Managing real estate investments

For Alexandra Egan (MAC ’19, MBA ’25), Carolina isn’t just a school — it’s a family tradition.

Several generations of Tar Heels came before her, and she grew up cheering in Kenan Stadium with her grandfather, an alumnus and lifelong Carolina fan.

Egan started her academic career at Virginia Tech, where she dove into business coursework and found a natural draw to accounting.

“I realized early on that I took more of an interest in accounting and finance,” she says. “The precision and structure made sense to me.”

When Egan decided to attend graduate school, she chose between staying at Virginia Tech or applying to programs at other universities.

Her decision was easy once she connected with the Master of Accounting (MAC) Program’s admissions staff at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.

“In the back of my mind, I’d always hoped I’d end up back at Chapel Hill,” she says.

“The UNC Kenan-Flagler team really made the difference. They walked me through the fellowships and financing, and they took the time to explain how the program worked and how it differed from other programs. That personal touch swayed me,” Egan says.

Egan thrived in the MAC Program, finding both the rigor and the support she needed to launch her career. In the summer before starting classes, she interned with EY’s financial services assurance group in Washington, D.C., where she accepted a full-time position after graduation.

Her audit work focused on large private-equity real-estate funds.

“The audits involved a lot of valuation work of real estate those funds owned,” she says. “After a year and a half, I realized that aspect of the business was the part I really loved.”

That realization guided her to join a New York-based investment office specializing in student housing. She started on the acquisitions team, underwriting deals, conducting due diligence and analyzing markets.

As her career accelerated, Egan looked to the future. Around the time she transitioned to an industry role, she began considering an MBA to deepen her leadership skills.

“In a family-office environment, professional development tends to be more organic,” she says. “I wanted something that would formalize my business leadership and fill any gaps.”

After considering several part-time programs in New York, she chose UNC Kenan-Flagler’s online MBA@UNC program, drawn by its flexibility and Leonard W. Wood Center for Real Estate Studies.

“I spoke to a staff member who mentioned I could transfer some credits from my MAC degree, which made UNC Kenan-Flagler even more appealing,” Egan says.

During her MBA studies, Egan also collaborated with Professor Jacob Sagi on a research project examining the intersection of student-housing trends and federal financial aid delays.

“We noticed properties’ leasing velocity was lagging from prior years and studied if there was a correlation between the leasing delays and the delay in deployment of federal financial aid in 2023,” she says.

Together, they analyzed both market-level and Department of Education loan data. “It was such a great experience and added so much to my time at Chapel Hill,” she says.

One month before she finished her MBA, Egan was promoted to director of asset management, overseeing the performance and strategy for a portfolio of properties across the U.S. She applies her financial knowledge and market insights in her role, which bridges multiple teams, including acquisitions, accounting, leasing, operations and construction.

Beyond her academic and professional pursuits, Egan is committed to giving back to her alma mater as a member of the Alumni Council and 100 Women at UNC Kenan-Flagler and UNC’s Young Alumni Leadership Council.

“My family has always been connected to UNC, and my mom and I were the first in our family to study business,” she says. “I gained so much from my education, and I wanted to give back my time, not just donations. It’s important to me to help continue to grow the University’s reputation and make business education more accessible.”

For Egan, the path from cheering in Kenan Stadium as a child to her experiences in the MAC and MBA programs have come full circle and continue to shape her as a leader in managing real estate investments

“I’m proud of what UNC represents,” she says. “My time there was more than a degree; it helped me build a network that shapes how I lead.”