Student Engagement

Supporting students is critical to Folsom's mission and to the broadening of the DFW real estate market. By fostering growth of students about to enter the industry, we build a network of SMU Cox change-makers.

Student Offerings

The Folsom Institute offers students and alumni networking and personal development opportunities; some of the latest include:

• The Institute’s LINKs (Leadership-Insight-Networking-Knowledge) Board Mentorship Program connected members and students by way of 176 mentoring breakfast, lunch and coffee sessions in the spring semester alone.
• The Folsom Institute offered students, Board members, alumni and industry guests75 engagement and educational events.
• The Institute celebrated its largest annual Real Estate Mock Interview Day,welcoming31 industry coaches that offered a record 68 mock interviews.
• 335 students were introduced to 37 commercial real estate firms at the fall and spring Real Estate Roundtable events.
• In addition to on-campus CRE company introductions, the Institute offered students Dallas and Southern California corporate treks.
• The Institute underwrote 75% of Real Estate Club members’ professional organization fees.
• The Institute offers 20-30 student registration and travel scholarships to the annual ULI Fall Meeting.

Supporting Student Success

A hub of knowledge and center for market-leading research, the Folsom Institute is fostering the next generation of real estate leaders with programming that includes:

• Scholarships and awards: in one recent academic year, students received close to $100,000 in funding.
• Internships and access to full-time employment opportunities
• Hands-on learning: company visits, info sessions and career treks
• Case study competitions and travel subsidies
• Membership dues in key industry organizations
• Travel costs for participation in industry conferences
• Mock interviews and career coaching
• Technical training in industry software: Argus, Tableau and many more
• Unparalleled networking opportunities: board mentorship; executive speaker series; breakfasts and coffees

Connect With Leaders In DFW Real Estate

A core tenet of the Folsom Institute is offering students access to thought leaders and industry titans in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. One of those thought leaders is on faculty at SMU Cox. Mark Roberts, staff at Folsom Institute and the Crow Holding's Director of Research, pushed for graduate and undergraduate courses through the SMU Real Estate Program (a student-run organization that supplements students' learnings alongside the curriculum in the Master of Science in Real Estate), such as the course: Real Estate Analysis and Strategy.

Roberts continues to write and publish white papers on the DFW market. You can view those here.

Outside of the SMU Real Estate Program and graduate and undergraduate coursework, students increase their skills by attending on-campus training in ARGUS, ArcGIS, Tableau, Advanced Market Analysis, CRE Analyst Program, and Adventures in CRE Accelerator Real Estate Financial Modeling.

As well, a community investment was started, having raised $4M of the $10M goal was raised for the first SMU Real Estate Impact Fund. This is due to Folsom's recognition of the importance and growth of the DFW market.