True cost of MSRED (Columbia, MIT) graduate real estate development degree

[TheMiserlyMrCrowley]

There is alot of discussion here regarding graduate real estate development degrees. I am curious as to how one justifies taking on such large amounts of debt to enroll in these one year, non-technical, real estate programs. In the top tier, I understand that you are "buying" a name and becoming a part of powerful networks, but in today's economy the rates are tuff pill to swallow. Take a look:

Ivy League (Columbia, Harvard, etc): 55K-60K in tuition alone
Ivy Plus (MIT, Johns Hokins, etc): 40K-50K in tuition alone
Public Ivy (U of FL, Penn St, Rutgers, etc): 30K in tuition alone
State schools: much less

60K plus living expenses leaves a graduate in debt upwards of possibly 90K after just one year with little chance of a "spectacular" job offer. How is this justified?

Alums and applicants alike, please provide your thoughts here.

[coast]

For me, I have been a commercial broker for the past 5 years. There are no transactions happening right now, so there is no commission. But that is not the reason I am willing to take the debt. I have never wanted to be a commercial broker for the rest of my life. I figured I would always transition into development after working in brokerage for a number of years.
Through my brokerage career I have always wanted to learn about finance, partnership structuring , etc. I figured with school I would get answers to a lot of those questions and improve my marketability to get on with a development firm. The timing couldnt be better to go back to school, but you are right I do worry about a mound of debt and no jobs (if the market is in the same place).
I would love to hear from alumni who have graduated from these MSRE or MSRED programs. Also any links to salary and placement statistics post-grad would be great as well (looked but couldnt find). I am in at JHU and NYU, and havent heard but hopeful about Columbia.

[greenlander]

I am concerned about the tuition. USC is 63k now.

for 1 yr of school where your return is generally not at the same level as a top tier law/ b-school, it is incredibly overpriced.

[Hempdiddy]

The top tier programs surely do seem quite pricey.

[TheMiserlyMrCrowley]

Three posters so far that echo my concerns.

Is there no one here that can actually justify the cost?

If not, I provide that the silence will be quite a damper to this years various successful applicants...

[TallNorske]

http://www.observer.com/2009/real-estate/lehman-babies

Interesting article today in the NY Observer related to the Columbia MSRED.

[TheMiserlyMrCrowley]

WOW. Fantastic article. I highly suggest current MSRED applicants take a long look at the article linked above.

[young_developer]

you guys should check out the MRED facebook group...A LOT of Col grads and newly accepted member...I'm sure they could offer some insights to this topic...

Here's the link....

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/gr...6515&ref=share

[gacounsel]

Cornell is one of the few programs that publishes placement data.
http://realestate.cornell.edu/index....ent_statistics

See also:
http://realestate.cornell.edu/index..../job_placement

Within six months of last year's graduation, Cornell placed about 95% of its graduates.

Cornell, arguably, has the largest and most involved advisory board and alumni base. It assists immensely in getting graduates hired.

Is the program worth the immense tuition, living, and opportunity costs? Who knows? Can you project the long term increase in income due to the program? That's tough. If it helps you get in a position to earn equity in development and investment deals, it probably does. All I know is most Cornell alum get good real estate jobs and continue to help upcoming Cornell students after graduation.