MRE Degree Requirements

The one-year, three-term Master in Real Estate (MRE) degree program teaches students the foundational knowledge, technical skills, and methods of thinking required for investing in, developing, owning, and managing real estate and for carrying out real estate that advances beneficial spatial, social, and environmental outcomes.

For nine on-campus months from late August to the end of May, students take a mixture of required and elective courses, including a development project course that simulates the multidisciplinary, holistic, collaborative, and transactional environment in which real estate projects are successfully created. The two-month off-campus summer term Practicum places students in a cooperating private for-profit, private not-for-profit, or public real estate organization to participate in the realization of socially and environmentally beneficial projects. Students subsequently return to the GSD for several days to complete a paper and reflect on their Practicum experience through presentations and discussions. All MRE students have a faculty advisor to guide them on curricular and extracurricular matters throughout their time at Harvard.

The following plan describes the curricular requirements for the MRE degree. Students are required to take 60 units of courses to graduate. Fall term is 20 units, spring term is 24 units, and summer term is 16 units. A typical course in the MRE program counts as four units.

For detailed course information, refer to the MRE Curriculum page.

• 0 units ADV 9850 Master in Real Estate Practicum Prep
• 4 units SES 5204 Real Estate Finance, Development, and Management
• 4 units SES 5249 Design for Real Estate
• 4 units SES 5250 Real Estate, Society, Environment
• 4 units SES 5495 Urban Economics and Market Analysis
• 4 units satisfying general electives

• 4 units SES 5253 Project Management, Construction Management, New Technologies

• 0 units ADV 9850 Master in Real Estate Practicum Prep
• 4 units SES 5103 Public and Private Development
• 4 units SES 5205 Advanced Real Estate Finance, Development, and Management
• 4 units SES 5251 The Development Project
• 4 units SES 5252 Real Estate Law
• 4 units satisfying general electives

• 12 units ADV 9851 Practicum
• 2 units SES 5254 Negotiation (May)
• 2 units SES 5255 Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Ethics (May)

Interested in the MRE program?

For general inquiries about the Master in Real Estate program, please email [email protected] or call 617-495-6120, Monday-Friday 9:00AM-5:00 PM ET.  If you would like to be entered in our database and receive future mailings, please fill out the Contact Form.