Over the past two years, world economies have become more interdependent than ever before, as shown by the unraveling of financial markets across the globe. As business schools across the United States race to understand the implications for the real estate industry and work to incorporate lessons learned into the generalmanagement curriculum, the real estate program at the University of Wisconsin School of Business has created a new global real estate master (GREM) program tailored to meeting the needs of the next generation of industry leaders.
The new GREM program partners Wisconsin’s 100-year expertise in real estate education through the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate, its network of alumni, and numerous international industry connections with the leading business schools in Paris, Hong Kong, and Costa Rica—L’École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris (HEC Paris), the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), and Instituto Centroamericano de Administración de Empresas (INCAE).
Participants enter the program as graduate business students in one of these universities. After completing one to three semesters in their master of business administration (MBA) program or in a specialized master of science (MS) program, the students come together at the University of Wisconsin for advanced training in real estate.
Students at Wisconsin are immersed in intensive classroom training and field experience, including comprehensive courses in real estate finance and economics dealing with core concepts of feasibility analysis and deal structuring, applied skills in real estate development, and real estate portfolio management. A study tour of a major U.S. real estate market provides opportunities to observe real estate projects in action and network with industry leaders. In the end, they are awarded an MBA or MS from the partner school and an MS in real estate from the Wisconsin School of Business.
Students who complete Wisconsin’s GREM program will offer an tangible asset to companies attempting to understand the complexities, challenges, and opportunities of markets across the globe. This global approach to real estate education builds on the current curriculum in the Wisconsin School of Business, as current MBA students participate in conferences and study trips abroad and benefit from collaboration with a variety of international organizations.
