Students compete in National Real Estate Challenge

Since 2002, teams of graduate students from top-ranked business schools have congregated in Austin, Texas, to participate in a case-based real estate competition.

The invitation-only National Real Estate Challenge requires participants to analyze a recent real estate transaction completed by a leading global real estate firm. Participants represent some of the most talented real estate students, while judge panels consist of executives from leading real estate firms across the country.

This year, the competition welcomed a team featuring students from two Tulane programs: the Freeman School's MBA program and the School of Architecture's Master of Sustainable Real Estate Development program.

This year, the Freeman School and the School of Architecture teamed up to launch a new master's program for students interested in combining business and sustainable real estate development.

The Tulane MBA/MSRED , the only program of its kind in the nation, awards students both an MBA and a master’s degree in Sustainable Real Estate Development. Through the real-world application of theory to current real estate development projects, graduates are well-prepared for the ever-changing real estate industry. Graduates are armed with skills to successfully work in all areas of real estate development, including: finance, analytics, design, management and consulting.

“We are disrupting how real estate has been taught to drive change in the educational landscape of this field,” says Casius Pealer, director of Sustainable Real Estate Development and Shane Professor of Practice at the Tulane School of Architecture. “We want students to analyze the implications of technology, environmental changes and urbanization to better understand how political, ecological and cultural forces impact real estate development. By creating an interdisciplinary program, our alumni can anticipate the long-term social and financial effects of development.”

The MBA/MSRED is an accelerated two-year, full-time program. Students benefit from Freeman’s small cohorts, active learning environment and direct engagement with industry leaders. Freeman also offers real estate specializations in its full-time and part-time Professional MBA programs, as well as in its 10-month Master of Management program.