Biz school launches real estate major

You wouldn't think college students would be too excited about studying real estate after witnessing the industry's woes in recent years.

But when Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers quietly started offering a minor concentration in real estate at the Lutgert College of Business a little over a year ago, about 24 students signed up.

Granted, that's a small fraction of the 2,600 undergraduate students at the business school today. But it's an encouraging sign that anyone would consider a concentration in real estate after the devastation in that field.

Emboldened by the response, Shelton Weeks, the Lucas Professor of Real Estate at the college of business, says FGCU plans to offer a major in the field for undergraduate students starting in 2012. He's seeking input from Gulf Coast industry executives to design courses that will lead to jobs in the region.

Fact is, many Florida universities offer masters-level real estate programs but few have undergraduate offerings. “The place for us to deliver the greatest value is undergraduate education,” says Weeks.

If Weeks' timing of a Florida real estate recovery is right, student demand could grow from the estimated 100 real estate majors the business school hopes to have in five or six years.