While real estate wields a powerful influence on the economy in good times and bad, there hasn't been much of an emphasis on it academically.
Who goes to grad school and gets an advanced degree in real estate? A person can become an M.D., but what about an R.E.D. (doctor of real estate)?
Real estate specializations for masters in business administration and in doctoral programs have existed for quite some time, says Crocker Liu, professor and McCord Chair in Real Estate at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. The programs—at MIT, Berkley, Wharton, Cornell, Northwestern, UCLA, Columbia, Harvard and others—are there, but a lot of people haven't taken notice of them.
ASU launched an MBA with a specialization in real estate and a doctorate in business administration/real estate finance in January this year. But ASlJ's intent is not just to offer the program. Their goal is to evolve rapidly into one of the top five real estate programs in the country.
"We want to be best-of¬breed, best-of-class; competing with the MITs and Whartons," Liu says. Jeffrey Coles, finance department chair at W.P. Carey hired Liu last summer from New York University's Stern School of Business. Bringing on other top-tier faculty members, Coles says, will lift the program to its potential in a short time. Another distinguished faculty member is all but signed, Coles says.
"Human capital is the most important thing," Coles says. "The people you bring on as faculty is key. There are maybe five people in the world who I would think about hiring. Crocker was one of the few that possessed the com¬bination of industry know-how and academic horsepower on real estate and finance. He's also the single-most cited individual on the investment side of real estate."
Professors will guide first year students through the core MBA coursework, which will include classes in accounting, economics, leadership, management information systems, finance, marketing, supply chain management, and two elective real estate classes. Core real estate courses emphasize the connec¬tion between real estate and finance. In the second year, students will focus their studies solely on real estate—in theory and practice. The program will bring in industry experts for lectures, field studies and practicum.
"Our industry partners will help us in many ways. They'll provide us with data. They will do on-point lectures on campus and speak about the pathways they have taken to success—here's how I succeeded, here's how I messed up, here's what I look for when I'm hiring," Coles says. Local real estate partners include Steve Evans of Evans Realty Associates, Christopher Cole of Cole Capital and Jeffrey Covill of Pickering Street Associates.
"The industry is very accepting about what we're trying to do here," Liu says. Along with the world-class faculty and industry assistance, the fusion of "egghead" academic learning and sticks-and-bricks" practical application is what will really set this MBA apart from other programs, Coles says. Elective courses are also available in law, construction, design and environmental studies from disciplines across the university. A field study project is required, along with 18 credit hours of real estate coursework.Liu compares the program to being at a Texas barbecue. "This is not a fast food-type of program. This is like being marinated and slow roasted, so all of the real estate juices soak in," Liu quips.
Currently, the real estate specialization is only available for fulltime (daytime) MBA students. Liu says when more faculty are hired, the program will be offered to executive and evening students as well. Honors undergraduates in finance will also have access to certain classes in the rigorous MBA coursework. Liz Batsche, a senior finance major from New Jersey, transferred to ASU from UCLA. Batsche, one of Liu's students, landed a job with Bank of America Securities last year and feels fortunate to have been able to study real estate with Liu. "My group at Bank of America was really impressed. They had never had that opportunity," Batsche says. She will start her new career, investment banking in real estate, in May.
Coles says the real estate courses teach students how to think, and give them powerful tools to simplify a complex world. "The questions haven't changed," Coles says. "But the answers have. We want to bundle all of those tools together—the sticks and bricks along with knowledge of securitization, investment and market analysis, and law. They will be more prepared to move into the higher echelons of real estate organizations because they will have greater depth and insight than students from other organizations."
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