semesters.
Each student receives a $1,000 stipend for the fall and for the spring. The program adds training, certifications, competitions, industry events and career preparation.
Early Signs From the Pipeline
Delgado Fornaguera pointed to job outcomes from the college’s existing technical programs. Over the previous four months, students from applied AI, software engineering and data analytics landed AI roles, he wrote.
Those roles include forward deployed engineer, AI engineer and AI full stack engineer.
“Our first graduates with AI skills are demonstrating the value of applied AI skills,” he wrote.
The college launched its applied AI associate degree three years ago. The new hub adds a full year of company project work on top of it.
The first cohort will finish with a showcase of project results, collaboration examples and internship experiences.
Why a Year, Not a Summer
Most internships start cold and end before a student learns the business. This design front-loads the learning.
By the time the summer internship begins, students already know the company’s data, people and problem. Employers see them work before they decide to hire.
For South Florida employers, the hub is a way to test AI ideas and meet future hires at the same time.