Frequently Asked Questions - Administration Issues

The Real Estate Division has an Admissions Officer who can help you decide on setting up your program in a way that makes the most sense for you. Contact the Real Estate Division Admissions Officer for more information.

This depends on which program, how many courses you have to complete after considering exemptions/transfer credit, and how many courses you wish to complete per term.  The Diploma program is 11 courses – one course per term can take 4 years, while some students complete the requirements in 2 years or less.  The PGCV is 6 courses.  This can be comfortably completed in 2 years, but some students can get it done in 2-3 terms.

Real Estate Division programs are designed for part-time study, and we recommend that students take only one course per term. This would allow a student to complete the 11 course Diploma Program in 4 years. However, there is a provision that allows students to take more than one course at a time provided all prerequisites are satisfied. Students must be sure that they can set aside the extra hours per week to complete their course assignments.

Please visit the "Course Equivalencies and Transcript Review" webpage for information on this. If you would like your past education reviewed for possible transfer credits, you will need to send your official transcripts to our Admissions Officer for evaluation. There is a cost for this service. Courses must be similar in course content and academic rigour to qualify for transfer credit. Students may receive exemption or challenge status for acceptable courses. Courses which are only partially equivalent or are no longer current may be granted a challenge, which means you will have to write and pass an examination to get credit for the course. Also note that the Real Estate Division follows UBC's 50% residency policy, which means that at least one-half of any program of study must be completed through UBC to receive a UBC Diploma or Certificate. Note that work experience will not be taken into consideration in determining transfer credit. For more information on exemption and challenge policies, please contact the Real Estate Division's Admissions Officer.

The decision of how to set up your program of study is an important one, since it will probably affect which career path you take in the real estate industry. The Real Estate Division has an Admissions Officer who can help you decide on setting up your program in a way that makes the most sense for you. Contact the Real Estate Division's Admissions Officer for more information.

The Real Estate Division's Admissions Officer can provide you with information on finding or managing your career in real estate. Some of the resources which may be helpful include:

• the Career Opportunities page on the Real Estate Division's website. Employers add their job postings as they become available, so it is important to check this site on a regular basis!
• the Real Estate Division's Employer Contact List. Employers occasionally call and ask for a list of students who have completed a certain level of education so they can contact the student directly. The Real Estate Division will forward the list of students that meet the educational requirements and have their name on the employer contact list. You can sign up for this contact list at the bottom of your Course Resources webpage. Be sure to add a check mark to this area of your contact form if this service is of interest to you! The Real Estate Division will keep students on this "current" list for a period of one year after you graduate.

Graduates of Real Estate Division programs are currently employed in the real estate industry as brokers, analysts, developers, consultants, mortgage lenders, assessors, and real estate appraisers. You can contact the Real Estate Division Admissions Officer to discuss more details. You may wish to persue the Real Estate Division employment opportunities. You way also wish to contact professional organizations within the real estate field to discuss career options. Some of these include REIBC, AIC, REIC, CREA, IREM, IAAO, IMA, and so on. You can check out the real estate and government organizations to get their web addresses.

Yes! The Diploma Program and AIC courses will count as transfer credit towards the real estate portion of the new degree. Visit the BBRE information page for more details.

Real Estate Division students are not eligible for UBC awards or scholarships. However, there is a wide array of privately donated awards and prizes which are available to Real Estate Division students. These are listed on the Diploma Program in Urban Land Economics Awards webpage, together with a list of the previous year's award recipients. Award recipients will be contacted by mail in November of the next academic year.

UBC’s Financial Support Options webpage outlines a number of potential sources for financial assistance, including scholarships, bursaries, grants, and loans, both within BC and across Canada. The Real Estate Division does not administer any aspect of any financial assistance program and cannot advise students regarding these program requirements. For questions of eligibility, students must contact the issuing organizations directly.

The Real Estate Division's website is registered as a Thawte Authentic Site. This registration guarantees that the Real Estate Division is a company in good standing, and that data exchanged via its site is secure and encrypted when your internet browser establishes a secure connection with the site. To confirm a secure connection, look at the bottom bar on your browser; you should see an unbroken key or closed lock when you are on the Real Estate Division's online registration page. These icons confirm that you have a secure connection. We use the highest level of internet security currently available and there is virtually no possibility of anyone else intercepting your personal information. 

For more information about security, you can click on the security information in your browser (in Netscape this would be the Security icon in the toolbar at the top of your screen; in Explorer, click on File - Properties - Certificates, and in Firefox click on Tools - Page Info - Security).

To be eligible to register for a credit course (designated with a "BUSI" prefix) with the Real Estate Division you must first be formally admitted to a specific program. Examples of programs include the Diploma Program in Urban Land Economics, Certificate Program in Real Property Assessment, and the Appraisal Institute of Canada Education Program. The program admission fee is $75 and is paid at the time you apply for admission. You can find the registration form on the Admission and Registration for Credit Programs and Professional Development Courses webpage. It can be submitted online. The $75 program admission fee covers the cost of the UBC Registrar establishing you as a student at UBC and issuing you a UBC student number.

UBC admittance requires proof of English competency, which can be accomplished by one of the options specified on this page. Most students complete this requirement by proof of grade 12 completion (or its equivalent) at an English-speaking secondary school or by graduation from a degree program at an English-speaking university. Transcripts must be original and official -- contact the educational institution and have them submit transcripts directly to the UBC Real Estate Division. Students without grade 12 completion can apply under mature student status, which requires submission of school transcripts plus a letter of intent, a resume outlining additional education, work experience, etc. Applicants for the Post-Graduate Certificate in Real Property Valuation (PGCV) must submit appropriate post-secondary transcripts -- see the PGCV webpage for details.

Exemption or transfer credits are available from the Real Estate Division for courses which are essentially similar in content and rigour to other courses for which you have previously received post-secondary credit. To receive exemption or transfer credits for Real Estate Division courses, students must complete a Transcript Review Form. Please see the Course Equivalencies and Transcript Reviews webpage for more information on obtaining exemption and transfer credits. Note that credit is awarded only for formal post-secondary studies. Work experience or training cannot be used as the basis for course exemptions or transfer credit at UBC.

The Real Estate Division specifies an early registration deadline and a regular registration deadline.

Registrations beyond the regular registration deadline may be accepted only at the discretion of the Admissions Officer. Under no circumstances will registrations be accepted beyond the 'partial refund' deadline (fourth assignment due date in most courses). Late registrants are given no leniency on due dates or course requirements, including late fees. This is for equity reasons; it would not be fair to the other students in the course to allow late registrants preferential treatment.

To find out more about tuition costs, please visit our Tuition and additional fees page. 

The Real Estate Division is divided into several different groups and has staff who specialize in specific areas. While any Real Estate Division staff member you talk to will do their best to help you, it is probably simplest for you if you can immediately talk to the "right person". Below is a list of problem areas, and who you should ask to talk to:

• help with course content -- ask to speak to a Tutor (either "law" or "non-law"), see your Course Workbook or your Course Resources webpage for tutor contact details
• concerns/compliments on course content -- ask to speak to a Course Specialist (either "law" or "non-law")
• help with administrative issues, such as course registration, assignment processing, exam registration -- ask to speak to a Course Representative or Exams Coordinator (specify which course you're in)
• concerns/compliments on administrative issues -- ask to speak to a Manager/Assistant Manager (specify which course you're in)
• help with course planning, exemptions, etc -- ask to speak to the Admissions Officer
• advocacy issues -- the Admissions Officer is empowered to act as a student advocate or impartial representative in problem situations.

In general, if you registered prior to the deadline, you should expect your materials within 3 weeks of the registration deadline. If you registered prior to the late registration deadline, you should expect your materials within 3 weeks of this late registration deadline. If you have not received your materials within 4 weeks of the applicable deadline, please contact us, as administrative or delivery issues do sometimes occur.

Computer access is mandatory for Real Estate Division courses. Multiple choice assignments are submitted online and projects are generally expected to be submitted by email. Web resources are an integral part of the courses. There are supplemental online resources, such as additional readings, answers to review questions, and other helpful resources. There is an online discussion forum that is provided to discuss course concepts with fellow students. There are online contact lists and email is the main communication medium between tutors and students.

Acrobat Reader allows you to view PDF (Portable Document Format) files, where a document can be viewed online regardless of what program it was created in. You can download Adobe Acrobat Reader to view a PDF file. Be sure to follow the download instructions on their website for optimal viewing of PDF files.

The following are several possible reasons you may be having difficulty:

1. Ensure that your web browser is set to accept "cookies". To edit this in Internet Explorer, select Tools...Internet Options...Security. It should be set to Medium.
2. Our website works with Internet Explorer Version 6 or higher, Firefox Version 2 or higher, and Netscape Version 6 or higher. However, we strongly recommend updating your browser to the latest version of the software as this can speed up your browsing and minimize any potential access issues to features such as Live Classroom or Webinars.
3. If you are continually receiving an error page when attempting to login, try pressing the "Refresh" button. Sometimes your browser is re-using a cached page, and this will clear the problem.
4. If you owe fees or if the Real Estate Division is awaiting your transcript, you may receive an error message on certain pages on our site. You should still be able to access your Course Resources webpage and all other web features, except for Course History, which you can only access once your fees are paid or transcript is received.

Please see the Webinar FAQs for answers to these and other questions regarding the Real Estate Division's Online Classroom offerings;

The best source of information for information on the appraising profession will be your provincial association of the Appraisal Institute of Canada. They can provide you with what is called a "professional profile" explaining this profession and will be able to give you career information specific to your province. You can also find informative videos describing what it's like to work in the appraisal field on the AIC website.

Most students will have already met the AIC Pre-Core requirement of completing courses in microeconomics (BUSI 100) and macroeconomics (BUSI 101). If not, you may wish to start there, as studying economics gives a strong foundation for real estate appraisal. However, students are allowed to take courses in any order they wish. For example, some students will choose to complete BUSI 330 first so that they can join AIC as a Candidate member.

To begin working as appraiser, you need to have a candidate membership with the Appraisal Institute of Canada. To attain candidate membership, individuals must successfully complete UBC's BUSI 330 (or equivalent), plus the Appraisal Institute of Canada's AIC 101 - Introduction to the Appraisal Profession and Introduction to Professional Practice courses. More information on becoming an appraiser.

General information on the AIC 101 - Introduction to the Appraisal Profession course can be found on AIC's website. The course is offered online via webinar. If you have any questions regarding the AIC 101 - Introduction to the Appraisal Profession course, you can email AIC directly at info@aicanada.ca.

To find out what you need to do to reinstate your membership, please contact your provincial association of the AIC.

If you enroll in the regular course, you are required to successfully complete all course requirements including the final examination. The regular course offering is a credit course and your final status will be reflected on your UBC transcript. If you enroll in a course for CPD credits, you are only required to successfully complete the assignment portion of the course and are not required to complete the final examination. You will receive a letter from UBC confirming that you have successfully finished the required assignments. This course will not show on your UBC transcript.

UBC courses are worth 12 CPD credits. To find out more about CPD credits necessary, please contact your provincial association of AIC.

If you were a member of AIC and were enrolled in their program before it changed to the "BUSI" course stream, you may be completing the prior education stream and are not responsible for completing the new program requirements. Please contact your provincial association of AIC if you are unsure of your status. Review the AIC Program Prior to 2016 webpage.

In the AIC Core, all students have the choice of BUSI 433 Real Estate Business or BUSI 443 Real Property Assessment. The 433 course is aimed at people who want to own and manage their own business in real estate; the 443 course is aimed at people who are interested in working in the property tax assessment field. In the CRA Program, students can choose between BUSI 121 Real Estate Math or BUSI 344 Computer and Statistical Applications in Valuation. The 121 course covers financial analysis in detail, plus some basic statistics; the 344 course looks in depth at how statistics can be used in both single property appraisal and mass appraisal. Both are useful for CRAs, the preferred course depends on the area of career interest; e.g., more advanced and complex investment scenarios or more effectively working with data. (Note that both courses are required for the AACI designation)

You must hold a degree from an accredited university in order to attain use of the CRA or AACI designations. However, this is an exit requirement, not an entrance requirement for candidacy and the degree may be completed during the period of candidacy. You will need to provide AIC with your undergraduate degree transcripts before you are awarded your designation.

AIC has decided that the future of the appraisal industry is best represented by people with university education. Graduating from an undergraduate degree program demonstrates abilities in writing and research, and meeting the rigorous commitment of a minimum of four years of full-time studies shows perseverance and dedication. AIC felt that these are all contributors to the advancement of appraisal as a professional career. For more information on AIC's degree requirement, you may wish to contact AIC directly at info@aicanada.ca. If you have a business degree, you should investigate the Post-Graduate Certificate Program in Real Property Valuation.

The Real Estate Division at UBC offers an undergraduate degree by distance education called the Bachelor of Business in Real Estate. When you have completed all course requirements toward the AACI, you may have completed almost half of the credits required for the BBRE. See this page for a description of degree completion opportunities related to AIC studies.

Yes. A list of equivalent courses for your province is listed on our website under course equivalency matrices. This will tell you the institution's course number that is acceptable. After you have successfully completed that course, you need to provide UBC with your official transcript and applicable exemption fee to get this posted to your file.

The Real Estate Division recommends that initially you enroll in only one course per term. If, after that course, you feel you are able to increase your study load, you may enroll in up to 3 courses per term.

Accelerated or "intensive" versions of some courses may be available through your provincial association of the Appraisal Institute.

Yes! As you work your way through the AACI education program, you will complete course requirements for the Certificate in Residential Valuation, the Certificate Program in Real Property Assessment, and the Diploma Program in Urban Land Economics. As you successfully complete the course requirements for both these programs, you will receive their credentials.

Once you have completed your education requirements, you will need to show proof to the AIC provincial office that you have completed the education program. Students can provide a printout of their "Course History" or grade letters from their courses. In rare cases, AIC may require submission of official transcripts. The provincial office will discuss with you any remaining designation requirements.

Please see the AIC Applied Experience exam webpage (link for AIC members only) for more information on this requirement.  You may also visit the Real Estate Division's webpage for information on registering for this exam.

In order to graduate from the Diploma, Certificate, or BBRE program, you must complete and submit an application for graduation. This application will outline the requirements for graduation in the appropriate program and provide a worksheet for you to fill in and submit. Once we have confirmed you are eligible for graduation, you may either attend UBC Convocation to receive your Diploma or BBRE, or your Diploma, Certificate, or BBRE can be mailed to you. You are required to apply for graduation whether or not you plan to attend the convocation ceremony. UBC Real Estate Division students who are enrolled in their final course in the PGCV, DULE, and BBRE programs will be emailed instructions on how to apply online for graduation. Students wishing to graduate in the November convocation must apply online in August. Those wishing to graduate in the May convocation must apply mid-February. UBC's online graduate application is found here: http://students.ubc.ca/enrolment/graduation/applying-graduate.

Students finishing the Diploma program may attend the UBC convocation ceremonies in November or May to receive their diplomas from the Dean of the Sauder School of Business. These ceremonies are held in UBC's Chan Centre. Information with regards to the graduation ceremonies (i.e., registration details, time, and regalia rental) will be forwarded in February and August. The ceremonies are generally about 1.5 hours in length. If you are unable to attend the ceremony, your diploma or certificate will be mailed to you.

To order a course record (transcript), you can contact the Real Estate Division by telephone, fax, or email. The cost of obtaining your course record is $4, plus GST, for the first copy and $2 for each additional copy ordered at the same time.

While only registered UBC Students can view the Course Resources webpages, past students may view their Course History online. 

• Visit Student Login
• Enter your 7-digit Real Estate Division student number and your birthdate, click Login
• You will then be presented with a number of links, including Course History.