Georgetown Launches $75K Real Estate Master’s With An ESG Focus

Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business has already staked a leadership claim in the weaving of sustainability throughout its MBA program. With a new degree announced today (December 5), the B-school in the U.S. capital is polishing its ESG bona fides, as well.

The McDonough School will launch a 12-month MS in Global Real Assets in fall 2023; the new real estate degree will “expand the traditional definition of this asset class to include infrastructure and incorporates the seismic issues of environment, society, and governance,” the school says in a news release, preparing graduates to not only improve their companies’ investment performance but also “make a positive impact on the world.”

The full-time, $75,000 program will be offered in-person in the Washington, D.C., market in partnership with Georgetown’s Steers Center for Global Real Estate, promising significant “experiential learning opportunities, individualized attention from professors and career advisors, and extensive alumni and professional network,” the school announced. A key enticement to apply: No Graduate Management Admission Test or Graduate Record Exam test score is required to apply. Round 1 application deadline is February 15, 2023.

NEW PROGRAM: SMALL CLASS SIZES & LOCKSTEP PROGRESSION

Real estate is a growing field of interest for business school students, including MBAs. ESG is the biggest thing in graduate business education since business analytics.

With the new degree, Georgetown is taking a leadership role in both areas.

“The real estate industry is changing at a rapid pace, so we designed the MS in Global Real Assets to prepare students to address critical issues of real assets – the structures and raw materials the drive economic growth, which include real estate and infrastructure at the core,” says Matthew Cypher, Atara Kaufman professor of the practice and director of the Steers Center.

As the preeminent Jesuit university, Georgetown is the logical home for such a program. “This program builds upon our deep understanding and connections in real estate and McDonough’s Jesuit tradition to serve the common good,” Cypher says.

WANTED: THOSE ‘INTERESTED IN FOCUSING THEIR CAREERS ON REAL ASSETS’

The new program will be taught in a cohort model, with small class sizes and a lockstep progression. It promises to equip students “to explore multiple career paths, especially in the infrastructure, real estate, financial services, risk management, energy, consulting, government, nonprofit, and technology sectors.”

The new program’s curriculum will combine studying the built environment with business fundamentals, all through the lens of ESG. “The program begins with an opening residency and includes a clinic course where students work on underwriting real estate deals,” the school announced. The program concludes with a global capstone project for which students will go abroad “to see how the most dynamic intersection of real estate, infrastructure, and issues of ESG are evolving in real-world situations and meet with industry leaders and alumni as they craft their recommendations.”

“Georgetown’s MS in Global Real Assets is a great opportunity for young professionals to launch an expanded career in real assets, enhance their current real estate career, or to pivot to the industry,” says Nita Swinsick, associate dean for graduate and executive program admissions. The $75,000 price tag includes tuition as well as specified meals and hotel accommodations for the global residency.

“We welcome applications from individuals with any undergraduate field of study interested in focusing their careers on real assets,” Swinsick says.

Learn more about Georgetown’s new MS in Global Real Assets here.

DON’T MISS GEORGETOWN McDONOUGH’S DEAN: 4 AMBITIOUS GOALS FOR THE NEXT 5 YEARS and HOW GEORGETOWN BECAME A LEADER IN SUSTAINABILITY