VCU School of Business Partners with CCIM Institute

By Tom Gresham

The Real Estate Program at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Business has signed an agreement with the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) Institute to become a partner in the 16,000-member association’s University Alliance Program, which helps students and graduates achieve their real estate career goals.

VCU is one of just 35 schools selected for the University Alliance Program. As participants in the program, the university’s real estate students will have the opportunity to become part of the CCIM network of commercial real estate professionals and take advantage of the technology and business resources available to CCIM.

VCU’s Real Estate Program, which is part of the Department of Finance, Insurance and Real Estate in the VCU School of Business, offers master’s and bachelor’s degrees in real estate. VCU is the only university in the state with a bachelor’s degree in real estate.

The agreement with the CCIM Institute will benefit both the students and graduates of the master’s degree in real estate program and the students and graduates in the VCU School of Business’ master of business administration program.

The CCIM Institute’s University Alliance Program enables graduates of select master’s programs from prestigious institutions of higher learning to become a Certified Commercial Investment Member at an accelerated pace. A CCIM is a recognized expert in commercial real estate who is part of an elite corps of 10,000 professionals in North America. An additional 6,000 practitioners are currently pursuing the designation.

Through the program, qualified candidates may bypass courses in financial analysis, user analysis and investment analysis that typically are required to earn the CCIM designation. Instead, VCU students and graduates will only need to complete a market analysis course and an online ethics course, as well as present a portfolio of qualifying experience and pass a comprehensive examination, to receive CCIM status.

For additional details on the CCIM Institute's University Alliance Program and how students and faculty benefit, visit http://www.ccim.com/about-ccim/our-programs-univer5itv-ailiances.