Advanced Education in Real Estate Development
Hello everyone,

I'm 25 years old, and live in Eastern Canada. I graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. I instantly entered the real estate industry, going to work for a developer, which was the career I had wanted to pursue. I have been working for the same company since graduating, with a focus on land development and operations.

I'm curious what other professionals might recommend in terms of advanced education. I've always been someone who believes in the benefit of education and certification going hand-in-hand with practical experience. I've had a lot of people tell me that "street smarts" are far more important in real estate than  any sort of "book smarts". I'm sceptical. I think those with a combination of both have the ability to go above and beyond.

I've been looking at Masters of Real Estate Development (MRED) programs since before I graduated university, however there is very little information out there that compares the various schools and their programs. From what I can tell there are no Canadian Universities offering an MRED, so I would likely be looking to attend a school in the US. University of Southern California has always appealed to me, both due to its location and the quality of the program (from what I've been able to find) but obviously cost is high. I'd be looking at a $100,000 bill when all is said and done, so I need to find far more information than I have already. Does anyone have any information on how schools stack up in the US when it comes to MRED programs? Any noteworthy schools in Europe?

Additionally, I've also been investigating project management certification through PMI. A PMP designation would be phenomenal, but that seems more like something I might be better suited to pursue after an MRED, as I feel like the MRED would be beneficial in providing me the knowledge to successfully manage projects in the first place. A PMP designation is something I've only begun to investigate, so I don't fully grasp the requirements yet.

I guess what I'm wondering is what experiences have other real estate professionals have, and what resources are available to someone looking for more information?

Thanks everyone!
[{"id": "cqsjzzl", "text": "[Here is a link to all US Masters programs for anything Real Estate.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_real_estate_education)\n\nI would say that just about most any program would compare, with the best one's usually being the older programs. Doesn't mean the younger one's wont be just as good...\n\nI would look for the one that has the best networking and chances to meet future employers. My program has struggled recently with our professors retiring, but they have been incredible with placing us into contact with a variety of industry professionals and most of the grad's have gotten jobs through them. Just my thoughts.", "replies": [{"id": "cqsk0jg", "text": "#####&amp;#009;\n\n######&amp;#009;\n\n####&amp;#009;\n [**Graduate real estate education**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate%20real%20estate%20education): [](#sfw) \n\n---\n\n&gt;The study of __[real estate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MBA) with concentration in real estate) or an interdisciplinary, comprehensive degree (e.g., [Master of Real Estate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Real_Estate)) focused wholly on real estate studies. Students who opt to study in a full-time Master of Real Estate program spend one or two years focused on areas of real estate such as development, consulting, finance, investments, market analysis, asset management, research and others.\n\n&gt;\n\n---\n\n^Interesting: [^Real ^estate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_estate) ^| [^Buyer ^broker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buyer_broker) ^| [^Niche ^real ^estate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niche_real_estate) ^| [^Golf ^property](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf_property) \n\n^Parent ^commenter ^can [^toggle ^NSFW](/message/compose?to=autowikibot&amp;subject=AutoWikibot NSFW toggle&amp;message=%2Btoggle-nsfw+cqsk0jg) ^or[](#or) [^delete](/message/compose?to=autowikibot&amp;subject=AutoWikibot Deletion&amp;message=%2Bdelete+cqsk0jg)^. ^Will ^also ^delete ^on ^comment ^score ^of ^-1 ^or ^less. ^| [^(FAQs)](http://www.np.reddit.com/r/autowikibot/wiki/index) ^| [^Mods](http://www.np.reddit.com/r/autowikibot/comments/1x013o/for_moderators_switches_commands_and_css/) ^| [^Magic ^Words](http://www.np.reddit.com/r/autowikibot/comments/1ux484/ask_wikibot/)", "replies": [{"id": "cqsk30s", "text": "Thank you bot...?", "replies": [{"id": "cqsm16j", "text": "Haha.\n\nI've seen the Wikipedia page, but I was hoping there would be some form of ranking, or differentiating between the programs. Do you mind if I ask which program you undertook, and how you felt about it?", "replies": [{"id": "cqsp7na", "text": "I was part of the one of the programs in Texas, it was a great program for networking and just meeting a wealth of people in all of the industries of commercial real estate. Most of the classes were very challenging but not extremely hard to pass. We learned alot from these classes that just builds a solid foundation(modeling, argus, law, development, valuation, decision making/analyzing) of real estate.\n\nThe only cons was that there were two professors who were awful and they didn't seem to put effort into their classes. They have been phased out though and new ones have been brought in.\n\nOverall, I plan to join a capital lending firm or REIT/CRE firm when I graduate in a couple of weeks. ", "replies": [{"id": "cqzdwpz", "text": "Do u think the school helped you with landing a job/internship? or were u left on your own. Do most people in your program have jobs already lined up considering grad is coming up soon. ", "replies": [{"id": "cqzfzer", "text": "The school was incredible helping make sure we all had internships lined up for the summer. They make us network with a bunch of old grads from the program and the companies they now work for. I had a plethora of internship opportunities to explore. They don't help as much with the jobs, but that is because they made us build relationships with companies and we start interviewing in our last semester. \n\nThe best thing about the program was they made us start to build a network with people in the careers we enjoyed. My program has a &gt;95% job placement rate since it started. People who graduate work almost everywhere.", "replies": [], "depth": 7}], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "cr33yci", "text": "Really not advanced education (pretty simple stuff) but CCIM isn't bad, their motto is \"Come for the education, stay for the networking\" Quick thought would be to take courses in a few different regions, so each course (1 full week per) you get to not only learn, but interact with people from different regions. Could develop long term networking contacts that could be quite helpful...", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]