VSB Launches New Real Estate Major
Villanova, Pa., August 29, 2019 – As a testament to the continued growth of student interest and career opportunities in real estate the Villanova School of Business (VSB), will now offer a major in Real Estate beginning with the class of 2021.
“After many years of offering Real Estate as a minor and a co-major, launching the major reflects VSB’s growing commitment to becoming a leader in real estate education,” said Shawn Howton, PhD, Professor, Finance & Real Estate and Faculty Director, The Daniel M. DiLella Center for Real Estate.
He continued, “Having a high-quality Real Estate major will be a differentiating factor in attracting students to VSB and is something some of our aspirant schools do not offer or offer in a limited capacity. We believe the core values of Villanova University and VSB combined with the resources available through the DiLella Center for Real Estate allow us to deliver an unparalleled educational experience.”
Further supporting this growing field of study, VSB’s Department of Finance has formally changed its name to the Department of Finance and Real Estate. “This name change is significant as it allows Real Estate majors and minors to identify with an academic department that they can now call ‘home’,” said Shelly Howton, PhD, Professor and Chair, Finance and Real Estate. “The new major also allows for more cross-disciplinary integration where business, engineering and environmental sciences students can work together, which positions VSB to be recognized as a global leader in real estate education.”
The major’s new curriculum is both applied and experiential, and was shaped by a task force that included academics, industry experts and the DiLella Center Advisory Council. Award-winning faculty will utilize innovative, hands on teaching methods to develop future real estate leaders within the Augustinian tradition to become responsible change agents who can positively impact communities by solving real world problems through the built environment.
Students in the class of 2021 and 2022 will be given the option of completing the current co-major or the new major. Beginning with the class of 2023, only the major and minor will be available.
The Villanova School of Business (VSB) undergraduate program is ranked #1 in the nation by Bloomberg Businessweek and its online graduate business programs are ranked #2, and its online MBA program is ranked #13 by U.S. News and World Report. VSB has been at the forefront of business education since it was founded in 1922. Serving over 2,700 undergraduate and graduate students, VSB is home to five Centers of Excellence – the Daniel M. DiLella Center for Real Estate, the Elenore and Robert F. Moran Sr. Center for Global Leadership, the Center for Business Analytics, the Center for Marketing & Consumer Insights and the Center for Church Management – with each designed to foster innovative, cross-disciplinary research and applied opportunities for students. VSB is known for academic rigor; creativity and innovation; hands-on and service learning opportunities; a firm grounding in ethics; and an applied education that prepares students to become outstanding leaders and global citizens within the ever-changing, complex, and fast-paced world of business. For more, visit business.villanova.edu.