Iowa State University in August is launching a new Master of Real Estate Development degree program aimed at people currently working in the profession.

The 21-month, 33-credit-hour program is mostly online. However, three courses are taught on campus during one-week sessions.

The program offers courses in real estate finance, investments, law and development, architecture and sustainable design, basics in construction, building systems and project management, sustainable community development, and leadership and conflict resolution.

The cost is $890 per credit hour.

The master’s degree in real estate development is not offered at Iowa’s other two regents institutions. However, the University of Northern Iowa offers a bachelor’s degree in real estate.

Planning for the ISU program took more than two years and included input from an advisory council composed of Central Iowa professionals in leadership positions in real estate management and development firms.

Jackie Rees Ulmer, an ISU professor who spoke at the Iowa Commercial Real Estate Association’s June breakfast meeting, said the advisory council provided valuable input.

“They told us [the program] had to be tied very closely to the industry and that it had to provide networking opportunities because that’s how business gets done,” she said.

The master’s degree program begins Aug. 5. Applications are due in mid-July. The GRE and GMAT are not required to be accepted in the program.

More information about the program can be found here.