Master of Real Estate Development

Educating leaders and creating knowledge for the betterment of communities worldwide

Real estate developers are the impresarios of the built environment. They orchestrate the talents of many players. It is their job to discover how we want to live, work and play - and to provide the settings efficiently.

In many ways, a real estate developer is a creator of the urban landscape, tackling the challenge of converting undeveloped or underutilized resources into homes, employment centers, civic uses, and places of recreation and commerce. With the excitement of solving the unique set of problems presented by each development project comes the risk, reward, and responsibility to make the environment in which we live and work more habitable and prosperous.

With greater frequency, community groups, government agencies, other property owners, and even the media are involved in the development process. The capital markets, political and regulatory context, and major players change so rapidly that it is difficult to be informed, let alone remain competitive. To deal with the complexity of the field and its far-reaching effects, today's industry professionals require advanced training to prepare them to operate in increasingly technical and interrelated areas.

The USC Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) program prepares graduates for key positions in real estate development. The MRED program is a carefully integrated program which brings together the three main elements of real estate development: design, finance, and policy. Students are exposed not only to the full range of development functions - market analysis, finance, site planning, and project management and operations, but also to all product types - residential, retail, office, hospitality, and industrial. Whether in the context of urban redevelopment, historic preservation, or suburban growth, MRED students learn from the developer's perspective the importance of relevant issues in law, economics, finance, market analysis, negotiation, architecture, urban history, planning, and project management.

The MRED program offers a number of distinct features, including:

• An Exceptional Faculty: Full-time USC faculty are joined by developers, lawyers, architects, planners, and other prominent professionals who bring cutting-edge relevance to the classroom and bridge learning with practice.
• Lusk Center for Real Estate: USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate serves as the liaison between the academic program and the real estate industry. It provides MRED students with a forum for professional development and offers them unique opportunities to connect with the real estate development community.
• Tradition: Created in 1986, USC's MRED degree is among the oldest, most respected, and one of few graduate degrees focused on real estate development in the country.
• Southern California: The Los Angeles metropolitan area and its surrounding counties provide a rich urban environment within which to study real estate development. In this world-class hub of real estate innovation and activity, MRED students study an exceptionally wide range of projects - learning equally from failures as well as successes.
• International Focus: Recognizing the increasingly global nature of real estate development, the School is dedicated to preparing professionals to be effective practitioners throughout the world through the international study tour. Study tour courses include a 10-day professional-level overseas visit, and have focused on Sydney, Hong Kong, and Dortmund/Berlin in recent years. Students meet with leading developers, government officials, prominent business people, and consultants actively involved in the development community of the international site, thereby enhancing their global perspective and network while gaining valuable practical experience in the field.

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