2021 Leading Schools for CRE

You can also read our other Leading Schools for Real Estate Education indexes.

BBA: Bachelor of Business Administration, MREAD: Master of Real Estate Analysis & Development, MRED: Master of Real Estate Development, MSF: Master of Finance, MSRE: Master of Science in Real Estate, MSCRE: Master of Science in Commercial Real Estate, MSIRE: Master of Science in International Real Estate, MSREBE: Master of Science in Real Estate and the Built Environment

The following noteworthy real estate programs did not submit but are worth further research: Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, the University of California-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Real Estate Department.

To be included in upcoming surveys, email Jeff Hamann at [email protected].

Charting a New Course

Higher education drastically changed last spring, when most universities were forced to adapt almost overnight to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many schools were hopeful that students would be back in the classroom by fall, but remote education largely continued into the 2020 academic year. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, overall postsecondary enrollment dropped by 2.5 percent this past fall, with undergraduate enrollment declining by 3.6 percent. This coming fall semester may be a turning point, however, since early indicators showing an uptick in applications.

Our 2021 survey of Leading Schools for Real Estate highlight the lengths to which real estate departments across the country have adapted to provide worthwhile, valuable programs for their students. More than two-thirds of our participating schools indicate that coursework was conducted online to at least some extent, underscoring the importance of flexible, remote education. The schools in this year’s survey had an average of four full-time real estate faculty and accepted an average of 65 students into their individual programs in 2020. Most schools reported between 80 and 100 percent of graduates were employed in the field shortly after graduation.

In looking at commercial real estate-specific coursework, many of our participating schools offer a wide range of study areas. Classes range from focusing on particular asset types such as office, industrial or retail, to deeper dives within the realms of development, financial analysis, property operations and asset management.

—Madeline Harper, Senior Research Analyst, Yardi Matrix

Read the April 2021 issue of CPE.