San Diego — Frederick W. Pierce, president and chief executive officer of Pierce Education Properties, has received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 Award in the Real Estate & Construction category in the San Diego region. Pierce was selected by an independent panel of judges.

The award recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and success in such areas as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.

"This is a tremendous honor for our company and reflects the quality, depth and commitment of all the employees at Pierce who have worked tirelessly to build one of the fastest growing and most successful student housing companies in America," Pierce says.

"To have the award conferred by a judging panel of San Diego business and community icons and an international firm of Ernst & Young's caliber makes the recognition all the more rewarding."

Pierce Education Properties is a San Diego-based owner, manager and developer of student housing and education-based real estate that owns and manages a $275 million national portfolio of approximately 5,600 beds. The Pierce portfolio includes class A, purpose-built student apartment assets at the University of California in Riverside, Calif.; Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz.; University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla.; Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich.; and Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Mich.