Risk Management
The Penn State Smeal College of Business Risk Management Department offers educational opportunities for students interested in exploring risk analysis in a variety of business environments, as well as faculty research and expertise in a wide range of topics.
Degree Programs
The Risk Management Department offers three undergraduate majors: Actuarial Science, Real Estate, and Risk Management.
The Actuarial Science major stresses the application of mathematical and statistical concepts to the measurement of life and other risk contingencies, while at the same time giving students a broad understanding of the business environment.
The Real Estate major features an innovative curriculum that allows students to tailor their coursework toward areas of greatest interest. Courses cover topics in real estate finance, law, investment valuation, appraisal processes, urban and regional economics, property development, and project management.
The Risk Management major teaches students to conceptualize decisions involving risk, analyze options, estimate risk, and communicate their analysis to others. Students will explore liability risks, operational risks, employment practices risk, financial risks, and political risks, spanning a wide array of disciplines such as finance, business law, and strategic risk management.
The Department also offers one of the two most popular minors at the College, the Legal Environment of Business (LEBUS) minor, as well as The Real Estate Analysis & Development (READ) Certificate.
For graduate studies, there are opportunities to explore risk and decisions are available through the one-year residential Master's in Real Estate Analysis & Development, the full-time Smeal MBA Program and Executive MBA in Philadelphia. The Smeal Ph.D. Program also offers an emphasis in Real Estate.
Faculty and Research
The research and disciplinary focus of the department is on risk assessment, mitigation, and management, connecting disciplines such as actuarial science, business law, decision analysis, insurance, international business, and real estate. Our expert faculty members teach in all of these areas enabling students to be exposed to a variety of approaches and disciplines as they prepare for careers in many private and public sector fields.
The department also works closely with the Borrelli Institute for Real Estate Studies to promote education, scholarship, and outreach in the area of real estate. The Institute serves as a vital conduit for leading edge research and serves as the physical presence for real estate education at Penn State.