MBA Real Estate Program Details
Educational Mission. The educational goal of the Columbia MBA Real Estate Program is the advancement of professional business knowledge through research, curriculum innovations, and teaching excellence. A rigorous curriculum — combined with an expert faculty and a wide range of extracurricular activities run out of the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate — makes Columbia unparalleled as the place for graduate business study in real estate.
Logic behind Our Curriculum. We have deliberately designed a curriculum that aims to foster sophistication in critical thinking as well as analytical skills, and knowledge of the institutional structures of the real estate industry as well as its financial tools and frameworks for smart decision making. Real Estate electives, which build on the MBA program's rigorous core curriculum, reflect the demands of the industry, and its changing financial landscape.
Integration of Theory and Practice. We structure our real estate courses such that they integrate theory and practice. We accomplish the theory/practice integration in five principal ways:
Extracurricular Activities. Beyond the classroom, the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate produces a full calendar of activities that complements the formal curriculum. Senior-level practitioners — including many alumni — come to campus as event participants, speakers, panelists, and mentors, providing students with exceptional opportunities to gain in-depth insight into current topics of interest as well as the general culture of the real estate industry and specific firms they aspire to join.Use of Columbia CaseWorks real estate cases in each of our courses; since 1991, we have developed at least 65 proprietary cases, including 10 in 2009 alone;
Instruction by experienced industry professionals who serve as dedicated adjunct professors and innovators of curriculum materials;
Participation of industry professionals as guest lecturers in each of our courses;
Building upon the depth and diversity of the University's intellectual resources; and
Leveraging the richness of New York City's real estate market as a laboratory for learning.