Editor's Note: There are many schools that include courses in real estate and real estate-related areas, but may not have been included in this story. Some because they do not offer a real estate-specific graduate degree and others because we were not aware of them. As we continue to compile our list for posting to our web site, we hope to include all universities that offer graduate programs in real estate. Please write or e-mail Real Estate Portfolio if you would like us to include a university that offers a real estate-specific post graduate degree.

Over $4 trillion of steel, stone, brick and concrete rooted in the rich soil of cities across the United States make up the commercial real estate industry. Of that, nearly 90 percent is owned by corporations, non-profits, institutional investors, and REITs, many of which raise capital, not on Main Street, but in the complex securities markets on Wall Street. In short, it's not your parents' real estate market anymore.In this contemporary world, buying, owning and operating real estate requires an astute knowledge of the intricacies of property ownership and management, the laws that govern it, and the web of financial options that make it come together. Urged on by the captains of this industry to produce aspiring executives, many universities across the country are offering graduate programs for those newcomers who want to dig into the commercial landscape at home and abroad.

With credentials as Masters of Science in Real Estate, Masters of Real Estate Development, or Masters of Business Administration, they are the new masters of their domain. "In the old days, [buying real estate] was very simple," explained Sylvan M. Cohen, chairman and founder of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, Philadelphia, PA. "You went out and got a mortgage that matured in 20 to 25 years with equal monthly payments. Today, if you should get a long term mortgage, it has a maximum of 10 years with a run off of 20 to 25 years with a balloon. The whole picture has changed."

At 80-plus, Cohen has over 60 years in the industry. He's seen many changes in the way real estate is financed and operated. As an advisory board member at the Samuel Zell and Robert Lurie Real Estate Center at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, he's excited about the transforming effect these masters programs are having on those entering the industry. "Its very important," he said of the program. "After all, real estate is one of the lifelines in the country."

Several members of the Pennsylvania REIT serve as mentors to graduate students and, typically, the firm hires an MBA student who works part-time at the REIT. "They're a group of very bright people," said Cohen."What we're trying to do is train people so that they're able to go into various aspects of real estate development, ownership, management, and more. By the time they get out of Wharton, having majored in real estate, they're pretty well equipped people."

F. Patrick Hughes, CEO, Mid Atlantic Realty Trust, Lutherville, MD, serves on the Johns Hopkins University Allan L. Berman Real Estate Institute advisory board. He has served there for four years and has instructed seminars on financing small shopping centers.

"The real estate industry has become more and more professionalized," he noted. "In the past 10 years, it has become as much science as it is art. And, until recently there wasn't a venue for people who were interested in real estate as a career."

Graduates from Johns Hopkins and other university masters programs are prepared to take on the tasks required to successfully transition into the real world. "[Universities give] you a pool of people you don't have to guide on the first day of work," said Hughes."If you want to talk about current or historical cap rates, financing, types of property, site plans, or the development process, they've at least had an academic acquaintance with it."

Not only do students learn from many professors with hands-on experience, but more often than not, their fellow students have worked in the industry also.Like Sarah Abrams, a Cornell University Law School graduate who was one of the first students to sign-on with MIT, and John Perkins, a Yale University master of architecture, who decided to pursue his masters of real estate finance at the same school several years later.

"I was in the first class," recalled Abrams."There was nothing like it that existed." Now a senior vice president of Fidelity Investments' corporate real estate division, Abrams, 41, was always interested in real estate.When working summers while in law school, she realized that she liked real estate development more than being a lawyer. In her third year in law school she saw a notice in The Wall Street Journal announcing MIT's masters in real estate development. After reviewing a course list, Abrams decided that real estate was the field she wanted to specialize in and, upon graduating law school, enrolled at MIT.

Not only do students learn from many professors with hands-on experience, but more often than not their fellow students have worked in the industry also.

"It was a great experience," she said. The program is small with around 35 people from all professions, both in real estate and real estate-related. "They come from a very wide variety of professional backgrounds and skills.When you're doing real life case studies you work with people you can learn from. It was an extremely positive experience for me. It is a full-time commitment in terms of time and energy."

Real estate investment banker, John Perkins, 40, of J. P. Morgan & Co. was a Yale University master of architecture practicing with I. M. Pei & Partners for seven years before he decided to pursue a masters of real estate at MIT.

"I just decided that in the course of doing a number of large projects—some urban design, some office—I wanted to know more about the fundamentals of real estate and how and why these projects did or didn't get built. I decided to go back to school not quite knowing what I wanted to do when I got out. Through a course of programs in '93 to '94, I saw that the fundamental things that were going on in the industry were the re-capitalization of the industry through the public markets. Whether it was through the securitization of mortgage loans, commercial mortgage loans, or REIT IPOs there was a fundamental change in the industry. I became fascinated with that and chose finance as my emphasis. It's a lot of work, but it's a lot of fun."

The Schools

Owning, operating, and financing real estate has become a science and those who want to master it might want to consider the Maser of Science in Real Estate programs offered at Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Real Estate, New York University, Columbia University and University of Wisconsin–Madison. Cornell University offers a Master of Professional Studies in Real Estate and the University of South California offers a Master of Real Estate Development. Other schools like the Samuel Zell and Robert Lurie Real Estate Center at the Wharton School and the Edwin L. Cox School of Business Southern Methodist University offer an MBA with a concentration in real estate. The general consensus is that most students are electing to focus on finance and investment.

Each school turns out graduates who are well equipped to take on the world of real estate, but training and time spent doing so is different per program. And, as in all education endeavors, students should do the research to find the program that meets their needs.

"If you are a person who's tied to the industry—an architect, a lawyer, or someone who is part of the development process—then a degree like ours will give you a competitive advantage," said Mike Anikeeff, Ph.D., Berman Real Estate Institute, Johns Hopkins University. "Our particular program is very specialized.We put a little more emphasis on investment and finance courses and less on design and construction."

The Johns Hopkins University program offers three tracks in its 40-credit program: Real Estate Development Process, Institutional Real Estate Investment Analysis, Real Estate Valuation and Appraisal. The first class entered in 1990 at campuses in Baltimore, MD and Montgomery County, MD. Three years later a new site in Washington, D.C. was added to accommodate the growing student base that runs between 65 and 70 students, of which 75 percent are male.Based on membership of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts—3,976 male and 780 female—graduate enrollment may reflect the gender makeup of the industry.

One of the first universities to establish a masters of science of real estate was The Real Estate Institute at New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Its first courses began in 1988 with 170 students. It now has approximately 300 students in its program and graduates 80 students a year.

"The program was initiated at the behest of the those in the real estate industry who asked to have a masters program created for their executives," said Michael F. X. Waters, clinical associate professor of real estate, director of academic affairs."Leaders of the industry come and lecture at various times, give money and support the program."

NYU's program is a 38 credit full or part-time program that can be completed in up to three years. Students can elect one of four areas of concentration: development and investment; valuation and analysis; international real estate markets; or real estate finance.

"The students are very, very motivated," said Waters."They are the best students, and because of their high level of motivation they are extremely beneficial to teach."

The MIT Center for Real Estate graduated its first class in 1985. Each year it receives around 100 applicants for the 35 spaces available in the program. Students, whose average age is 30, need to have at least two years experience in real estate.

"We feel our secret weapon is that we get very well qualified applicants," said Vivi Leavy, associate director for programs."Our program is right across the board. That's a great strength."

The program is a one-year graduate program with a comprehensive course of study covering the investment, development, and management of real estate. Students must complete a minimum of eight courses and a thesis. "Between one-quarter and one-third of our students are international. They discuss their countries' real estate markets methods, regulations and valuations," said Leavy. "That lends to a very interesting perspective in the classroom."

The University of Wisconsin–Madison offers a Master of Science degree in real estate and urban land economics. It covers finance and investment, development, analysis, law and institutions, asset management, and international real estate. There is advanced training in specialized areas. It also has an MBA program with a concentration in real estate.

At Cornell University students entered the fourth real estate class in the fall of 1999.Those that enroll can earn their master of professional studies in real estate in two years. There are 25 students enrolled in the program now, that officials hope to expand to 40. "We're looking for qualified people—median age 29 years—who have worked enough to know that this is what they want to do for a career," said C. Bradley Olson, director.

About half of the students enrolled come from Asia, which makes for a very rich program, he said."In this day of globalization, how appropriate."

The program was initiated by a group of Cornell graduates who worked in the field and felt there was a need for a professional program that would help graduates hit the ground running, said Olson."Our students have 62 credit hours they must complete. Of that 40 is in core courses. They're allowed to pick their concentration area so they really have a chance to develop some depth in an area. I think there is a strong interest in the finance and security side of the business. The other area that gets a lot of attention is development."

When the Lusk family, prominent real estate developers in southern California, made an endowment to the University of Southern California, the school created the Lusk Center for Real Estate Development.At the same time, the school developed its first master of real estate development.

"Over the years those two have had a symbiotic relationship," said Peter Gordon, professor and director of the master of real estate program."Lusk developers often take on mentoring roles with students."

The program remains small at USC, around 25 to 30 full-time students and 10 to 15 part-time students every year. "The applicant pool is slowly growing," said Gordon, " but, we don't want it to grow too much."

While 75 percent of the students live in the USC region, the other 25 percent come from other areas of the U.S. and around the world."That means there's room to draw many more people from outside of southern California.That's our ambition, we'd like to have a huge applicant pool so we can be picky as hell."

While other real estate programs offer students directional options, the USC program focuses on development. "Our students take 42 courses that are devoted to real estate topics with a focus on the A to Z of development. From finance to construction to law to design to the entitlement process and political angles."

In 1983, the Samuel Zell and Robert Lurie Real Estate Center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was established to meet the needs of an industry that was booming in the northeast.

"The administration made the decision that real estate was much more than finance," said Dr. Joe Gyourko, chair of the real estate department and director of the Zell-Lurie Center."They decided it was a big industry and the school ought to have a stand alone group to teach and research it."

In any given year there are 80 hard-core students in the MBA program who chose among the three most popular areas: finance, development and general management.

"That stays remarkably constant," said Gyourko. "We've never really worried about where our next student is coming from. [Real estate] is a big economy. I think it's becoming more intellectually credible in academic circles."

Deidra Darsa is the managing editor of Real Estate Portfolio magazine.