South Florida NPR affiliate, SA国际传谋, is teaming up with , along with other local media outlets, to produce a series of stories that put a spotlight on South Florida鈥檚 housing crisis. Readers can find all the stories here.
On an ideal morning, Giovanna Ruiz would wake up slowly as the sun spilled across her bedroom wall. Wrapped in a lounge set with a warm cup of coffee in hand and her cat Chi Chi curled beside her, she might journal, paint or read, just because she can.
But most mornings aren鈥檛 like that. Not when rent is due.
Ruiz, 20, is a junior at Florida International University double majoring in psychology and studio art. She moved to Miami from Texas in June 2023, alone, without family support. She now lives at Fourth Street Commons, a student apartment complex across the street from FIU鈥檚 Modesto Maidique campus, where she shares a two-bedroom unit. Her portion of the rent, after utilities, comes out to roughly $1,400 a month.
鈥淚t was the only place that approved me,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have a co-signer, and my credit wasn鈥檛 good enough anywhere else. This was the cheapest option, and it鈥檚 still insanely expensive.鈥�
Since she moved in, the building has had several issues, including a flooding incident in her hallway, a broken water heater that left her taking cold showers for days and a carbon monoxide alarm that went off late at night.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 feel stable,鈥� she said. 鈥淟ike, it鈥檚 not unsafe, but it鈥檚 definitely not comfortable either.鈥�
To afford rent and basic expenses, Ruiz is a server at IHOP and a desk assistant in FIU Housing. Until recently, she also worked retail selling clothing at Hollister, but quit after receiving only four hours a week. Even now, with two jobs, she鈥檚 struggling.
鈥淚鈥檓 on a payment plan for last month鈥檚 rent right now. 鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd now this month, I can鈥檛 pay it off either.鈥�
Ruiz said that when she fell behind on rent, she asked her mother for help, but her request was turned down.
According to Ruiz, her mother said she would only give her money if it was structured as a loan.鈥淪he told me, 鈥榃e could pay for your entire college right now. But we鈥檙e not going to. So figure it out. You鈥檙e young. You can work two jobs.鈥欌��
Ruiz said that conversation made it clear that even temporary support wasn鈥檛 an option.
鈥淚鈥檓 completely on my own,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f I can鈥檛 make it work, there鈥檚 no backup.鈥�
She says the pressure has reshaped her college experience.
鈥淪ometimes I don鈥檛 go to class because I have to work,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ther times I just don鈥檛 have the energy.鈥�
Though she is an artist, she says the cost of surviving has erased the creative parts of her identity.
鈥淚 just do art,鈥� she said. 鈥淭elling someone I鈥檓 an artist feels like a joke because I don鈥檛 indulge in my craft.鈥�
The bigger picture
Ruiz is one of many FIU students who say that, for all the talk about access and opportunity, the reality of what they pay each month does not feel affordable. Rent alone stretches their budgets to the breaking point, and it is only one part of the bill. Groceries, gas, phone plans, insurance, textbooks, and basic supplies add up until even students working multiple jobs cannot keep up.
鈥淚f I lose my housing, I鈥檒l probably lose my schooling,鈥� she added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a domino effect.鈥�
The issue is not just the cost of housing. It is the total cost of living. Across campus, students are juggling jobs, skipping meals, delaying graduation, or giving up on campus life altogether. Many are doing so just to stay enrolled.
Mich Bustos, a senior majoring in digital media and composition, said she moved back home because the costs became impossible.
鈥�$1800 in a month?鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 even make that in a month. All the money I have each month goes just to living in a room, no groceries, no spending outside of that.鈥�
Bustos spent her first two years in campus dorms, first Panther and then Everglades Hall. Panther鈥檚 shared two-person suites cost more than $3,100 per semester, and private rooms in Everglades run close to $4,500. That鈥檚 before adding a required meal plan.
鈥淭hose places are so expensive,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 just gonna move back in with my family. It wasn鈥檛 an easy option, but it was the most logical one.鈥�
The move helped financially, with Bustos only having to worry about gas for her car. But the transition from campus to home meant losing access to the daily routines and relationships that once grounded her school life.
Students say the university鈥檚 decisions are only making things worse. Housing options are not just expensive, they are limited. Many of the buildings are outdated, and now some are disappearing altogether.
, which house up to 537 students, will lose four of their buildings to demolition in 2026 to make space for a new $160 million medical education complex.
Student reporters at FIU鈥檚 student newspaper, have reported that as space is prioritized for freshmen and parts of University Apartments are prepared for demolition, more upperclassmen are being pushed off campus. That means juniors and seniors will be competing for fewer available beds near campus.
Students worry that as demand rises, off-campus landlords will have even more power to raise prices.
鈥淚 get that the [buildings] are old, but to not even replace [what they鈥檙e demolishing] with new housing is sick,鈥� Bustos said.
Pressure from every side
For some students, the pressure doesn鈥檛 stop at the edge of campus. It reaches across oceans and into their family homes.
Isvari Amponsah, 19, is an international student from Ghana studying health services administration. She lives at 109 Tower in a four-bedroom apartment, paying about $1,400 a month for her space.
She鈥檚 only allowed to work on campus due to restrictions tied to her F-1 student visa, and without much job experience, finding a position has been difficult.
Her father, who is self-employed and takes on odd jobs, is the sole provider for Amponsah and her two siblings back home.
鈥淭uition and housing are really expensive, and my dad is paying that alone,鈥� she said.
Even though he tells her it鈥檚 his responsibility, Amponsah still worries about what it costs him.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kinda a burden,鈥� she said quietly. 鈥淚 still try to cut my spending so he doesn鈥檛 have to spend a lot.鈥�
A crisis without a plan
Ruiz, the artist who moved from Texas to Miami, is still trying to hold it all together 鈥� school, work, rent, and the uncertainty that comes with all of it.
鈥淚鈥檓 here to get an education, but I don鈥檛 know where to live,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of people worrying about where they鈥檙e gonna live, and that affects people鈥檚 education.鈥�
Like many students facing financial hardship, she has thought about leaving. But going home isn鈥檛 a real option.
As housing shifts around them, students say they feel confused and frustrated, unsure where to turn.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know who鈥檚 in charge of what. I can鈥檛 just point a finger,鈥� Ruiz said. 鈥淏ut can we just use the funding correctly? Can we notice that there鈥檚 a housing crisis?鈥�
