Curriculum

The Real Estate Major will prepare students to contribute to the multiple facets of financing, developing, and operating real estate while placing real estate within the context of building cities and communities that are both equitable and sustainable. The curriculum covers both the residential and commercial real estate sectors.

The real estate major requires a minimum of 50 credits of approved courses.

• 3 credits of RE 250: Introduction to Real Estate
• 21 credits of required undergraduate real estate courses (or approved substitutes):
  • RE 361: Property Transactions
  • RE 397: Intro to Real Estate Data Modeling
  • RE 411: Real Estate Valuation & Appraisal
  • RE 413: Introduction to Real Estate Finance and Investments
  • RE 416: Real Estate Economics & Market Analysis
  • RE 480: Professional Development Seminar
•  7 credits of other approved real estate courses
• 9 credit hours of analytic courses to develop strong data management, analysis, and visualization skills
• 5 credit hours of built environment courses to be exposed to the context in which real estate takes place
• 5 credit hours of business skills courses to be introduced to some of the key communication, management, and organizational skills needed to be a successful professional.

Students need to maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 to remain in good academic standing. In addition, students need to maintain a major GPA of at least 2.0 and courses taken as satisfactory/non-satisfactory, cannot count toward the major.

Tentative 2023 2024 Course offerings

UW Time Schedule

Here is the recommended sequencing for students planning on completing the major within 2 years.

Download this worksheet to track your progress towards the major.

Undergraduate Real Estate Classes

Required Courses (21 credits)

Core Real Estate Courses (min. 7 credits)

At least 7 credits of undergraduate real estate courses or approved substitutes as shown below:
For courses that have substitutes, only the primary course or one of its substitutes can count toward the major except otherwise noted.

Analytic Skills Courses (9 credits)

At least 9 credits of approved analytic courses to develop strong data management, analysis, and visualization skills are required. At least one course must be an upper division class (either 300 or 400 level course).

Built Environment Courses (5 credits)

At least 5 credit hours of approved built environment courses to be exposed to the context in which real estate takes place are required.

Business Skills Courses (5 credits)

At least 5 credit hours of business skills courses to be introduced to some of the key communication, management, and organizational skills needed to be a successful professional are required.

General Education Requirements

In addition to the major requirements, students must complete an additional 130 credits including 80 credits of general education requirements:

Learning Outcomes

The Real Estate Major educates future real estate professionals by equipping them with a deep understanding of the context within which their industry operates and will ensure they are sensitive to environmental resilience and the social and economic equity challenges that are prevalent in the built environment.

The Major benefits from the Runstad Department of Real Estate being located in the College of Built Environments. This provides students with exposure to five disciplines directly involved with shaping and managing the urban environment and creates an interdisciplinary approach that integrates capital, design, and policy considerations.

Students in the Major develop technical, analytical and business skills that prepare them to join the real estate industry, or interact with it, by working in the construction, design, policy, or community development fields. The interdisciplinary nature of real estate will be highlighted throughout the Major and in a variety of learning environments that students will encounter. Students are also encouraged to explore potential double majors and minors.

Learning outcomes include:

• Be able to communicate technical and complex material in an effective manner in a professional real estate environment
• Practice according to the professional, ethical, and legal standards expected in the real estate industry
• Understand the participants and processes involved in the real estate market
• Appreciate the interdisciplinary nature of real estate and how it fits into a broader economic and social framework
• Understand the key differences across various property types and functions
• Understand the steps involved in a real estate transaction
• Apply a range of analytical and quantitative techniques in an applied real estate context, including real estate appraisal and mortgage calculations
• Adopt innovative problem solving and transfer appropriate knowledge and methods across different topics
• Understand how the structure of urban areas impact the demand and supply of real estate and how these feed into broader issues such as public policy and regional economic development and planning