Arthur Cox, director of the University of Northern Iowa’s real estate education program, was the guest speaker at the Iowa Commercial Real Estate Association’s monthly breakfast last week.

Cox, an associate professor of finance who became director of the school’s real estate program in 1994, spoke of an estimated 15 percent decrease in enrollment from last year in UNI’s College of Business and the importance of getting students engaged in the real estate industry.

“The number of students has dropped,” Cox said, adding that the real estate education program, which peaked with 210 students pursuing that major in 2007, is down from 194 students in 2008 to about 160 to 170 this year.

Cox said he is surprised by the decline, considering that it usually tends to go up in a down economy with people looking to change careers or bolster their skills in a tough job market.

One reason for the slide in enrollment at the four-year school, he believes, may be the rise of students enrolling in community colleges, such Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) and Kirkwood Community College.

The Business Record reported last month that as of Aug. 19, DMACC had about a 22 percent increase in enrollment compared with the previous year. Kirkwood’s unofficial projection is for a more than 16 percent increase in overall enrollment this semester from last fall, according to Bill Lamb, vice president of instruction.

“That trend looks like it is continuing,” Cox said, adding that it poses a question: Where are these students going after they graduate?

“That’s a little troubling,” he said of the possibility that many community college graduates may not be going on to complete undergraduate work, considering all “the types of skills people need” to succeed in fields such as real estate.

“Our connection to the industry,” Cox said, is what distinguishes UNI’s real estate program from those at other schools, “because the industry is so welcoming to students as interns and employees.”

There is another factor that Cox believes may be adversely affecting enrollment in his program: “The students are hearing the message that there are no jobs” and “real estate is in the tank,” he said.

“We’re trying to send a message that there are still jobs out there and this market is not going to last forever,” he said.