Our real estate series in partnership with the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate for those who want to expand and gain essential skills in financing, developing, managing, and selling commercial real estate projects, and explore the legal, entitlement, and environmental aspects as well as other important elements of development and project management.
The Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate provides course offerings to real estate professionals at all levels of career development through various academic and extracurricular programs. Our world-class faculty coupled with our extensive network of industry contacts provide students with a one-of-a-kind, personalized educational experience that positions them for successful careers in real estate. Learn more about the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate or visit Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate’s Information Kit, here.
Review current trends, as well as, review major environmental issues confronting land use development and offer proactive site planning and design techniques to minimize environmental impact and promote sustainability.
Once you have enrolled in your course, log in to your account to access the course Welcome Letter, to review important course details. This course will be meeting via Zoom, meeting information and additional resources will be shared within USD’s Learning Management System two days prior to the course start date.
The Real Estate Certificate program is no longer accepting new students.
Current students may continue progressing toward completion and will be able to enroll in remaining required courses through 2026. All available classes can be found and registered for on our website.
Learn to recognize the policy documents, zoning regulations, and environmental studies that may affect your project budgets and timelines.
This course is aimed at providing students with a foundation for understanding market analysis in real estate, reviewing highest and best uses for a given site and a longer-term planning vision for a market site.
This course will give the student a working knowledge of the types of income properties with emphasis on underwriting the cash flows from each of the four main property types.
Students will prepare financial models and analysis to determine the overall profitability and feasibility, and to identify the risk attributes that can affect the investment.
Explore the commercial real estate development process, and learn from San Diego’s premier practitioners.
This course will provide a basis for understanding the strategies, key concepts and practices around the management of real estate assets.
This 4 week course will help you develop the skills and knowledge to review narrative appraisal reports, and determine the highest and best use of real estate.
Courses offer a convenient, yet rigorous style of learning that allows you to structure your education to suit your schedule while keeping you on pace toward achieving your educational.
Online fixed-date courses are delivered virtually but follow a predetermined schedule, requiring students to complete assignments, participate in discussions, and take assessments by specific deadlines—much like a traditional classroom. The key difference is that while traditional courses are conducted in person at set times and locations, online fixed-date courses allow students to engage remotely, offering more flexibility in where they learn while preserving structure and accountability through fixed timelines. (Note: Any scheduled Zoom sessions will be outlined on the class schedule.) These courses have fixed start and finish dates, but as an online student you will have 24/7 online access to your classroom assignments, syllabus and course resources. Instructor feedback is shared along with the graded assignments.
How is the learning structured? Each online fixed-date course is asynchronous, meaning that you can work on your assignments anytime, although you are required to complete the assignments by specific dates. The course is designed with learning modules where all of the content is grouped into weekly assignments. Each module covers one or more topics. Within each of the learning modules, you can expect the following components:
• Module introduction that outlines what you can expect to learn in the module.
• Required readings (textbook, articles, journals, etc.) and presentations (audio and/or video).
• Assignments with due dates (which may include: written assignments, journal entries, research, blogs, etc.) based on the readings and presentations.
• Discussion forum where you answer prompts from the instructor and interact with your classmates.
• Module conclusion to review the topics and what you should have learned.
Typically, there is a final project, paper, or exam due in the last module that culminates all of the topics covered in each of the learning modules. You’ll find that the design of the learning modules has a rhythm to help you manage your time in the course.
There are many different types of companies in real estate. The key is to match your skill set with the opportunity — some people will thrive at a brokerage while others are better suited working as analysts for a larger real estate firm.
The USD Real Estate series is intended to supplement your real-life experience in the field with additional technical training in subjects such as financing, development, asset management, income analysis and more. With a deeper knowledge of varying aspects of real estate, you can apply these new skills to succeed in any real estate career field.
Whether you are an established entrepreneur or work for a well-known company, the real estate industry is a robust field that offers excellent career opportunities in a variety of sectors. Some of the benefits you can expect from the University of San Diego include:
Stath Karras: Stath Karras is the Executive Director of the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate (BMC) at the University of San Diego School of Business. Karras has decades of experience in many real estate industry roles, including serving as Executive Managing Director at Cushman & Wakefield, where he was involved in executive management, business development, receiverships and operations throughout the Southern California region. Karras was also president and chief executive officer at Burnham Real Estate Services. Outside of work, he served as chairman for the San Diego Regional EDC, chairman of CONNECT and co-chair of LEAD San Diego, and currently serves on the board of HG Fenton and as an advisor to multiple companies.
Scott Peterson: Scott Peterson is the Executive Vice President of CBRE Capital Markets, where he has successfully originated, underwritten and closed commercial mortgage debt and equity for all property types across the country. His areas of expertise include payment debt financing, joint venture equity, bridge loans, mezzanine debt and structured financing. Outside of work, Peterson is involved with NAIOP, Mortgage Bankers Association, Century Club of San Diego and other professional organizations in California and the U.S.
Justin Glasser: Justin Glasser is an Executive Managing Director and National Lead for Business Growth and Transformation within Valuation & Advisory (V&A) at Cushman & Wakefield. His areas of expertise include supporting all initiatives driving revenue growth, strategic planning and operational efficiencies for V&A in the Americas. His prior roles include Co-Practice Lead for Financial & Tax Reporting and National Business Development Lead. He has over 15 years of valuation experience and over 18 years of direct real estate experience.
Requirements for completing a certificate can be found on the certificate page.
Professional and Continuing Education courses that are transferrable to a USD master degree will be stated on the course or certificate page. If you wish to transfer credit, it is your responsibility to confer with the receiving institution before enrolling, as each individual academic institution decides whether or not to accept USD Professional and Continuing Education credit.
You have five years to complete the certificate.
Click here for complete details regarding our refund, drop and transfer policies
Prospective students can request to be placed on a waitlist. Should a space open up in a course, those on the waitlist will be notified. We encourage you to register early for courses.
The Professional and Continuing Education program nurtures key partnerships on the local, national, and international level. The goal is to better serve working professionals who seek to enhance or build their careers and help achieve their highest value and potential. Contact us today to learn more.
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