Graduate real estate education

The study of real estate and real estate development at the graduate school level has taken many forms, giving rise to various educational models in the United States and abroad. The decision for individuals pursing higher education in this field often comes down to choosing between a traditional degree with a specialization in real estate (e.g., Master of Science in Real Estate) or an interdisciplinary degree (e.g., Master of Real Estate Development) focused wholly on real estate studies.

History
Historically, graduate level coursework in real estate was limited to a major or minor in business, such as an MBA, or training in architecture and urban planning schools. Business school programs usually emphasize the business side of real estate; financing, marketing or company management. MBA students typically lack adequate understanding of real estate principles and processes. Architecture and urban planning degrees typically lack adequate training in finance.

In the mid-1980s the real estate industry matured to one with great complexity and an increasingly institutional ownership structure. The increased complexity of the industry created a demand for practitioners who possessed a comprehensive real estate education. One and two-year graduate level real estate degree programs originated with the founding of both the MIT Center for Real Estate and the Master in Design Studies in Real Estate at Harvard University in 1983. Columbia University (1985), Texas A&M University (1984) and University of Southern California (1986) soon offered graduate level educations. When these real estate programs were starting around the United States, it was clear that professionals must learn real estate finance and development in a structured program.

During the mid-1990s strong academic interest in real estate development "was never greater, whether it's for repositioning products, redeveloping inner cities, or developing more affordable housing. Students seemed to be acting on the notion that it's a temporary downturn and graduate school is a good place for the moment." During this period, one out of two real estate programs were adding new courses as a result of increased enrollment.

In the early 2000s, prior to the Great Recession, the industry again acknowledged increasing need for graduates with superior qualifications — providing the research-based expertise necessary to solve complex problems in contemporary real estate development. Programs such as the University of Maryland (2006), New York University and Johns Hopkins University were benefactors of developer donations that raised the bar for real estate education nationally.

The late 2000s saw significant expansion of real estate programs to second and third tier universities, as well as additional coursework added by MBA programs that commonly did not have an emphasis on real estate. To deal with the complexity of the field and its far-reaching effects, today's industry professionals require advanced training to prepare them to operate in increasingly technical and interrelated areas.

As education needs have changed, business schools such as the University of Wisconsin, University of Pennsylvania, and University of California, Berkeley continue to cater to students interested in the flexibility of an MBA. Wharton's real estate program, for example, takes advantage of being housed in one of the top business schools in the U.nited States and having some of the top real estate professionals in the world as advisers.

Today it is a general acceptance that a good education in real estate is needed to succeed in the industry. Real estate programs continue in the future to provide an excellent training ground for professionals. Graduate education is commonly a prerequisite to advancing in many aspects of real estate. Real estate programs have reflected a commitment to creating a conceptual framework for dealing with real estate development issues in a professional forum.

All students considering a career in real estate and development are advised to talk with developers, real estate lawyers, architects, asset managers, corporate real estate directors and city planners to gain a full picture of the career options open to them and all of the educational requirements for those careers. Typically, real estate professionals in the fields of appraisal, residential or commercial sales, property management or leasing do not require graduate education. Real estate is an increasingly complex, highly competitive, fast-paced industry, and its practitioners are often finding that they need to further their knowledge and skills to advance. A graduate degree can open doors to greater job and career opportunities and command a higher salary in the marketplace.

Undergraduate real estate education
As with many MBA programs, undergraduate real estate education is commonly offered as a concentration, or focused area of study. Very few universities with varying academic reputation offer a bachelor degree with a concentration in real estate (typically two courses during the senior year). An undergraduate degree in real estate is not a prerequisite for admission to a graduate real estate development program. Students from diverse backgrounds in geography, urban planning, business, economics, liberal arts, architecture or seeking a career change are encouraged to apply.

Graduate real estate development programs
The academic study of real estate reflects programs offering an approach weighted toward an interdisciplinary approach, the Master of Real Estate Development', and programs or universities that offer a more focused degree on finance and investment. These programs may award a Master of Science, Master, or Master of Arts, however, the key indicator is to review each degree curricula requirements, as differences in their content and foci may not necessarily be reflected in the degree name. The Master in Design Studies in Real Estate at Harvard University, for example, is weighted toward economics and investment, but the degree title is simply a reflection of the degree naming procedures particular to Harvard.

Master of Science in Real Estate
Graduate programs that award a degree of a Master of Real Estate or Master of Science in Real Estate are sometimes the expansion of real estate courses in a MBA program or Business school into a degree of increased specialty. Some of these programs prepare students for careers in brokerage, real estate sales or appraisal. Others are geared toward investment and banking, whilst yet others work to offer a broad degree that touches on a diversity of specializations.

Master of Real Estate Development
The Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) programs focuses on six core areas: real estate development: finance and investment; planning and policy; infrastructure and construction; market analysis;  and real estate   law and through its electives allows students to specialize in areas of interest. Students are generally exposed to the full range of functions, In addition, all real estate product types - residential, retail, office, hospitality, and industrial are discussed through case studies and field experiences. Whether in the context of urban redevelopment, historic preservation, or suburban growth, MRED students learn from both the investor's and developer's perspective, the importance of relevant issues in law, economics, finance, market analysis, negotiation, lease analysis, architecture, planning, and management. The programs are a full-immersion focusing on the entire spectrum of real estate and development process-from dirt-to-deal, finance to façade-and include industry topics presented by leading local and national developers, financiers, and other players in the market. Included in this is the analysis of existing real estate assets and partnership structures. The typical MRED student is a highly motivated individual who seeks to radically alter or enhance their career paths and join the real estate investment, development, or finance industry.

Coursework
The coursework of a real estate program varies slightly between universities, but is generally consistent. Some programs utilize HBS-style case studies of complex projects to heighten the student's knowledge and strategic decision-making skills. Credit hours are typically between 30 and 40 hours, but go as high as 60. Programs that have more than 33 hours typically include additional study in business or finance. A required core curriculum of 5 to 7 classes is typical such as at Arizona State University:


 * Real Estate Development Principles
 * Market Segmentation and Analysis
 * Real Estate Finance and Analysis
 * Real Estate Development Project Management
 * Advanced Real Estate Finance
 * Real Estate Site Analysis and Design
 * Public Entitlement Process

In addition to the core curriculum, programs typically offer electives in the following areas, such as those offered at University of Southern Californiat and University of Maryland:


 * Affordable housing
 * Multi-family development
 * Public-private partnerships
 * Sustainable development
 * Urban infill

Some programs, such as the MS in Real Estate Development at George Mason University, offer students the opportunity to combine elective coursework from several disciplines including business management, public policy and civil engineering.

Executive programs
Executive graduate degree program such as the Master of Real Estate Development at Auburn University, offers practicing professionals the opportunity to learn while they are working. Executive degree programs are distinguished from distance programs through their uniquely blended model of residency classroom experience, distance education modules, and executive field study courses. Classes meet at the beginning of every semester, usually from five to seven days, and then complete the coursework through synchronous webinars, asynchronous discussion boards, and video lectures.

Other opportunities for executive education include: MIT, or the Wharton School.

Bold text==List of United States graduate real estate programs==

List of graduate real estate programs outside the United States
A number of universities around the world offer graduate degrees in real estate and related subjects. See the list in Graduate real estate programs outside the United States.

Nationally recognized research centers
Real estate programs and alumni donors sponsor research by real estate faculty in numerous areas of real estate including the economics of property markets, the impacts of regulation, and the sources of equity and debt financing. Additional research, in the form of faculty-supervised student thesis work, contributes to a growing inventory of new information. The research program is essential to promoting new knowledge, advancing teaching techniques, and bridging the gap between theory and practice. Not all graduate real estate programs conduct research.

Graduate-level education rankings in the US
Rankings for graduate level education are not specifically formal as other professional disciplines. MBA programs with concentrations in real estate may be ranked according to organizations such as U.S. News & World Report or Business Week, but are not relative to the depth of the real estate industry studied in a MBA concentration compared with a specialized master's degree in real estate development. Real estate education has increased in recent years to fill the demand for well-educated practitioners in the industry. However, there has been a great deal of debate on what elements should be an essential part of a graduate program in order to help students succeed in the industry. Rankings have been conducted by editorial board representation of faculty members at university real estate departments, however, these results prove to be ineffective in judging the program as a whole. Many graduate programs utilize adjunct professors or guest speakers from the industry, which do not sit on editorial boards of scholarly real estate journals.

Currently there are no rankings of masters degree programs in real estate. The best method to evaluate the various degree programs is through due diligence by individual applicants, including a review of each program's curriculum and how it applies to the students academic and career goals. While there are no formal rankings for graduate real estate education, and programs are subject to greater locational impact factors than are MBA programs (due to regional and local policy influence).

ULI Student Competition
A separate metric to evaluate the success of graduate real estate programs is the review of past winners in the Urban Land Institute Gerald D. Hines Student Competition. Each year graduate-level students form their own multidisciplinary teams (from real estate, urban planning and business schools) and have two weeks to devise a comprehensive design and development program for a real, large-scale site full of challenges and opportunities. Submissions will consist of boards that include drawings, site plans, tables, and a myriad of market-feasible financial data.

Multidisciplinary teams are not limited to including students from real estate development graduate programs. Students may also come from Master of Landscape Architecture, Master of Architecture, Master of Urban Planning, Master of Urban design or MBA.

ARGUS Software University Challenge
An additional measure of the reputations of graduate real estate programs is the ARGUS Software University Challenge, which has been held in 2009, 2011 and 2012. In the challenge, participating teams from universities around the world are required to simulate a comprehensive real-life development analysis of a fictitious commercial real estate project by modeling the provided assumptions specifically using ARGUS software. Team submissions are judged by a panel of industry and academic professionals. The winning teams receive cash prizes.

Related graduate program offerings
Professionals in real estate often hold degrees in related fields such as city planning, construction management, accounting, property management, architecture or law. One of the most common programs continues to be a Master of City Planning, regional planning, or urban planning degree with a real estate emphasis. Planning programs tend to emphasize land use planning, transportation or infrastructure development, land use law and policy and other planning topics; students who take a concentration in real estate development will learn how it relates to planning.

MBA with Real Estate Concentration
Business degrees with real estate concentrations generally provide students with the opportunity to pursue a general management degree, but to specialize in real estate development or some segment of the real estate industry through a sequence or group of electives. For a long time, those wishing to study real estate had to content themselves with primarily pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree, perhaps with the option of concentration in real estate, and usually with a focus in finance. These MBA programs typically only include one or two courses focused in real estate. Many MBA programs do not specialize in real estate.

For those considering an MBA, there are some issues to consider:

MBA real estate concentration offerings
A limited number of MBA programs provide courses in real estate as part of the typical study in business.

Certificate programs
Loyola University of New Orleans offers a Real Estate Investment Course as an elective.

Career opportunities
A sample of careers include large public real estate companies; small private entrepreneurial organizations; regional investors; companies that specialize in a single product (e.g. office/retail/multi-family); non-profits involved in areas such as affordable housing; corporations that own real estate; companies that finance real estate; and companies that provide services such as design and architecture firms, brokerage companies, investment banks, REITs, and various consultancies. Careers in the public sector at the city, county, state, federal or military level offer interesting and rewarding career opportunities related to real estate. The skill sets are also transferable to other industries and sectors of the economy.