MRED program uses an array of teaching formats, including lectures, seminars, workshops and field work, computers, video and slides, case studies, tours and extensive class participation. Entering classes typically have fewer than 20 students.

Core courses in this full-time, 54-credit program include Intro to Accounting and Finance, Real Estate Principles, Development Process, Human Settlement, Site Planning and Infrastructure, Building Design and Construction Principles, Investment, Valuation, Finance, Intro to GIS, Market Analysis, Law, Real Estate Seminar Roundtable, Contractor’s Role in the Development Process, Personnel Management and Negotiations, Public-Private Partnership Development, Practicum in Commercial Development and Practicum in Master Planned/Resort Communities. A two-week maymester SC Coastal Real Estate Development Field Tour studying developments in Myrtle Beach, Pawleys Island, Charleston, Beaufort and Hilton Head is required prior to the required 10-week supervised professional summer internship. Other regional field trips occur in Charlotte, Atlanta, and nearby areas.

The Center for Real Estate Development

Clemson’s College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities and the College of Business and Behavioral Science established the Center for Real Estate Development (CRED) in 2001 to educate leaders creating land development in the 21st century. The new “master builder” center creates a rich research, teaching and public service resource for students, consumers and businesses in South Carolina and the South

east. The initial mission has been accomplished—establishing the University’s Master of Real Estate Development program. 

The CRED has an advisory board that provides counsel in implementing the center’s mission and in enhancing the resource base to support the center. Recent endeavors include evaluating statewide growth policies with the Home Builders Association of South Carolina and the SC Chapter of the American Planning Association, evaluating tax increment financing in South Carolina and hosting a regional workshop with the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors on future growth and market implications in the Greenville area. Clemson faculty actively participated on a 36-member statewide task force for a two-year SC Quality Growth Initiative, which was sponsored by the national office of the ULI and the University of South Carolina’s Real Estate Center. The CRED director is the primary author of the report, setting the research agenda for a new statewide ULI District Council that will include active student involvement. 

The CRED and MRED program are actively involved with many other regional and national organizations, including the National Association of Home Builders, International Council of Shopping Centers, National Association of Industrial and Office Parks, Society of Industrial and Office Realtors, CCIM, Appraisal Institute, Mortgage Bankers Association, Counselors of Real Estate and Congress for New Urbanism. Many of these groups have student organizations. In addition to those activities, guest lecturers for the MRED program often give presentations that are open to the public through the center.

Research Facilities

Student study space, computer workstations, studios and a lounge area are available. Lee Hall includes the School of Design and Building collection in the Emery Gunnin Library with more than 40,000 books, 85,000 slides, video recordings and professional journals and periodicals. Five student-com

puting labs provide various software and hardware resources, including ESRI, ERDAS and Trimble GIS and GPS software.

Financial Aid

Some first-year students obtain research analyst positions for 10 hours per week assisting professors in research at the CRED. Second-year MRED students (some first-year students with experience) may work two days each week during the academic year at a paid internship with a local real estate entity. Positions typically require interns to have transportation throughout the metro area (up to a 60-mile radius). The program requires a 10-week summer internship with a real estate business anywhere in the world. The program is establishing relationships with local chapters of real estate organizations to pursue scholarship opportunities.

Cost of Study

Tuition costs for the MRED program are different from the Graduate School fee structure; they are structured to ensure the financial commitment for the program’s national reputation and growth. No tuition waivers or reductions are provided, although research analyst positions are available. MRED students pay the same tuition for both years of the program based upon the academic year rate established for the year in which they enter the program. This includes tuition for the maymester tour class and the summer internship. The maymester class requires an additional $1,000 for travel expenses, including most meals. See www.clemson.edu/caah/pla/mred for details.

Faculty Listing

Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture

• Dennis C. Bausman. Assistant Professor. PhD, Heriot-Watt University. Research interests include business strategic planning, financial management, business planning and project management.

• Robert C. Benedict. Lecturer. MBA, University of Georgia. Research interests include real estate development process, economic preservation and commercial development.

• Cliff Ellis. Associate Professor. PhD, University of California at Berkeley. Research interests include land use planning, growth management, transportation planning and urban design.

• J. Terrence Farris. Associate Professor and MRED Program Director. PhD Michigan State University. Research interests include development process, market and feasibility analysis, housing and community development and public-private partnerships.

• Anne M. Jacques. Lecturer. MA, Clemson University. Research interests include architectural design and building techniques.

• Roger W. Liska. Professor. EdD, University of Georgia. Research interests include craft worker retention and total quality management.

• Daniel J. Nadenicek. Professor and Chair. MLA, University of Minnesota. Research interests include community design, human settlements, landscape and urban planning history.

• Jeff B. Randolph. Instructor and President of the Randolph Group. BA, Clemson University. Research interests include residential master planned communities.

• Stephen L. Sperry. Associate Professor. MLA, Harvard University. Research interests include land use planning, geographic systems, database technology and spatial modeling.

Department of Finance

• Judson R. Jahn. Lecturer. JD, Mercer University. Research interests include real estate and construction law.

• Jeffrey K. McMillan. Professor. PhD, University of South Carolina. Research interests include financial accounting, auditing, ethics and educational methods.

• Thomas M. Springer. Professor. PhD, University of Georgia. Research interests include real estate principles, finance and investment.

• Neil G. Waller. Professor. PhD, University of Texas. Research interests include real estate finance and valuation.

• Elaine M. Worzala. Professor and Director of the Center for Real Estate Development. PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Research interests include real estate principles, progress and market analysis, valuation and real estate finance and investments.

Applying

You may apply on the web at www.grad.clemson.edu/Admission.php. Completed applications are due February 1 for first round admissions and priorities for any research analyst positions. Later applications may be accepted based on merit and individual circumstances. No specific bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution is required for admission, although priority is given to those from related disciplines. Admission is allowed only in the fall semester due to class sequencing. Admission into the program is based on either GRE (scores greater than 1240-5.0 are preferred) or GMAT (scores greater than 600-5.0 are preferred), three letters of recommendation, academic background and related transcript (a GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale is preferred), resume, personal statement of objectives (600–1500 words) and work experience, if any. International students are expected to have exceptional TOEFL scores—greater than 600 are preferred—complementing the GRE or GMAT.

“The result [of an academic program] should be a real estate entrepreneur with the creativity of Leonardo da Vinci, the sensitivity for the natural world of John Muir and the political humanity with cash management for profit of James Rouse.”

—James Graaskamp, former ULI trustee and renowned educator