Courses commence April 2, and can be taken at the university or accessed on-line from anywhere in the world. National-level authors and other specialists from each industry will be teaching the classes, says Terry Bernhardt, director of the center, a professional appraiser, and education chairman for the Oregon Chapter of the Chicago-based Appraisal Institute, the acknowledged leader in residential and commercial appraisal education, research, publishing, and professional membership.

"If you have an undergraduate degree in real estate of have been in the industry, this is the perfect opportunity to complete a degree while working full time," says Bernhardt, who says professionals with certain licenses and certifications may earn as many as 45 credits for training and work experience. "It's really a professional program much more than an academic one."

Given Bernhardt's expertise, it is the appraisal track that is the most defined so far. It's possible to finish a bachelor's degree program and already have completed the requirement necessary for designation as a Senior Residential Appraiser, and in the subsequent masters program complete all the requirements for their MAI designation, the gold standard for appraisers.

Bernhardt is currently in the process of encouraging the certifications and licensing components of other commercial real estate-related organizations to have their ongoing education programs accredited so that similar advantages can be had through the other degree programs as well. "We can kill a whole lot of birds with one stone and also have the ability to give retroactive credit for designations already received," says Bernhardt.

In just the last month before formal roll-out last week, some 20 people have signed up for one or more some of the degree programs, "and I've had serious interest from 100 more," says Bernhardt. "Real estate is the best part-time job in the world, and if you want to work full time, it's even better. It has an incredible degree of flexibility, you can work 20 hours one day and two the next, and you're outside the office environment for most of the day and it's only limited by creativity and individual initiative and a lot of people don't think about it until mid-life."

For more information on the Center for Professional Real Estate Studies, contact Bernhardt at 503-699-6250, or email him at realestate@marylhurst.edu.

Instant Insights /

Marylhurst University Launches Bachelor's, Master's Degree Programs in Real Estate

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