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The revamped curriculum is designed to prepare graduates for the significant changes facing the field.鈥�

If you were to ask Carl Koelbel why he approached the Leeds School of Business about refreshing its master鈥檚 program in real estate, you鈥檒l get a fairly blunt answer.听

鈥淓nlightened self-interest,鈥� is how he put it.听

鈥淭here were a couple of instances where I was working鈥攅ither as a judge or engaging with CU students鈥攁nd I did not see that level of fundamental understanding that I was looking for,鈥� said Koelbel (MBA鈥�10), chief operating officer of Denver-based Koelbel & Co. 鈥淎nd that was a major concern to us, because something like 10 percent of our workforce comes from CU Boulder.鈥澨�

But when industry talks, Leeds listens, which is why the school just unveiled a completely revamped real estate graduate program for the fall.

鈥淲e were able to have a truly candid conversation with our partners about their needs for professionals coming out of the program,鈥� said Michael Kercheval, executive director of the CU Real Estate Center. 鈥淲e want to be responsive to industry input, both because we鈥檙e asking them to hire our students and because we want to make the industry better.鈥澨�

Kercheval also noted that Leeds faculty were especially receptive to suggestions from industry partners.听

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鈥淭hat openness to input is part of our special sauce at the CU Real Estate Center that other schools don鈥檛 have,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd that absolutely extends to the faculty teaching the real estate courses at Leeds.鈥澨�

An听entirely reimagined curriculum

The enhancements to the master鈥檚 program were designed to incorporate the contemporary requirements of a real estate profession adapting to an environment where commercial real estate product supply is lagging shifting demand. The relaunched degree program includes new or substantially upgraded courses in law, modeling and analytics, along with a renewed emphasis on case studies and a special skills training course designed to ensure students have hard skills鈥攍ike financial modeling and Excel.听

Christophe Spaenjers, faculty director of the master's program, said the changes draw on the strengths of Leeds' faculty, not just its ties to the industry.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a big focus on real estate research from our faculty, and we also have adjunct professors who have years鈥攊f not decades鈥攐f experience,鈥� Spaenjers said. 鈥淭hat gives our program a combination of academic depth and real-world connections that is so valuable to students.鈥�

Those areas were important to Cooper Williams (MBA鈥�10), president and principal at Essex Financial Group.

鈥淐oming out of the master鈥檚 program, it鈥檚 very important for students to have a good fundamental understanding of valuation and cash flow modeling,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淚 wanted CU to get back to having more real-time cases, doing case competitions, getting that real-world practice in modeling, and understanding both capital and risk.鈥澨�For Koelbel, the skills are crucial, but so is the fundamental knowledge and high-level perspective needed to understand how the different disciplines and players within the industry work together to get projects and deals done.听

鈥淲e need our new hires to have a close understanding of how all the players work together鈥攖he developer, the banks, legal, and of course the tenant or homebuyer鈥攕o that as environmental conditions change, they鈥檙e able to anticipate how that will impact different stakeholders and react accordingly,鈥� Koelbel said. 鈥淭hat means they can find or structure a deal no matter what larger trends are shaping the markets.鈥澨�

Spaenjers is confident the program meets those demands.听

鈥淭he updates give this program a blend of that knowledge base鈥攖he sort of industry vocabulary they need鈥攚ith exposure to specific software and databases, like ARGUS and CoStar. That ensures they鈥檙e ready to create impact from the start,鈥� he said.

Top-quality students

One thing both executives want to see unchanged is the quality of students admitted to the program.听

鈥淭he character of student coming out of the master鈥檚 program is as high as I鈥檝e ever seen it,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淭he recruiting of the student base has been fantastic, and I think that鈥檚 a credit to CUREC鈥檚 leadership and history of engagement with the real estate community.鈥澨�

Unique to Leeds is the incorporation of societal challenges, such as sustainability, into the fabric of each course鈥攃rucial as the industry faces pressure on areas like climate change.

鈥淔or example, in my real estate finance course, I have a guest lecture by one of our faculty here, who shares research on how climate change effects house prices,鈥� Spaenjers said. 鈥淩ather than packaging this in a separate course, we also try to bring those issues into our core materials.鈥�

The master鈥檚 program isn鈥檛 the only real estate offering at Leeds. The school also offers an MBA with a real estate pathway, which offers a broader business and management degree that includes special courses and co-curricular experiences for students looking to take leadership roles in the industry. At the undergraduate level, Leeds offers an area of emphasis in real estate that prepares students for roles in development, brokering, investing, law and consulting, among others.听

The refreshed approach to the master鈥檚 program puts it firmly on par with these other offerings鈥攁nd, Kercheval said, the updates aren鈥檛 done yet.听

鈥淣ow that we have this solid curriculum, we want to look at how the program is delivered,鈥� he said. 鈥淚s there a way to create a part-time option, or a hybrid version of the program? We鈥檝e addressed a pressing need in very short order鈥攂ut it鈥檚 not a one and done. We鈥檒l be continuing to innovate.鈥澨�

Prospective students are encouaged to visit听the program website to learn more, or contact the Leeds graduate programs team at leedsgrad@colorado.edu or (303)听492-8397.

Why Leeds听 CU Real Estate Center听 M.S. Real Estate