Real Estate "Degree"?

[Damon Armstrong]

Hello everyone. Going to get right to the point here...

I'm 17 years old, will be a senior in highschool this year, and college is creeping up fast. There's no doubt REI is the path I am taking and several seasoned investors told me a college degree isn't exactly necessary. I know college is good but seems irrelevant. I'm going to get my brokers license once I turn 18. My parents demand (won't take no for an answer, I've tried) that I go to college. My parents don't have the money to put me through college, so I have to pay my own way using whatever J-O-B *tear* that I have. I was planning on using that money to get deeper into REI instead of using it for college. So my question is, is there any "degree" for real estate? Is there any classes I can take to recieve a legit diploma along the lines of real estate? I'm not talking about just classes, courses, guru classes, I'm talking about a legit college completion certificate. If not, what would be my best course of study? What should I major in? Etc...Any advice would be VERY helpful. Thank you.

[Rick H.]

Damon - One aspect that you really can't plan in are your personal growth and maturing during your late teens and early twenties. At 19 I saw the bright light and changed college majors from pre-med to business. After a twenty minute conversation with an acquaintance helped reveal to me my true calling I changed majors and never looked back. 

An accounting professor became a close friend and guided me towards real estate. He owned several blocks of apartments near campus and did not need to teach. 

At 21 my Dad died, during my fourth year of school. It was at this point that i knew i had to do a lot of growing up...in a hurry. 

I had been buying and selling sports cars as a side income when my godfather suggested I take a weekend seminar on how to buy foreclosures. Much like fixing up cars, he said. 

I got the "bug" and it has been part of my DNA ever since. That was 1978.