Education of Developers

Bradley Inman’s article (June 22) offered good insight into the new trends in real estate education.

USC’s new master of real estate development (MRED) program is one of three in the country (along with MIT and Columbia) that focuses on real estate development as opposed to the traditional orientation toward finance and brokerage. Under the umbrella of the School of Urban and Regional Planning, the MRED combines real estate finance and project management with the other disciplines critical to real estate development--planning, architecture, economics, engineering and law.

Typically, students already have strong real estate experience in lending, construction, brokerage or the professions and have made the personal decision that they want to be developers. The USC program emphasizes the design, marketing and social-impact aspects of development with the goal that our graduates will not only be successful developers but also knowledgeable contributors to the long-term growth and health of their communities

RICHARD B. PEISER

Los Angeles

Peiser is academic director of the USC master of real estate development program and a former professor at Southern Methodist University and developer in Texas.