MSU Denver launches affordable housing management program

The program, which welcomed its first students during the 2025 spring semester, will train current and future professionals in the complexities of affordable housing financing, development and property management. Students also will learn about how the private and public sector can work together on affordable housing initiatives.

Funded by a seven-figure donation from FHLBank Topeka, the Affordable Housing Institute (AHI) will offer an 18-credit program culminating in an Affordable Housing Management Certificate. To earn the certificate, students must complete courses in social work as well as business and finance.

The program is part of the Department of Finance within the College of Business and will have input and support from an industry advisory committee.

MSU Denver President Janine Davidson told a standing-room only crowd gathered at an event celebrating the launch of the institute that since she joined the university in 2017, housing prices have skyrocketed 60%.

“This housing crisis in our country is personal here in Denver, and it affects our Road Runners,” Davidson said, referring to MSU. ” … This university was built in the 1970s, right here in downtown, to serve the so-called underserved. But those students now struggle to even live in this neighborhood — they’ve been sort of gentrified out — and more than a third of our students travel over 40 minutes to get to campus now.

The goal of the program is not only to provide housing, but also to give MSU graduates well-paid jobs that enable them to make a difference in their community, Davidson said.

Jeffrey Kuzbel, FHLBank Topeka president and CEO, said that since 1990, the bank has dedicated 10% of its income to support affordable housing development initiatives. It’s spend more than $248 million, helping to develop 48,000 homes.

FHLBank Topeka recently added new programs like Home Ownership Possibilities Expanded (HOPE) “to provide down payment and closing cost assistance to help homeowners in the missing middle of income to afford a home,” Kuzbel said.

“The partnership with MSU Denver is another way of putting our commitment to expanding access to affordable housing to work. We see the need for experts in the affordable housing field.”

The initiative comes as Denver grapples with soaring housing costs. About 115,000 Denver households are paying more than 30% of their income for housing, according to city data. The number of families experiencing homelessness reached 3,136 last year — an increase of more than 1,000 from 2023, according to the Metro Denver Homelessness Initiative’s annual Point in Time Survey in last Aug. 14.

The AHI represents a new approach for FHLBank Topeka, which usually supports affordable housing projects directly but now wants to cultivate expertise in the field.

The Affordable Housing Institute joins other recent MSU Denver expansions, including a new health institute and related facilities.

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