USC Price School Launches Bachelor’s Degree in Real Estate Development
USC is one of only four in the nation with an undergraduate real estate degree
LOS ANGELES – December 18, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — The University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy has launched a new Bachelor of Science in Real Estate Development degree, offering students the most comprehensive undergraduate real estate curriculum in the country.
This new degree program builds upon the School’s prominent reputation for real estate education, coming 30 years after the School launched one of the first real estate graduate degrees, the Dollinger Master of Real Estate Development (MRED). “This undergraduate program reaffirms our commitment to educating the next generation of leaders in the real estate industry,” said USC Price Dean Jack H. Knott. “With this degree, our goal is to produce students who understand the changing landscape of real estate and who are prepared to make an immediate contribution on their first day in the workforce.”
Christian Redfearn, Borstein Family Endowed Professor of Real Estate and director of real estate programs at USC Price, points out that the new program continues a commitment to identifying and addressing the most relevant educational needs of the real estate industry.
“A key global trend right now is the rush to urbanization,” Redfearn said. “There is an explosive migration into cities across the world and real estate professionals need to navigate that urbanization. We will require our students to be proficient in real estate finance but there’s more to real estate. When you make a bet on a property, you’re typically making a bet on a neighborhood and city. Valuing real estate well requires knowing why both change. The context is essential.”
To develop the curriculum for this degree, real estate industry leaders were surveyed to learn what types of undergraduate students they hired and the type of training they needed to be most successful. The USC Price undergraduate degree incorporates real estate fundamentals, the development process, real estate market analysis, advanced finance and investment, the history of cities, and designing livable communities.
“We believe that the field of real estate development warrants its own distinct program of study and we also want to integrate undergraduate education into our broader educational mission,” said Sonia Savoulian, associate director for Price School programs in real estate. “Dollinger MRED graduates are going to go into the workforce and regularly need to hire young analysts,” Savoulian said. “We want to integrate student activity between the bachelor of science and master’s programs to begin building those relationships.”
With this new Bachelor of Science in Real Estate Development (BS RED) program, the School is fundamentally changing how future real estate practitioners are trained. “We have long felt that real estate warranted its own standing on campus,” says Redfearn. “The real estate profession is always evolving; real estate education will need to also.” The BS RED is expected to become the standard for interdisciplinary undergraduate real estate education. Moreover, the integration of graduate and undergraduate degrees will provide a model for the advancement of real estate education.
“While professional training in a specialized field, such as real estate, is important, there is a growing body of evidence that shows the value of an interdisciplinary education at the undergraduate level – education that also incorporates an understanding of people and their behavior, institutions and policies, and how society functions,” USC Price Dean Jack Knott said. “This broader approach to education, combined with solid training in the technical core, helps to foster critical thinking and creativity, essential ingredients in entrepreneurship and innovation.”
The new degree program, which launched this fall, has already enrolled over 80 students. For more information, visit http://priceschool.usc.edu/programs/undergraduate/bs-red/.
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About the USC Price School of Public Policy:
The mission of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy is to improve the quality of life for people and their communities, here and abroad. Through its interdisciplinary approach, the school educates students to serve as innovators – and leaders – in their field. The school’s degree programs draw on the expertise of faculty and practicing professionals to create a learning environment whose breadth and depth sets the Price School apart from all schools of its kind. In 2012, the school ranked sixth nationwide among “America’s Best Graduate Schools” for public affairs, according to U.S. News & World Report.
