Master of Real Estate Development

The study of real estate at the graduate school level has taken many forms, giving rise to various educational models in different countries. The decision for individuals pursuing higher education in this field often comes down to choosing between a traditional degree with a focus on real estate (e.g., MBA with concentration in real estate) or an interdisciplinary, comprehensive degree (e.g., Master of Real Estate) focused wholly on real estate studies.

Students who opt to study in a full-time Master of Real Estate program, should expect to take courses in topics such as financial analysis, market analysis, contracts and deal-making, construction, design fundamentals, asset (property) management, construction management, building technology and design fundamentals. Some programs offer studio, capstone, or workshop courses in which students engage actual real estate development projects. Some also provide access to internships. There is no established accreditation system in the United States in real estate development education, so students should investigate offerings in each program.

Historically, graduate level coursework in real estate was limited to a major or minor in business, or training in architecture and urban planning schools. While Business school programs might emphasize the business side of real estate, MBA students typically lack adequate understanding of real estate principles and processes. Over the last several decades, the real estate industry has 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 knowledge of real estate beyond that of traditional MBA generalists. One and two-year graduate level real estate degree programs originated with the founding of the New York University Real Estate Institute in (1967) (now known as the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate) and in 1983 with the formation of the MIT Center for Real Estate. Soon after, other schools followed with Harvard University (1983) Texas A&M University (1984), Columbia University (1985), the University of Southern California (1986), Johns Hopkins University (1989), and Cornell University (1996) all forming professional graduate programs focused solely on real estate education.

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