Considering a Career in Real Estate? ODU has you Covered

June 22, 2017

Andy Hansz

Old Dominion recently announced it will provide students with a new major in real estate. The major is being offered through the finance department in the University's Strome College of Business.

Students may enroll for the fall semester.

Students will take real estate principles as well as upper level courses in appraisal, real estate management and real estate finance.

The program's faculty bring real-world experience to the classroom to engage students in a multidisciplinary curriculum that will assist them in developing the analytical and professional skills necessary for a career in real estate or economic development. There are three full-time real estate faculty to help the students with their work, including the newly hired Wendell C. Franklin Visiting Lecturer in Real Estate Management, Richard Button.

Students pursuing this degree will gain hands-on practical experience through the Urban Land Institute's UrbanPlan Project. The UrbanPlan Project is a realistic and academically demanding curriculum in which students learn about the fundamental forces that affect development in the United States.

Through the UrbanPlan project students will explore challenging issues, private and public sector roles, complex trade-offs and fundamental economics in play when proposing realistic land use solutions to growth challenges. Throughout the project, local real estate and development professionals visit the classroom to assist students. At the end of the project, students present their proposals to a mock city council comprised of local real estate and development leaders. ODU is currently the only higher education institution in Virginia conducting this project in the classroom.

Andy Hansz, the Robert M. Stanton Chair of Real Estate in ODU's Strome College of Business, said he was excited for the development of the new major.

"We will be able to train and educate future leaders for the local community, creating a pipeline to fill jobs," he said.

Students interested in learning more can find related information in in ODU's undergraduate catalog or by contacting program director Andy Hansz at jhansz@odu.edu.