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Work­ing in the real estate field is much more than sim­ply get­ting a real estate agent’s license to help clients buy and sell homes; it’s also a busi­ness that involves plan­ning, land use, under­stand­ing leg­is­la­tion, and can also lead to a job work­ing for gov­ern­ment at all levels.

Get­ting a degree in real estate helps you learn about top­ics that include legal issues, urban plan­ning and pub­lic pol­i­cy, sus­tain­able devel­op­ment, invest­ment the­o­ry and prac­tice, and more. You also learn about the finan­cial aspects of real estate that range from acqui­si­tion of assets, project man­age­ment, and the dif­fer­ent types of project financing.

When ask­ing “what can I do with a real estate degree?”, the answer is “a lot.” You should get a degree in real estate if you find your­self intrigued by the prospect of work­ing in a dynam­ic indus­try that direct­ly affects people’s dai­ly lives. A degree in real estate ele­vates your job prospects beyond work­ing for a real estate agency and opens up doors to work­ing for major prop­er­ty groups, employ­ment with orga­ni­za­tions that are in expan­sion mode, and real estate devel­op­ment. You’ll eas­i­ly find your career niche when you earn a real estate busi­ness degree.

Methodology: Ranking the Best Degrees for Real Estate

For the Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter rank­ing of the best real estate pro­grams in the US, edi­tors focused on accred­it­ed, trust­ed col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties. We have ranked pro­grams accord­ing to fac­tors that mat­ter to stu­dents, includ­ing tuition rate, stu­dent reviews, and poten­tial salary, using cur­rent IPEDS and Niche data.

1. Virginia Tech

Vir­ginia Tech’s Pam­plin School of Busi­ness offers a BS in Real Estate that is rec­og­nized among Virginia’s best real estate pro­grams accord­ing to Great Busi­ness Schools. This best degree for real estate from Vir­ginia Tech offers an inter­dis­ci­pli­nary approach with course­work from five of Vir­ginia Tech’s col­leges. Grad­u­ates from VT’s best degrees for real estate are pre­pared to lead com­plex real estate devel­op­ment projects, includ­ing the imple­men­ta­tion of fea­si­bil­i­ty stud­ies, among others.

Vir­ginia Tech (VPI) is a pub­lic insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion that was estab­lished in the ear­ly 1870s as a col­lege of agri­cul­tur­al and mechan­ics. In addi­tion, Vir­ginia Tech oper­ates as a triple-des­ig­nat­ed school (Land, Sea & Space) with a stu­dent pop­u­la­tion of approx­i­mate­ly 36,150 students.

What We Like: Vir­ginia Tech offers enrolled stu­dents near­ly 300 aca­d­e­m­ic degree pro­grams at the grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate levels.

Degree: BS in Real Estate

Vir­ginia Tech

2. University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin offers a Bach­e­lor of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion in Real Estate and Urban Land Eco­nom­ics that is ranked as one of the most inno­v­a­tive and best real estate pro­grams in the Bad­ger State and beyond. US News ranks UW’s BBA degree among the top two best degrees for real estate in the nation. Fea­tured course­work for the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wisconsin’s best degrees for real estate includes real estate law, the real estate process, and real estate val­u­a­tion & finance, to name a few.

The Madi­son cam­pus @ the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin oper­ates as Wisconsin’s flag­ship school. Found­ed in the 1840s, UW Madison’s urban cam­pus cov­ers more than 900 acres and serves approx­i­mate­ly 45,500 under­grad­u­ate and post­grad­u­ate stu­dents each year.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin main­tains a 1,000+ acre arbore­tum sev­er­al miles from its main campus.

Degree: BBA in Real Estate and Urban Land Economics

Uni­ver­si­ty of Wisconsin

3. University of Pennsylvania

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Penn­syl­va­nia Real Estate Depart­ment offers a Bach­e­lor of Busi­ness (BBA) Admin­is­tra­tion in Real Estate degree pro­gram is rec­og­nized to be among the best degrees for real estate in the Unit­ed States. Offered since the mid-1980s, Penn’s best degree for real estate is a major that enrolled stu­dents declare in before their junior year. The con­cen­tra­tion for these best real estate pro­grams from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Penn­syl­va­nia offers class­es in real estate invest­ment analy­sis, real estate law, urban real estate eco­nom­ics, and real estate entre­pre­neur­ship, among others.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Penn­syl­va­nia (Penn) is among the old­est high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tions in the Unit­ed States, found­ed in 1751 as an acad­e­my. Penn now oper­ates as one of the country’s ivy league schools that serve 22,400 under­grad­u­ate and post­grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Penn­syl­va­nia is orga­nized into twelve col­leges and schools offer­ing pro­grams at all degree levels.

Degree: BBA in Real Estate

Uni­ver­si­ty of Pennsylvania

4. University of Texas at Austin

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas at Austin offers a Real Estate Bach­e­lor of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion in Finance which is con­sid­ered as one of the best degrees for real estate in Texas and beyond. UT’s best degree for real estate pro­gram requires six cred­it hours in class­es that include mon­ey & cap­i­tal mar­kets, real estate invest­ment intro­duc­tion to real estate, and urban land devel­op­ment, among oth­ers. Stu­dents enrolled in UT’s best real estate pro­grams ben­e­fit from the school’s UTES – the Under­grad­u­ate Real Estate Society.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas (UT Austin) is a pub­lic, space-grant school that was found­ed in the 1880s. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas is also the UT flag­ship cam­pus serv­ing more than 51,000 post­grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate stu­dents each year.

What We Like: Stu­dent-Ath­letes at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas have gar­nered more titles in women’s & men’s sports in the Big 12 division.

Degree: BBA in Finance — Real Estate

Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas at Austin

5. University of Georgia

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Geor­gia offers a Bach­e­lor of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion in Real Estate that is rec­og­nized by edu­ca­tion­al pub­li­ca­tions among the country’s best degrees for real estate. Class­es includ­ed in UG’s best degree for real estate pro­gram cov­er top­ics in real estate finance, the prin­ci­ples of real estate, real estate devel­op­ment, and val­u­a­tion meth­ods, among oth­ers. Intern­ships includ­ed with the Uni­ver­si­ty of Georgia’s best real estate pro­grams may include up to six semes­ter hours.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Geor­gia is rec­og­nized as one of the Unit­ed States’ old­est insti­tu­tions of high­er learn­ing, found­ed in the mid-1780s. UG is also the state’s triple des­ig­nat­ed flag­ship school with a stu­dent enroll­ment that nears 39,000 post­grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Geor­gia oper­ates facil­i­ties through­out the state and inter­na­tion­al­ly in Italy, Cos­ta Rica, and Oxford Uni­ver­si­ty in England.

Degree: BBA in Real Estate

Uni­ver­si­ty of Georgia

6. Villanova University

Vil­lano­va Uni­ver­si­ty offers a Bach­e­lor of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion in Real Estate and Finance that is con­sis­tent­ly ranked as one of Pennsylvania’s best real estate pro­grams. Stu­dents enrolled in Villanova’s best degree for real estate pro­gram are required to com­plete a min­i­mum of 125 semes­ter hours to meet the university’s grad­u­a­tion cri­te­ria. Fea­tured course­work for Vil­lano­va University’s best degrees for real estate includes com­pet­i­tive effec­tive­ness, the prin­ci­ples of finance, busi­ness dynam­ics, and strate­gic think­ing and imple­men­ta­tion, to name a few.

Vil­lano­va Uni­ver­si­ty is a pri­vate, space-grant school that was found­ed in 1811 by order of Saint Augus­tine. Vil­lano­va Uni­ver­si­ty is affil­i­at­ed with the Catholic (Augus­tin­ian) Church, with a stu­dent enroll­ment that nears 11,000 each year.

What We Like: Vil­lano­va University’s cam­pus is about ten miles from down­town Philadel­phia and is cov­ered in more than 1,500 trees.

Degree: BBA in Finance/Real Estate

Vil­lano­va University

7. University of Southern California

The Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Cal­i­for­nia offers a BS in Real Estate Devel­op­ment that is ranked among the Gold­en State’s best real estate pro­grams. Fea­tured core class­es for USC’s best degree for real estate pro­gram include design­ing liv­able com­mu­ni­ties, ana­lyz­ing real estate mar­kets, real estate devel­op­ment fun­da­men­tals, and advanced finance and invest­ment for real estate devel­op­ers, among oth­ers. Stu­dents enrolled in the USC’s best degrees for real estate who have an inter­est in study­ing abroad will find the Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Cal­i­for­nia offers great inter­na­tion­al study options.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Cal­i­for­nia (USC) was found­ed in 1880 as a pri­vate insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion and is rec­og­nized as one of California’s old­est research schools. In addi­tion, this space and sea-grant school serves approx­i­mate­ly 48,850 stu­dents each year.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Cal­i­for­nia is orga­nized into 24 aca­d­e­m­ic schools/colleges.

Degree: BS in Real Estate Development

Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern California

8. University of Connecticut

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Con­necti­cut offers a Bach­e­lor of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion (BBA) in Real Estate that ranks among the best real estate pro­grams in Con­necti­cut and the greater New Eng­land area. UConn’s 120 cred­it unit best degree for real estate pro­gram includes these fea­tured class­es – real estate prin­ci­ples, real estate finance, com­mer­cial real estate apprais­ing, real estate law, and invest­ments and secu­ri­ty analy­sis, to name a few. Degree can­di­dates enrolled in UConn’s best degrees for real estate may choose to par­tic­i­pate in a sum­mer intern­ship dur­ing their junior and senior years.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Con­necti­cut is the state’s flag­ship cam­pus and a rec­og­nized pub­lic ivy. The uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates as a land, space, and sea-grant school with a stu­dent body of approx­i­mate­ly 32,550 stu­dents each year. UConn’s cam­pus cov­ers more than 4,000 acres and is only 30 min­utes from Hart­ford and 90 min­utes from down­town Boston.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Con­necti­cut is con­sid­ered one of the best-val­ued edu­ca­tion in New England.

Degree: BBA in Real Estate

Uni­ver­si­ty of Connecticut

9. Indiana University

The Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty Cen­ter for Real Estate Stud­ies offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree pro­gram (BS) in Busi­ness with a Real Estate aca­d­e­m­ic con­cen­tra­tion that is con­sid­ered among the most inno­v­a­tive and best real estate pro­grams in the Hoosier State and beyond. The inte­grat­ed core course­work for Indi­ana University’s 120 semes­ter cred­it hour best degree for real estate includes real estate finance, oper­a­tions man­age­ment, mar­ket­ing real estate, and the fun­da­men­tals of eco­nom­ics and busi­ness, to name a few. The min­i­mum GPA for stu­dents enrolled in IU’s best degrees for real estate is 2.0.

Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty is a pub­lic space-grant insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing that was devel­oped in 1820. Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates edu­ca­tion­al facil­i­ties and cam­pus­es through­out the state that serve more than 110,000 stu­dents each year.

What We Like: IU’s flag­ship cam­pus is locat­ed in Bloom­ing­ton, with eight more cam­pus­es through­out the state.

Degree: BSB in Real Estate

Indi­ana University

10. University of California, Berkeley

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Berke­ley Haas Busi­ness offers a Bach­e­lor of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion (BBA) in Real Estate degree pro­gram that is ranked by US News among the top four best real estate pro­grams in the nation. This best degree for real estate requires stu­dents to com­plete 24 of their 30-semes­ter units as a senior in res­i­dence. Sam­ple course­work for UC Berkeley’s best degrees for real estate includ­ed an intro­duc­tion to entre­pre­neur­ship, the prin­ci­ples of busi­ness, spe­cial top­ics in busi­ness admin­is­tra­tion, intro­duc­tion to finance, and busi­ness ana­lyt­ics, to name a few.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Berke­ley was estab­lished as a land-grant school in the 1860s and has devel­oped to be one of the globe’s lead­ing uni­ver­si­ties. In addi­tion, this space-grant school serves more than 43,000 students.

What We Like: Alum­ni from UC Berke­ley have found­ed notable com­pa­nies like Tes­la, AIG, eBay, and Apple, among others.

Degree: BBA in Real Estate

Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Berkeley

11. Florida State University

Flori­da State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Real Estate pro­gram rec­og­nized among the most inno­v­a­tive and best real estate pro­grams in the South­ern US. Flori­da State University’s best degree for real estate pro­gram fea­tures course­work in strate­gic man­age­ment and busi­ness pol­i­cy, risk man­age­ment & insur­ance, real estate mar­ket analy­sis, and the legal envi­ron­ment of real estate. In addi­tion, these best degrees for real estate offer inter­est­ed stu­dents the oppor­tu­ni­ty to com­plete a dual BS and Mas­ter of Sci­ence in Finance, simul­ta­ne­ous­ly sav­ing time and money.

Estab­lished in the 1850s, Flori­da State Uni­ver­si­ty now oper­ates as a senior mem­ber and space-grant school of Florida’s state uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem. Flori­da State University’s 1,300+ acre cam­pus and online plat­form serve approx­i­mate­ly 41,350 grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: Flori­da State University’s impact on the econ­o­my exceeds $10 bil­lion yearly.

Degree: BS in Real Estate

Flori­da State University

12. University of Northern Iowa

The Uni­ver­si­ty of North­ern Iowa offers a Bach­e­lor’s in Real Estate that is ranked among Iowa’sbest real estate pro­grams. Grad­u­ates of UNI’s best degree for real estate enter the work­force as a land bro­ker, com­mer­cial leas­ing bro­ker, com­mer­cial asset man­age­ment, or com­mer­cial apprais­er, to name a few. The fea­tured course­work for the Uni­ver­si­ty of North­ern Iowa’s best degree for real estate includes real estate finance, real estate law and bro­ker­age, inter­me­di­ate finan­cial man­age­ment, and cor­po­ra­tion finance, among others.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of North­ern Iowa was estab­lished as the Iowa State Nor­mal School in the mid-1870s. The Uni­ver­si­ty of North­ern Iowa also oper­ates as a space-grant school with more than 10,400 under­grad­u­ate and post­grad­u­ate stu­dents each year.

What We Like: Stu­dent-ath­letes at UNI play as Pan­thers in the NCAA Divi­sion 1.

Degree: Bach­e­lor’s in Real Estate

Uni­ver­si­ty of North­ern Iowa

13. Southern Methodist University

South­ern Methodist Uni­ver­si­ty Cox Busi­ness offers a BBA in Real Estate that is con­sid­ered as one of Texas’s most inno­v­a­tive and best real estate pro­grams. South­ern Methodist University’s best degree for real estate includes class­es in real estate law, advanced con­cepts in finan­cial man­age­ment, project man­age­ment, nego­ti­a­tions, real estate cap­i­tal mar­kets, finance, mar­kets and val­u­a­tion, and busi­ness mod­el­ing spread­sheets, plus a practicum, among oth­ers. Those who wish may apply for the hon­ors pro­gram offered with South­ern Methodist University’s best degrees for real estate.

South­ern Methodist Uni­ver­si­ty is a research insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing that was found­ed in 1911. This mul­ti­ple cam­pus pri­vate school serves more than 12,150 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate stu­dents from its urban cam­pus and online platform.

What We Like: South­ern Methodist Uni­ver­si­ty is orga­nized into eight schools and colleges.

Degree: BBA in Real Estate

South­ern Methodist University

14. Texas Tech University

Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty offers a Bach­e­lor of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion in Real Estate and Finance that is one of the best real estate pro­grams in Texas and beyond. This best degree for real estate pro­gram from Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty requires degree can­di­dates to fin­ish 120 semes­ter hours to meet Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty grad­u­a­tion require­ments. The fea­tured class­es for Texas Tech University’s best degrees for real estate include finan­cial mod­el­ing, applied busi­ness eco­nom­ics, real estate law, busi­ness account­ing, and real estate invest­ments, to name a few.

Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty (TTU) was estab­lished in 1923 as the Texas Tech­no­log­i­cal Col­lege. Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty now oper­ates as the pri­ma­ry cam­pus of the Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem with a stu­dent enroll­ment that exceeds 40,050 stu­dents each year, study­ing on-cam­pus and on the university’s online platform.

What We Like: Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty is a rec­og­nized His­pan­ic-ser­vic­ing high­er learn­ing institution.

Degree: BBA in Finance/Real Estate

Texas Tech University

15. Colorado State University

Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a Real Estate BS in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion (BSBA) that is one of the best real estate pro­grams across the state of Col­orado. Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty offers stu­dents enrolled in this best degree for real estate pro­gram an impres­sive 22 to 1 stu­dent to fac­ul­ty ratio. Stu­dents enrolled in Col­orado State University’s best degrees for real estate must com­plete 120-semes­ter units. This degree offers an accel­er­at­ed option that allows stu­dents to com­plete the pro­gram in three years.

Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed as an agri­cul­tur­al col­lege and land grant school in 1870. Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty is also the flag­ship school with approx­i­mate­ly 33,950 stu­dents each year.

What We Like: Col­orado State University’s 550+ acre main cam­pus in Fort Collins sits at the base of the south­ern Rocky Mountains.

Degree: BSBA in Real Estate

Col­orado State University

16. New York University

New York University’s School of Pro­fes­sion­al Stud­ies offers a BS in Real Estate that US News & World Report ranks among the top three best real estate pro­grams nation­wide. Grad­u­ates of New York University’s best degree for real estate pro­gram are pre­pared for a reward­ing career in com­mer­cial real estate. Fea­tured class­es for New York University’s best degrees for real estate include mar­ket analy­sis in real estate, real estate law, busi­ness orga­ni­za­tion and man­age­ment, and intro­duc­tion to risk and port­fo­lio man­age­ment, to name a few.

New York Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed as an edu­ca­tion­al research facil­i­ty in 1831. More than 51,450 stu­dents attend class­es online and on cam­pus­es through­out the Unit­ed States and the world.

What We Like: New York Uni­ver­si­ty receives the most appli­ca­tions for admis­sion to any pri­vate school in the nation.

Degree: BS in Real Estate

New York University

17. Temple University

Tem­ple Uni­ver­si­ty Fox Busi­ness offers a BBA in Real Estate that is among Philadelphia’s best real estate pro­grams. This best degree for real estate pro­gram requires 124 bac­calau­re­ate cred­it units to meet Tem­ple University’s grad­u­a­tion cri­te­ria. Degree can­di­dates enrolled in the best degrees for real estate com­plete course­work in the man­age­ment of cor­po­rate real estate assets, com­mer­cial real estate analy­sis, real estate finan­cial mod­el­ing, res­i­den­tial prop­er­ty man­age­ment, and real estate devel­op­ment, real estate fun­da­men­tals, and inter­na­tion­al finance, to name a few.

Tem­ple Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed by a Bap­tist min­is­ter in the mid-1880s. Tem­ple Uni­ver­si­ty is also a space-grant and research school with a stu­dent enroll­ment of approx­i­mate­ly 37,150 stu­dents each year, vying for the more than 500 aca­d­e­m­ic degree pro­grams from its fif­teen schools/colleges.

What We Like: Tem­ple Uni­ver­si­ty main­tains sev­er­al cam­pus­es in Penn­syl­va­nia and internationally.

Degree: BBA in Real Estate

Tem­ple University

18. Texas Christian University

Texas Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty offers a Bach­e­lor of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion in Finance with an aca­d­e­m­ic con­cen­tra­tion in Real Estate that is among the best real estate pro­grams. Texas Chris­t­ian University’s best degree for real estate pro­gram pre­pares grad­u­ates for reward­ing careers in mort­gage lend­ing, asset man­age­ment, real estate man­age­ment, or real estate devel­op­ment, among oth­ers. Fea­tured class­es include in Texas Chris­t­ian University’s best degrees for real estate include mon­ey and bank­ing, real estate finance & invest­ment analy­sis, real estate val­u­a­tion, and the man­age­ment of finan­cial insti­tu­tions, to name a few.

Estab­lished in the 1870s, Texas Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates as a pri­vate insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing that is affil­i­at­ed with the Dis­ci­ples of Christ — a Chris­t­ian Church. The Fort Worth cam­pus of Texas Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty cov­ers more than 270 acres and is few miles from Fort Worth’s downtown.

What We Like: Texas Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty is com­prised of ten colleges/schools.

Degree: BBA in Finance/Real Estate

Texas Chris­t­ian University

19. University of Central Florida

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cen­tral Flori­da offers a BS in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion (BSBA) in Real Estate that US News and World Report ranks among the best real estate pro­grams. This University’s best degree for real estate pro­gram from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cen­tral Flori­da pre­pares grad­u­ates for careers as rental agents, com­mu­ni­ty asso­ci­a­tion man­agers, real estate bro­kers, prop­er­ty man­agers, or land acqui­si­tion man­agers, among oth­ers. Sam­ple class­es for the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cen­tral Florida’s best degrees for real estate include real estate law, the fun­da­men­tals of real estate, and per­son­al finance & investments.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cen­tral Flori­da is a mem­ber school of Florida’s state uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem and a space-grant school with deep con­nec­tions to Florida’s space coast. Found­ed in the 1960s, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cen­tral Flori­da now serves more than 71,000 under­grad­u­ate and post­grad­u­ate stu­dents on its mul­ti­ple cam­pus­es and online.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cen­tral Flori­da is orga­nized into thir­teen colleges/schools that offer more than 190 aca­d­e­m­ic degree pro­grams at the under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate levels.

Degree: BSBA in Real Estate

Uni­ver­si­ty of Cen­tral Florida

20. University of Miami

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Miami’s Her­bert Busi­ness School offers a BBA in Real Estate that is one of Miami’s best real estate pro­grams. This 120-cred­it best degree for real estate pro­gram explores the the­o­ret­i­cal & ana­lyt­ic con­cepts regard­ing real estate devel­op­ment, invest­ments, and lend­ing. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Miami’s best degrees for real estate course­work includes real estate finance, legal aspects of real estate trans­ac­tions, secu­ri­ty mar­kets, and fixed income mar­kets & analy­sis, to name a few.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mia­mi (UM) was found­ed in the mid-1920s in Coral Gables. UM oper­ates as a pri­vate sea and space-grant school that serves approx­i­mate­ly 11,090 stu­dents each year.

What We Like: The Prince­ton Review rec­og­nizes UM as one of the best south­east­ern colleges.

Degree: BBA in Real Estate

Uni­ver­si­ty of Miami

21. University of Colorado, Boulder

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Col­orado, Boul­der Leeds School of Busi­ness offers a BS in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion in Real Estate that ranks as one of the best real estate pro­grams in Boul­der and beyond. The required immer­sive course­work for UM’s best degree for real estate pro­gram includes real estate finance eco­nom­ics, the prin­ci­ples of real estate, real estate law invest­ment analy­sis, and real estate devel­op­ment top­ics, to name a few. Grad­u­ates of these best degrees for real estate find reward­ing careers in man­age­ment, sales, or real estate devel­op­ment, among others.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Col­orado (UC- Boul­der) was found­ed in the mid-1870s as a pub­lic insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Col­orado now oper­ates as the flag­ship cam­pus of the UC sys­tem and a space-grant with a stu­dent enroll­ment that exceeds 35,350 stu­dents every year.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Col­orado (Boul­der) is con­sid­ered one of the few pub­lic ivy schools in the country.

Degree: BSBA in Real Estate

Uni­ver­si­ty of Col­orado, Boulder

22. University of Mississippi

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mis­sis­sip­pi offers a BBA in Real Estate, which is one of the best real estate pro­grams in the state of Mis­sis­sip­pi. The min­i­mum cred­it hours required for the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mississippi’s best degree for real estate pro­gram are 120, with the real estate major requir­ing 45 cred­it units. Fea­tured class­es for the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mississippi’s best degrees for real estate include the prin­ci­ples of mar­ket­ing real estate finance, the legal envi­ron­ment of busi­ness, and strate­gic plan­ning in real estate, to name a few.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mis­sis­sip­pi (Ole Miss) was found­ed by the state leg­is­la­ture in the mid-1840s. With more than 18,100 stu­dents, UM is rec­og­nized to be the state’s largest insti­tu­tion of high­er education.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mis­sis­sip­pi main­tains satel­lite cam­pus­es in Jack­son, Rankin, Grena­da, DeS­o­to, Booneville, and Tupelo.

Degree: BBA in Real Estate

Uni­ver­si­ty of Mississippi

23. University of San Diego

The Uni­ver­si­ty of San Diego offers a BBA in Real Estate degree pro­gram is one of South­ern California’s best real estate pro­grams. The core cur­ricu­lum for the Uni­ver­si­ty of San Diego’s best degree for real estate pro­gram includes financ­ing res­i­den­tial real estate, the legal aspects of real estate, and com­mer­cial real estate financ­ing and invest­ments, to name a few. Degree can­di­dates enrolled in USD’s best degrees for real estate must main­tain a C- in low­er-divi­sion course­work to enter the real estate major.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of San Diego was found­ed as a women’s school in the late 1940s. Cur­rent­ly, the uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates as a pri­vate research school with a stu­dent enroll­ment of approx­i­mate­ly 5,600 under­grad­u­ate & post­grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of San Diego’s urban cam­pus is ranked first for the most beau­ti­ful urban cam­pus by Best Choice Schools.

Degree: BBA in Real Estate

Uni­ver­si­ty of San Diego

24. George Washington University

George Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BBA in Real Estate, which is one of the nation’s capital’s best real estate pro­grams. The required course­work for this best degree for real estate pro­gram includes real estate devel­op­ment, real estate invest­ments, urban and region­al eco­nom­ics, and val­u­a­tion and invest­ment analy­sis, to name a few. Stu­dents grad­u­ate from George Wash­ing­ton University’s best degrees for real estate to find reward­ing careers in real estate man­age­ment, bro­ker­age, invest­ment analy­sis, or a mar­ket con­sul­tant, to name a few.

George Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty holds an unusu­al sta­tus as a pri­vate insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion with a fed­er­al char­ter. Estab­lished in the 1820s, George Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty serves more than 27,050 stu­dents, mak­ing it the largest school in the DC area.

What We Like: George Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty is one of only five schools with a con­gres­sion­al charter.

Degree: BBA in Real Estate

George Wash­ing­ton University

25. University of Denver

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Den­ver offers a Bach­e­lor’s in Real Estate and the Built Envi­ron­ment (REBE) that has been ranked among the best real estate pro­grams in the coun­try. This best degree for real estate pro­gram from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Den­ver offers a mul­ti-dis­ci­pli­nary approach to the real estate busi­ness. Degree can­di­dates must com­plete 185 quar­ter cred­its in class­es that include real estate val­u­a­tion and appraisal, the man­age­ment of income prop­er­ties, real estate secu­ri­ties, and real estate tax­a­tion, to name a few.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Den­ver was estab­lished as the Col­orado Sem­i­nary in the late 1840s. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Den­ver now oper­ates as a non­sec­tar­i­an space-grant school with a stu­dent enroll­ment of more than 12,650 stu­dents each year. The urban cam­pus of UD is about five miles from Denver’s downtown.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Den­ver is orga­nized into twelve schools offer­ing pro­grams in arts, busi­ness, law, edu­ca­tion, social work, music, and psy­chol­o­gy, to name a few.

Degree: Bach­e­lor’s in Real Estate and the Built Environment

Uni­ver­si­ty of Denver

How Do I Choose a College for Real Estate?

The best col­lege for real estate is one that offers a pro­gram that meets your career goals, has high per­cent­age of grad­u­ates work­ing in the field, and has accred­i­ta­tion from an orga­ni­za­tion reg­is­tered with the U.S. Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion. Good col­leges for real estate have degrees have pro­grams that are staffed by peo­ple who have worked in the indus­try, have class­es that pro­vide you with the fun­da­men­tals of work­ing in real estate, and can pre­pare you for licens­ing tests after grad­u­a­tion. Check to see if the pro­gram fea­tures region­al accred­i­ta­tion or has accred­i­ta­tion from The Asso­ci­a­tion of Real Estate License Law Offi­cials (ARELLO) or the Inter­na­tion­al Dis­tance Edu­ca­tion Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion Cen­ter (IDECC) as accred­i­ta­tion ensures the qual­i­ty of the edu­ca­tion you receive is in accor­dance with nation­al and inter­na­tion­al real estate edu­ca­tion standards.

As you’re pick­ing the best col­lege for real estate, keep your options open in terms of the school you ulti­mate­ly decide to attend. Some of the best under­grad­u­ate real estate pro­grams are offered by schools you may not be aware of, and its grad­u­ates find employ­ment with major orga­ni­za­tions in the field of real estate. The best uni­ver­si­ties for real estate pro­grams are ones that suit your career goals, fea­ture the best real estate pro­grams in your area or nation­al rank­ing, and have a sol­id rep­u­ta­tion for the best under­grad­u­ate real estate pro­grams. Many schools offer­ing full-time online pro­grams offer elec­tives that can count toward licen­sure, increas­ing your career opportunities.

Is Real Estate a College Major?

The idea that there’s a col­lege major for real estate seems ques­tion­able on the sur­face. The fact is, there are many pres­ti­gious uni­ver­si­ties that offer real estate degrees from the under­grad­u­ate lev­el to the post­grad­u­ate lev­el. One col­lege major for real estate is the real estate MBA pro­gram which is a master’s in busi­ness admin­is­tra­tion with a focus on real estate. Some col­lege real estate pro­grams offer a bachelor’s to master’s pro­gram that teach­es foun­da­tion­al and high­er-lev­el cours­es while enabling a stu­dent to grad­u­ate in five years instead of six. A col­lege major for real estate pro­gram teach­es stu­dents how to han­dle all aspects of real estate and real estate finance which pre­pares them for employ­ment in all man­ner of real estate-relat­ed fields.

Do I Need a College Degree to Get a Real Estate License?

When look­ing at how to get your real estate license, the answer is no, you don’t need a col­lege degree in most states. It’s a valu­able cre­den­tial for sales agents and oth­er real estate pro­fes­sion­als, but the Nation­al Asso­ci­a­tion of Real­tors doesn’t even require it. You can take a course offered by an orga­ni­za­tion approved or oth­er­wise autho­rized to pro­vide real estate licens­ing class­es in your state. Upon com­ple­tion of the pro­gram, you’ll be able to take the licens­ing test and get a real estate broker’s license. This is the most straight­for­ward way to get a real estate license, but you can also learn how to get your real estate license through col­lege real estate edu­ca­tion pro­grams even though a degree may not be nec­es­sary to work in the real estate industry.

As not­ed, there are two paths towards get­ting your real estate license in the form of tak­ing a class or going to col­lege to get a bachelor’s degree. You can get a real estate license quick­ly, or you can take your time. The main dif­fer­ence between col­lege real estate pro­grams and get­ting your real estate license through a short edu­ca­tion­al course is the amount of knowl­edge you pos­sess after you grad­u­ate either type of edu­ca­tion. These are both valid options for real estate pro­fes­sion­als when look­ing at how to obtain a real estate license, but get­ting your real estate license through a uni­ver­si­ty or col­lege opens up bet­ter employ­ment prospects. Get­ting your real estate license and degree can help you find employ­ment roles that go beyond being a real estate broker.

Relat­ed Rankings:

15 Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Real Estate

10 Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Real Estate

10 Most Afford­able Bach­e­lor’s in Real Estate