Comparison · 13 material differences
CCIM Institute vs Urban Land Institute
This comparison was generated on request from the records. It carries no editorial verdict and is not indexed. The published comparisons are listed on the compare page.
Read down each column for one organization, across a row for the difference. A bronze mark at the left of a cell means the organizations differ on that row. A dash or “not published” means the organization does not disclose the fact — it is not a zero.
What the records say
- Maximum age at joining — CCIM Institute: No published maximum age at joining; Urban Land Institute: Under 35 qualifies for a reduced dues rate.
- Industry restriction — CCIM Institute: Candidate membership is open to commercial real estate practitioners; no prior designation or advanced degree is required; Urban Land Institute: Open to professionals across the real estate and land use industry.
- Annual dues — CCIM Institute: $695 a year; Urban Land Institute: $1,332 a year.
Side by side
| CCIM Institute | Urban Land Institute | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Professional association | Professional association |
| Founded | 1967 (CCIM's own designation page states "Since 1967, more than 20,000 professionals have completed the CCIM Designation program"; its homepage says the Institute has operated for more than 56 years.) | 1936 (Founded 14 December 1936; the Urban Land Institute name was adopted in 1939 per Wikipedia's history of the organisation.) |
| Headquarters | Chicago, United States | Washington, United States |
| Geographic footprint | Members in more than 30 countries; chapters across the United States plus Canada, Puerto Rico, Japan, Korea and Taiwan | Members in 80+ countries; district councils across the United States, Canada and Mexico, with separate ULI Europe and ULI Asia Pacific regions |
| Members | 13,000as of September 2026 | 45,000as of August 2026 |
| Chapters | 59 | 57 |
| Primary audience | Commercial real estate practitioners — brokers, investors, asset managers, lenders, appraisers and developers — pursuing or holding the CCIM designation | Professionals across the land use and real estate industry — developers, investors, lenders, architects, planners, public officials and academics |
| Typical member | Members are working commercial real estate practitioners rather than a wealth or seniority cohort. Candidate members are practitioners studying for the designation; designees have completed the curriculum, submitted a portfolio of qualifying experience and passed a comprehensive exam. | ULI's own materials describe a cross-disciplinary membership of developers, investors, designers, builders, buyers, sellers, urban planners and public officials. Wikipedia's breakdown of the membership puts developers at 28 percent, capital sources at 13 percent, service providers at 10 percent and the public sector at 10 percent. |
| Qualification | ||
| Maximum age at joining | No published maximum age at joining | Under 35 qualifies for a reduced dues rateULI's membership FAQ states it offers 50–75 percent savings for individuals under age 35, for professionals in non-profit organisations, government or academia, and for students. Under-35 members are also the constituency for the Young Leaders Group. This is a discount band, not a barrier to joining.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Industry restriction | Candidate membership is open to commercial real estate practitioners; no prior designation or advanced degree is requiredPractitioners who are not pursuing the designation may also join in order to take courses.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | Open to professionals across the real estate and land use industryULI describes itself as "a diverse network of private and public professionals spanning the real estate and land use industry, including developers, investors, designers, builders, buyers, sellers, urban planners, and public officials". No revenue, seniority or wealth test is published.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Invitation required | No | No |
| Sponsor required | No | No |
| Application process | Practitioners join online as candidate members and pay annual dues, then work through the designation curriculum at their own pace. Applications for the special designee categories — life membership, retirement, leave of absence — are reviewed twice a year, with a spring deadline of 27 March 2026 for the current cycle. | Applicants create a ULI account and join online, or join by email, phone or post using a printed application with payment. Membership is open on application; ULI's published materials describe no sponsor, interview or committee review. Dues can be paid in one annual payment, on annual auto-renewal, or in twelve monthly instalments, which require a twelve-month commitment. |
| Selectivity | Not publicly disclosed as an acceptance rate. Membership itself is open; the filter is the designation, which requires curriculum completion, a qualifying-experience portfolio and a comprehensive exam. | Not publicly disclosed; ULI publishes no acceptance rate and its published joining route is open enrolment rather than selection. Invitation-based selection applies within ULI to product councils, not to membership itself. |
| Cost | ||
| Annual dues | $695 a yearCandidate membership, United States. Dues prorate in the shopping cart for members joining after 31 January.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | $1,332 a yearFull membership, United States standard rate ($111 per month on the instalment plan). From ULI's own US individual membership application; the form states rates were valid for payments received by 30 June 2023, so the current rate may differ.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Initiation fee | Candidate dues are published; the standard designee rate is not. Course fees for the designation curriculum are separate from membership dues. | Not publicly disclosedverified September 2026 |
| Local chapter dues | Not publicly disclosed; chapter dues are not listed on the national membership pages.verified September 2026 | Not publicly disclosed. District council participation is included in national dues in ULI's published materials; no separate district council fee is advertised.verified September 2026 |
| Programme fee | Not recorded here. The designation curriculum is priced separately from dues under CCIM's "Designation Program: Time & Cost" schedule, which was not read for this record.verified September 2026 | Dues rates recorded here come from ULI's own FY2023 United States individual membership application, which states the rates were valid for payments received by 30 June 2023. ULI's current site (uli.org) blocks automated retrieval, so a 2026 rate card could not be read. Rates also differ by country: ULI publishes separate applications for Canada, Mexico and Latin America and the Caribbean. |
| Membership term | Calendar year, with dues prorated for members joining after 31 January | 12 months, expiring on the last day of the anniversary month; annual renewal, with auto-renewal and monthly instalment options |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | Chapter events year-round plus national Spring and Fall Forums | District council events year-round plus ULI Spring Meeting and Fall Meeting; ULI cites 2,900+ events worldwide each year across in-person and online formats |
| Peer forums | Local chapters organised across 13 regions; no confidential facilitated peer forum is published | ULI Forums and Product Councils are topic-specific member groups that meet regularly; district councils run local committees and a Young Leaders Group |
| Confidentiality | Not publicly disclosed; CCIM publishes a Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice | Not publicly disclosed as a general membership rule; ULI publishes a Code of Ethics rather than a confidentiality regime |
| Time commitment | Not documented | Not documented |
| Organized as | Chapter-based, Cohort-based, Event-focused | Chapter-based, Event-focused |
| Confidential peer forums | Partial | Yes |
| Local chapters | Yes | Yes |
| Virtual membership | Partial | No |
| Online community | Partial | Yes |
| Member directory | Yes | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Yes | Yes |
| Leadership development | Yes | Yes |
| Retreats | No | No |
| Travel | No | Partial |
| Family programming | No | No |
| Spouse and partner programming | Not documented | Not documented |
| Next-generation programming | Partial | Yes |
| Investment discussions | Yes | Yes |
| Investment opportunities | Partial | No |
| Philanthropic component | No | Partial |
| Networking emphasis | High | High |
| Social emphasis | Low | Medium |
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Sources
Drawn from the sources listed on each page: CCIM Institute · Urban Land Institute