At the Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate & Construction Management, one’s education doesn’t stop with a degree and a handshake.
The school also supports students and working professionals looking to advance their careers by earning professional certifications or graduate certificates, both before and after graduation.
Although these two types of certifications/certificates sound similar, they’re not. However, both provide valuable educational support and professional credentials beyond earning a degree.
Professional Certifications
Burns School students can earn credit toward a host of real estate and construction industry certifications issued by professional organizations. These certifications offer a designation—akin to CPA for accountants—which professionals typically use after their name as a recognized demonstration of their competence and expertise.
For example, the CCIM Institute, a leading organization for commercial real estate professionals, offers the Certified Commercial Investment Member, or CCIM, designation.
Such designations are typically earned through a combination of coursework and professional experience. Applicants are also required to pass a rigorous full- or half-day exam, which verifies a baseline of foundational and applied knowledge. Proof of continuing education is typically required annually to maintain the designation.
Vivek Sah
Burns School students can earn credit toward several professional designations through their coursework. When an individual begins a certification process, the professional association may waive certain requirements based on the real estate or construction management courses taken.
“The Burns Schools has developed very strong relationships with several professional organizations—including CCIM and the Appraisal Institute, among others,” said Vivek Sah, director of the Burns School. “These organizations have reviewed and endorsed our courses, which facilitates waiving certain requirements for our graduates when they apply for certification. The cost and time saving for graduates can be considerable.”
Jake Hallauer took and passed his CCIM exam within six months of graduating from the Burns School with his MS, Real Estate & Construction Management degree in 2012.
“CCIM waived three of their four required courses based on the classes I took while I was in the Burns School,” said Hallauer, president/principal of NAI Affinity, a commercial real estate brokerage firm in Fort Collins, CO. “Before sitting for the exam, I had to take one additional course in decision analysis and document my portfolio of qualifying experience, which I had assembled since joining Affinity after earning my undergraduate degree. The Burns curriculum and their relationship with CCIM allowed me to earn a prestigious designation at a young age, in addition to saving me a lot of additional time and expense.”
Graduate Certificates
Graduate certificates are awarded by the Burns Schools for a series of courses completed in a specific area, such as real estate development or construction project management. Certificates are designed for working professionals who want to expand their industry knowledge or shift industries without undertaking a full master’s program.
Most graduate certificates are offered in either a four-course (16-credit) or an advanced six-course (24-credit) module, depending on a student’s desired level of study, in the following areas:
- Real Estate Development
- Real Estate Finance & Investments
- Construction Project Management
“Supporting professional designations and offering graduate certificates has become an increasingly important piece of proving our value as a university,” said Sah. “The low unemployment rate certainly favors workers, but competition for good jobs has only intensified. Professional designations and certificates provide candidates a way to set themselves apart and add value to an organization.
“They also benefit employers because they get better-educated and more-qualified employees who don’t need as much training,” he added. “We want to make our students ready to go on day one of a new job where an employer is not spending time and money to get them job ready.”