Introduction
Build Your Success in Real Estate at NSU
Real estate trends are ever-changing. Growing populations demand new locations, new experiences, and new work styles. Tackling these complex demands requires knowledge of all facets of real estate development. If you want to be an industry leader, you need to understand the physical (design, development, and construction), financial, and legal tenets of the industry.
Under the guiding philosophy of the Advisory Board, Nova Southeastern University’s Master of Science in Real Estate Development (M.S.R.E.D.) will prepare you to meet the challenges of the real estate market so you can grow your career or quickly start a new one.
As an NSU student, you’ll receive hands-on experience in what it's like within the real estate development industry through personalized, real-world knowledge, such as:
A dedicated mentor to help you get the most from your investment
On-site tours of actual development projects
A full-immersion curriculum taught by industry professionals with in-depth knowledge gained from years of actual real estate experience
Exposure to current industry-standard software such as ARGUS and ArcGIS
Classes, in-field case studies, and personal interaction with noted professionals
Upon graduating, you’ll have a portfolio to demonstrate your first-hand knowledge of the real estate industry. Through NSU's M.S.R.E.D. program, you will be prepared for mid-and senior-level responsibilities in commercial and residential development, including urban and suburban real estate development, economical and environmentally sustainable real estate development, management, investment, sales and marketing, finance, investment, banking, and asset management.
Additionally, you’ll build an extensive network of professional contacts in the industry, among other students and alumni, and professional networks. These contacts have proven to be of real value to NSU students and graduates in achieving their career goals.
Be prepared to succeed with an M.S.R.E.D. degree from NSU.
Quick Facts
Curriculum: NSU’s M.S.R.E.D. program is 36 total credits to complete.
Start Dates: The M.S. in Real Estate Development program is available to start in January, March, May, August, and October.
Delivery Options: Classes for the M.S. in Real Estate Development program are offered on Saturdays at NSU's Fort Lauderdale/Davie campus through our full-time or part-time delivery options. The course curriculum is available in a lock-step, executive format, designed to accommodate both full-time working professionals and full-time students.
Tuition: Tuition for the degree program is $967 per credit hour. Discounted rates are available through our employer's tuition program.
Application Deadline: Winter II 2021, March 1 / Summer 2021, April 30
Scholarships: You may be eligible for a grant, scholarship, or award based on any number of things that are special about you. Find out what scholarships may be available to you.
Earning Potential
Real Estate Development Manager: $87,284 (Average Salary Per Year)
Property Acquisitions Manager: $107,693 (Average Salary Per Year)
Real Estate Analyst: $57,936 (Average Salary Per Year)
Source: Salary.com, Payscale.com
Why Study at NSU?
Careers
NSU graduates find rewarding careers in a variety of industry segments including finance, development, sales and marketing, consulting, investment and banking. Graduates find placement in firms ranging from small entrepreneurial development companies to national portfolio managers. The program strives to provide graduates with a strong combination of skills in finance and development to give them a competitive advantage. As the industry grows more complex NSU's graduates are highly valued because they can understand, analyze, value, and manage existing assets as well as create opportunities for new investment.
Students and graduates are expected to seek and pursue firms with whom they wish to work. A student's career planning begins at enrollment when each entering class is placed into NSU's active alumni network and South Florida's dynamic industry organizations. Faculty members expect to assist students with making contacts, career counseling, and interview preparation. Year-long professional mentorships with members of the program's Advisory Board help students by pairing them with a seasoned industry leader who will work one-on-one with them to help establish their career goals while advising and mentoring on leadership qualities.
A selected list of companies NSU M.S.R.E.D. graduates work includes Stiles Corporation, Flagler Development, Apple, GE Capital, Sovereign Bank, Starwood Capital.
Internships
Internships provide students with valuable professional experiences that prepare them to enter or advance in the industry. The program works with a diverse array of development, financial, marketing, and consulting firms as well as agencies to provide paid and unpaid internship opportunities within key segments of the industry.
Representative internship sponsors include Flagler Development Company, Continental Real Estate Company, Silver Companies, Stiles Corporation, Lauderdale Lakes CRA, South Florida Regional Planning Council, Town of Davie.
Recruiting
NSU's Real Estate Program offers employers easy and effective recruiting tailored to suit the needs of recruiters and companies. We are able to accommodate whatever schedule meets your individual recruitment needs.
Field Studies
A significant part of NSU's program uses South Florida's dynamic market as a living urban laboratory. As a world-gateway city and international and global business center for banking, trade, and investment operations from Europe, Asia, and South America, the program teaches best practices and lessons learned from significant developed projects in its Field Studies component. Students view first-hand innovative projects and hear what it took their developers to accomplish the project and why - or why not - it was successful.
The Field Studies program puts students with industry leaders from finance, banking, construction, design, and development, management, and marketing on-site to talk about, see and understand the issues and challenges of their specializations with specific projects - from sustainable development to new products. Learning from professionals on-site enables students to clearly understand the critical aspects of making successful real estate developments. It also highlights the diversity of career opportunities and specializations as well as puts students in front of company leaders for job opportunities.
Executive Mentor Program
Students enter the mentorship program after completing several classes and maintaining a 3.0 average. Often after graduation mentors and mentees frequently maintain long-standing personal friendships throughout a student's professional career and serve as superior references during job searches.
Real Estate Competitions
Real-world application of the skills and knowledge learned in class and in the field is a powerful tool. Program students are offered the opportunity to compete in the South Florida NAIOP Collegiate Challenge, a development competition that provides unique and valuable industry exposure to students in a competitive and realistic environment. The Challenge fosters team building and leadership skills in addition to providing exceptional exposure and real-world experience. The Challenge presents an actual problem facing a developer. NAIOP supplements faculty with architectural and other technical support to help the teams operate as they would in professional circumstances to arrive at solutions. Teams from other graduate real estate programs compete against each other, presenting their proposals in both professional report form and in-person to a Who's Who in South Florida panel of distinguished industry leaders. The winning school team receives the traveling NAIOP Challenge trophy. Judging is based upon problem definition, clarity of communication, analytical methods, creativity, and thoroughness, as well as the Team's ability to defend their proposal with in-depth questioning.
South Florida as a Classroom
NSU's Master of Science in Real Estate Development program immerses students into the profession using South Florida's dynamic market as a living urban laboratory. The program provides in-field studies of developed projects with their developers detailing lessons learned about what worked, what did not, and why. Throughout the degree program, industry leaders in finance, banking, construction, design and development, management, and marketing meet with students in class and on-site to talk about the issues and challenges of their specializations - from sustainable "green" development to investment trends and new product opportunities. Learning from leading professionals enables students to clearly understand an industry that is at once local, but essentially the same no matter the location. It also highlights the diversity of career opportunities, specializations, and companies available for possible career paths.
M.S. in Real Estate Development Curriculum
Real Estate Market Analysis
Real Estate Development Software
Real Estate Construction Principles
Geographic Information Systems
Real Estate Development Process: Part I
Real Estate Development Process: Part II
Real Estate Finance
Real Estate Law and Ethics
Land Use Planning and Project Design
Real Estate Investments
Real Estate Financial Modeling
Sustainable Community Development
Admission Requirements
Admission to the M.S. in Real Estate Development program is competitive and the number of students enrolled is limited to ensure that each student receives personal attention. Admission is selective and based on work experience and academic record.
Work experience in real estate is preferred, but not essential. Experience in finance, sales, and marketing, construction, planning, design, development, or law is a plus. Work experience means full-time employment experiences. A minimum of two years prior work experience is highly desirable and will receive favorable consideration in application review to the M.S.R.E.D. program.
Applicants are encouraged to interview with the program director and visit the campus, if possible. Candidates will be notified by the Admissions Office when all application requirements other than the interview have been met. If selected for an interview, candidates will be given three specific dates from which to select an interview.
What does the M.S.R.E.D. admissions process seek in an applicant?
The program considers motivation, work experience, professional activities, and academic background.
The application process is competitive and based on a thorough review of undergraduate preparation and performance, intellectual vitality, professional promise, work experience, and personal characteristics. Candidates from diverse backgrounds are sought whose past achievements demonstrate creative approaches to addressing professional challenges. Because real estate development is a collaborative and dynamic process, candidates are expected to be innovative and entrepreneurial thinkers.
Students with varying backgrounds and undergraduate or graduate studies in finance, real estate, architecture, engineering, management, marketing, law, hospitality, and business have successfully completed the program. Most students have a business or professional experience and have familiarity with the real estate industry.
Application Requirements
A conferred bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or an equivalent degree for international applicants is required.
An overall undergraduate GPA of 3.10 or greater on a 4.00 scale as reflected on official, final transcripts from all undergraduate institutions attended will automatically be admitted. Applicants will automatically be admitted if their undergraduate GPA in the final 60 hours of their enrollment is a 3.10 or greater on a 4.00 scale.
For applicants who have earned less than a 3.10 cumulative undergraduate GPA or in the last 60 hours of their undergraduate program, a minimum GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) score of 540 or an equivalent GRE (Graduate Record Examination) score may be required.
Applicants that have earned a graduate degree from a regionally accredited institution with an overall GPA of 3.10 or greater will be considered for admission.
Work experience will receive favorable consideration and may waive GMAT/GRE requirement for a GPA less than 3.10.
Two letters of recommendation from undergraduate faculty familiar with academic work or from employers knowledgeable with professional work experience are optional but will strengthen your application.
An essay of at least 500 words related to career goals and how the M.S.R.E.D. Program is envisioned to further those goals is optional, but will strengthen your application.
Phone or in-person interview with Director (or Associate Director) of Master of Science in Real Estate Development Program is optional but will strengthen your application.
Applicants will be notified via email about the status of their application by the M.S.R.E.D. program in the weeks following the application deadline.
Required Documentation
Completed Master's Application for Admission and non-refundable $50 application fee.
Official transcripts from all colleges and universities previously attended. The applicant's bachelor's degree transcript must show the degree conferral date in order to be evaluated for admission consideration. If a graduate degree has been earned, the transcript must show degree conferral date in order to be evaluated for admission consideration.
Other admission documentation may be required.
International Applicants
To be considered for acceptance into the M.S.R.E.D. program, international applicants must fulfill additional admission criteria.
Industry Partners
Each M.S. in Real Estate Development student is encouraged to be an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), NAIOP (National Association of Industrial and Office Parks), and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Being an active member of these organizations is a powerful learning method that strengthens knowledge and skills by providing professional forums and events for student participation and networking with industry leaders locally and nationally.
The large and very active local chapters of these professional organizations provide an immediate connection to grow professionally. As members, students receive substantially discounted dues and admission to events and conferences across the state and the nation.
Success Story
Classes that we took impact the things I do today on a daily basis.Jessica Abramson, M.S.R.E.D. Graduate, Senior Development Manager at Stiles Corporation
