{"id":32839,"date":"2019-07-16T11:59:12","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T15:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=32839"},"modified":"2019-10-24T09:54:46","modified_gmt":"2019-10-24T13:54:46","slug":"butters-family-scholarship-helps-fiu-real-estate-grads-pay-down-debt-and-start-anew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2019\/07\/butters-family-scholarship-helps-fiu-real-estate-grads-pay-down-debt-and-start-anew\/","title":{"rendered":"Butters family scholarship helps FIU real estate grads pay down debt and start anew."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Butters<\/p>\n

When Jarrod Woodley started his Master of Science in International Real Estate (MSIRE)<\/a> at Florida International University\u2019s College of Business,<\/a> he brought with him a history of failures but a perseverance to turn things around. Ten months later, at the Hollo School of Real Estate program\u2019s graduation dinner on June 30, 2019, he not only earned the Director\u2019s Award and the Leadership Award for online students, but walked away with one of two $12,125 Catherine & Malcolm Butters Real Estate Scholarships to ease his student debt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWow!\u201d Woodley told the crowd of graduates, families and professors gathered at Smith and Wollensky in Miami Beach. \u201cI\u2019m at a loss for words. I walked in here for the free steak, and I\u2019m walking out of here with a whole bunch of loans paid off!\u201d<\/p>\n

He and Andrew Miranda are the latest MSRE graduates to benefit from the scholarship that Butters (MSIRE \u201983), president and co-founder of Coconut Creek-based Butters Construction and Development, established in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is $1.5 trillion in student loan debt, and this is our way of helping the cause somewhat,\u201d said Butters, who also recently signed on to co-chair the Hollo Advisory Board and seed an endowment for a professorship. \u201cThese students aren\u2019t coming out of wealthy families and going to Harvard. They are from real families with day-to-day jobs and professionals who are just trying to go to school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Malcolm
Malcolm Butters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Masters program has given Woodley the tools he needs to be successful. \u201cI\u2019ve failed at everything I\u2019ve done,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I got back on the horse and did it again and again\u2026and I appreciate this program because it taught me something I was missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, as Woodley continues to work as an underwriter for a single-family home asset manager and looks toward transitioning to real estate development, he is free from being weighed down by excessive debt. \u201cIt means a fresh start,\u201d said Woodley, 37. \u201cIt means the world to me!\u201d<\/p>\n

The impact of a \u201clife-changing\u201d scholarship. <\/em><\/p>\n

Indeed, these scholarships are life-changing for its recipients, said Eli Beracha, director of the Hollo School of Real Estate<\/a>. \u201cThe scholarship allows the students to start off with a clean slate and achieve their goals faster without the burden of student loans,\u201d Beracha said.<\/p>\n

Recipient Miranda, 23, has long been conscious of his student loan debt. He attended Florida State University for his undergraduate degree to keep the costs down and, more recently, lived with his parents to save money, commuting on the Metrorail to class and his internship, often working 14 hour days. \u201cBy alleviating my student debt, I can focus on other things,\u201d Miranda said. For starters, he\u2019s hoping to find his ideal job as an analyst with a conventional brokerage firm.<\/p>\n

Adding to the magic of the evening, Butters also was celebrating the graduation of his son Evan, 25, from the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to attend the same program as my dad adds more meaning to the degree,\u201d Evan said.<\/p>\n

His proud dad agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe program has evolved and gotten even better since I went here,\u201d he said. \u201cThe quality of the professors is top-notch, and the number of students has grown tremendously.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a testament to the school, Butters added, that his son secured a job as a financial analyst at Greenstreet Real Estate Partners. Smiling at his daughter Riley, 16, Butters added, \u201cShe\u2019s the next one to come out of the program!\u201d<\/p>\n