About the Program

Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies Masters in Real Estate program is uniquely positioned to help those with a passion for real estate find their place in this dynamic industry. Georgetown University’s distinctive educational system is embodied in the Master of Professional Studies in Real Estate graduate program.  The program is rooted in Georgetown's focus on a 360 degree educational process that puts our graduate students in direct contact with the most advanced real estate practitioners. Classroom experiences are more  discussion and less lecture; you will gain an inside understanding in key areas  of study from experts who put theory into practice every day with  groundbreaking success. Moreover, the Masters in Real Estate program will help you develop the relationships  you will need as you progress through your career, positioning you as a student  to become part of a community that includes developers, executives from  construction management firms and hospitality companies, and real estate  financial experts from real estate investment trusts.

Portfolio for Prospective Employers 
The Masters in Real Estate program is carefully designed to provide students with  training and experience that is immediately useful to many prospective real  estate employers. In addition to the close relationships with real estate trade  associations and the professional certifications, the real estate program coursework gives students assignments that may be collected into a portfolio of work that can be described, shown, and even PDFed to potential employers as evidence of immediate ability to perform key real estate tasks. For example, students will have spreadsheets of Argus net present value and internal rate of return calculations, lease abstracts of complex leases, and their capstone projects to  put into their employment portfolios.

Curriculum

A Curriculum for Problem Solvers. Just as important, the Masters in Real Estate program curriculum will help you gain knowledge well beyond  that of someone new to the industry, or even a veteran who has concentrated in  one area for some time. Your courses will take you on a wide-ranging journey  across the spectrum of real estate related business areas, including:

Development
Understand the financial considerations, market demand, project feasibility, financing, and environmental considerations that drive decisions on whether and where to develop.

Construction Management
Learn to manage projects on time and on budget, keeping an eye on the major financial considerations involved with large-scale construction activity and subcontractor oversight. Gain insight into how to quantify and evaluate the impact of changes, as well as monitor quality and adherence to guidelines and standards.

Real Estate Finance
Perhaps the most critical aspect of successful development projects is learning how to obtain the financing needed to begin a project. From private equity to leveraged buy-outs, the U.S. real estate capital markets have never been so sophisticated. Explore complex issues like financing structures, liquidity, securitization, and financing as well as traditional bank lending.

International Real Estate
From Dubai to China to Russia and all points in between, both inbound and outbound real estate investment is rapidly internationalizing real estate practice. You’ll build on Georgetown’s expertise in international affairs to understand more about global markets, and then how to leverage that knowledge to design a progressive investment strategy.

Format

Students begin with a core ethics course and four foundational courses that examine business practices in the areas of law, finance, marketing, and accounting. You’ll then work with academic advisors to select other courses that relate to your designated degree track. The final component of the program is a capstone course. The course
of study is designed to be completed in two years; however, some students may take up to five years to finish, while others may finish slightly faster.

Core Course
Ethics in Action: The Savings and Loan Crisis. Explore the ethical dilemmas faced by people under pressure by learning directly from participants in the savings and loan crisis. Those who experienced its moral and personal challenges include journalists, savings and loan executives, real estate borrowers, government regulators, private investors, individual property owners, and others.

Foundational Courses
Foundations of Real Estate Law. This introductory course emphasizes the historical and constitutional origins of government power over real estate, as well as contemporary practical legal aspects of real estate development, transactions, and finance—with references to international real estate law.

Foundations of Real Estate Finance. You’ll learn about the fundamentals of commercial leases, financial models, due diligence analysis, Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs) and liquid real estate, cycles and exit strategies, and much more.

Foundations of Real Estate Marketing. This course covers real estate marketing issues in the broadest sense. Drawing initially upon classic economic geography and location theory and the work of contemporary urban economic geographers, the course then addresses real estate-related marketing at multiple levels. You’ll learn to conduct market feasibility analyses for real estate development of all property types, as well as a variety of effective marketing strategies and tactics.

Foundations of Real Estate Accounting. Because of real estate’s sheer complexity, keeping up with its costs and profits can be unusually challenging. For organizations owning and investing in numerous properties, the enterprise-level accounting challenge is all the greater. This course covers accounting theory and real estate practice, real estate internal cost accounting, accounting for construction and mortgage industries, and many other core topics. An additional weekend module will enable you to learn the basics of ARGUS real estate financial analysis software.

Capstone Course
The culmination of a student’s matriculation is a capstone course in which the student solves a contemporary challenge in real estate. That solution must be workable, backed with solid research, and stand up to critical scrutiny from engaged real estate professionals.