A Study into the Important Elements of a Masters Degree in Real Estate

Journal of Real Estate Practice and Education, 2004 by Galuppo, Louis A, Worzala, Elaine

Abstract. This paper reports the methodology utilized by the members of the University of San Diego's Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate to develop a program and curriculum for graduate studies in real estate. It emphasizes the potential alternatives and describes the choices made by Center faculty regarding the type of program, the desired topics and skills to be taught, course content and delivery. The results indicate that the essential need of any graduate real estate program is to provide up-to-date, high quality real estate education that fosters the development of technical, social and technological skills.

This article is the winner of the Real Estate Education Manuscript Prize (sponsored by Dearborn Financial Publishing and the Real Estate Education Association) presented at the 2003 American Real Estate Society Annual Meeting.

Introduction

This article describes the process used by the faculty and staff of the University of San Diego's Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate in the creation of a graduate level program in real estate. In the latter part of the 1990s, the Policy Advisory Board for the real estate program began discussing the creation of a graduate real estate program. In 2000, the real estate faculty and staff started laying the groundwork for such a program. In 2002, both faculty and staff accelerated their efforts, exploring the websites and materials of existing programs, as well as literature on real estate education. The faculty relied on the academic literature concerning real estate education, discussions with several focus groups and a task force, as well as results from two surveys: graduates of an established real estate program and real estate professionals from the San Diego community. Using the information from these sources, a program and curriculum was created for graduate studies in real estate. The research methodologies employed demonstrated that real estate is a complex asset and the real estate industry is a multidisciplinary field.

The varied and complex nature of real estate studies, including real estate law, real estate finance, real estate appraisal, real estate equity investments, urban land economics, real estate development, secondary mortgage markets and real estate asset management, require more than a two or three course sequence. Professionals in the real estate industry need skills beyond the traditional graduate business education, with an emphasis on the important multidisciplinary aspects of real estate. Employers want their new hires to be able to "hit the ground running." The market place wants technically proficient, technologically trained and socially adept real estate entrepreneurs.

Literature Review

Published literature regarding real estate education emphasizes research in one of two general categories: (1) schools, programs and curriculum1 and (2) the skill sets necessary to work proficiently and productively as a real estate professional.2 Although real estate has been taught since the early 1890s, it was not until the late 1970s and early 1980s when a major debate began to take place and real estate education began to take two separate paths: a multidisciplinary approach (Graaskamp 1977, 1978, 1984) and a financial management approach (Dasso and Woodward, 1980; and Boykin, 1985). Real estate educators were not in agreement on the state of the discipline. More importantly, as real estate struggled to find its place as part of the common body of knowledge in business administration, the entry level course covering a variety of real estate topics, Real Estate Principles, remained an elective in many of the programs (Cam and Rabianski, 1986).

In the 1990s, some educators continued to question the lack of evolution in the curriculum of existing real estate programs.3 In addition, research findings showed a glaring separation between curriculum requirements and constituent needs (Wells and Williams, 1993). Notwithstanding, several programs challenged the traditional teaching methods and curriculum, emphasizing that learning stood the best chance of occurring when lessons to be learned mimicked real-life situations (Butler, Guntermann and Wolverton, 1998). Concurrently, some real estate educators agreed that real estate should have a social ethic to gain academic respectability (Graaskamp, 1977; Boykin, 1985; and Pearson, 1988).

Today, the development and management of a graduate real estate program and its curriculum are limited by two common issues. First, among real estate academicians, there is a lack of agreement over a common body of knowledge that should form the core course offering for any program. Second, it appears that many curriculums are driven by faculty availability and the willingness to teach these classes, rather than the needs of the industry that will eventually employ the real estate graduate. For example, Weeks and Finch (2002) found that there does not appear to be a single real estate class offered uniformly by schools offering an undergraduate major in real estate. In addition, classes such as real estate law and real estate market analysis require specialization not often available in smaller business schools. There is, however, some consistency within a "typical" undergraduate real estate program. Real estate principles, finance, appraisal or valuation, law and investments are found in the typical undergraduate real estate program.