The Affordable Housing Certificate program consists of eight course modules that can be completed in eight months. Coursework will be offered primarily online, but participants will be required to attend two in-person, weekend-long residencies. Those two intensive modules are the Orientation Workshop at the beginning of the program and the Capstone Project at the end.
Course Modules
Orientation Workshop
Overview of Affordable Housing
Housing Policy
Federal, State, & Local Approaches
Legal & Regulatory Context
Land Use, Planning, Zoning, & Entitlement
Social Dimensions of Affordable Housing
Affordable Housing & Project Finance
Construction Management, Design, & Innovations in Affordable Housing
Development & Management of Affordable Housing
Capstone Project
The Practicum
Key Topics Covered
Housing market fundamentals and the current housing crisis
Types of affordable housing
The role of planning and zoning in affordable housing development
Permitting and entitlement processes
The social, economic, and environmental impact of affordable housing
Barriers and challenges to project development
Project funding sources, tools, and emerging trends
Project finance structures
Pro forma development
Construction management and design best practices
New construction and design technologies
Affordable housing project development — strategies and schedules
Introduction to affordable housing management and operations
Program Timeline
The program begins in late September with an in-person, intensive Orientation Workshop to be held on DU's campus over the course of a single weekend — a half-day on Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday.
Subsequent course modules will be offered online, on Wednesdays from 6–8 p.m. Each module will last between three and five weeks. Participants can expect a total time commitment of three to four hours per week — two hours of live online classes and one to two hours of independent learning.
The program concludes in early June with a Capstone Project. Like the Orientation Workshop, the Capstone Project will be conducted in person on the DU campus over one weekend — a half-day on Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday.
Important Dates
Program registration and applications open: June 3, 2024
Deadline to apply: July 31, 2024
Acceptance notifications sent by: August 9, 2024
Program start-date: September 20–22, 2024
Course Schedule
Download a printable PDF of the Affordable Housing Course Schedule.
Meet our faculty members from the Burns School of Real Estate, the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute, and elsewhere at DU, who collaborated to develop and administer the DU Executive Certificate in Affordable Housing program.
Find information on enrolling in the DU Executive Certificate in Affordable Housing program, including associated costs and fees, scholarship opportunities, attendance requirements, and the application process.