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USC Marshall and USC Price Announce Joint Degree in Real Estate

USC Marshall and USC Price Announce Joint Degree in Real Estate

Undergraduate joint degree will build on the strengths of both schools to create a world-class real estate program.

03.08.23
Color photography of the archway of Fertitta Hall on the campus of USC.
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The USC Marshall School of Business and the USC SOL PRICE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY have announced a new world-class degree, BS Real Estate Finance and Development (REFD), that combines the strengths of Marshall in real estate finance and investment and Price in real estate development and urban planning.

Success in the real estate industry requires both expert financial skill and a keen understanding of planning, land use, and development. This new degree will offer students a deep dive into all these facets of the industry and will feature frequent interactions with experienced real estate professionals, drawing on both schools’ rich expertise and long history in real estate education and industry engagement.

“There is great interest in and enthusiasm about real estate among both Marshall and Price students, and our schools have complementary strengths that the new degree will leverage,” said Marshall Dean GEOFFREY GARRETT. “Students in the new joint degree will benefit from integrated courses, cohort building and industry engagement – all while graduating in four years with one diploma endorsed by two schools.”

The joint degree program will be offered to incoming freshmen in the fall of 2024, with an anticipated initial class size of less than 50 students. Students will enroll in a comprehensive core curriculum from each school, an applied project class, and complete two summer internships.


“The new joint degree is particularly important given our location in Los Angeles. Real estate and Los Angeles are intertwined, and this degree is uniquely USC.”

— Dana Goldman

Dean, Sol Price School of Public Policy and Ione L. Piper Chair

“This collaboration underscores the importance of real estate in advancing our mission and the potential in collaborating with other USC schools to offer a rich educational experience,” said DANA GOLDMAN, Dean of the Price School and C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper Chair. “Together, Price and Marshall will provide students with the skills and experience they need to succeed in an increasingly complex world.”

Marshall and Price have had strong but largely independent undergraduate real estate programs for decades. Marshall has an undergraduate emphasis in real estate finance and a REIT FUND COURSE, where students invest an endowment in publicly traded real estate investment funds. The Price School is the academic home to one of the nation’s leading real estate departments, the WILBUR H. SMITH III DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT, which offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in real estate development and a curriculum that emphasizes market analysis, real estate product types, and urban planning.

By combining the best of both schools, students and the industry will win. This program builds on the success of Marshall and Price’s LUSK CENTER FOR REAL ESTATE, and both schools enjoy close ties to local, regional and national real estate development and investment firms.

“The new joint degree is particularly important given our location in Los Angeles,” Goldman added. “Real estate and Los Angeles are intertwined, and this degree is uniquely USC.”


“Students in the new joint degree will benefit from integrated courses, cohort building and industry engagement – all while graduating in four years with one diploma endorsed by two schools.”

— Geoffrey Garrett

Dean, Marshall School of Business

More on Joint Degrees

This is one of three joint degrees now offered by the Marshall School, including BS BUSINESS OF CINEMATIC ARTS (BCA) with the USC SCHOOL OF CINEMATIC ARTS and BS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR BUSINESS (BUAI) with the USC VITERBI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING.