University of Miami to Offer Real Estate MBA Program | Commercial ...

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

In its ongoing effort to expand its educational offerings in the field of commercial real estate, the University of Miami School of Business Administration has launched an accelerated MBA program with a concentration in real estate. The program got off the ground this month.

?This is an example of how we as a business school work to be responsive to the demands of business today,? Anuj Mehrotra, professor and vice dean, Graduate Business Programs at the University of Miami School of Business Administration, told Commercial Property Executive. ?We have set up a number of advisory boards including a Real Estate Programs Advisory Board and in working with these members and others in the real estate community, we saw a need for real estate industry professionals who have the kind of knowledge and skills an MBA program provides.?

Courses include topics ranging from commercial real estate analysis to project management and modeling to real estate law. Additionally, during the 18-month program, students will take part in two internships in the real estate industry and participate in a consulting project with an industry-related non-profit organization.

It?s a joint effort. The business school teamed with the University of Miami School of Architecture to bring the endeavor to fruition, combining their respective expertise in management education and new urbanism. ?The School of Business also has significant strengths in real estate to draw upon, including the university?s well-regarded School of Architecture and close ties to the real estate industry,? Mehrotra said. ?Those relationships enable us to establish the program internships, which will provide the MBA students with real-world, action-learning so that they will be best prepared to succeed in the industry when they graduate.?

The expanded MBA is hardly the School of Business?s first time at the rodeo. It also offers an MBA concentration in real estate, as well as an undergraduate real estate major.

Commencement of the accelerated MBA program is just one of many steps the university?s School of Business ? which falls in the top 20 percent of the country?s best graduate schools, as ranked by U.S. & World Report ? has taken recently to enhance its focus on the real estate sector. In conjunction with the School of Architecture, the business school conducted the University of Miami?s inaugural Real Estate Impact Conference in February, which united more than 300 industry professionals in the discussion of the transformation of urban spaces via global capital and ingenuity.

The new MBA program is a timely pursuit, as national interest in real estate education is strong and growing stronger. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 572 graduate degrees in real estate were conferred by degree-granting institutions in the U.S. in the 2009-2010 academic year. The figure has been on a steady upswing for quite a while, increasing from 434 in the 2005-2006 academic year to 559 in 2008-2009.

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