Hospitality Management

Types of Degrees Hospitality Management Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many hospitality management graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	1,032
Graduate Certificate	275
Doctor’s Degree	34

What Hospitality Management Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to hospitality and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Hospitality Majors

Hospitality majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Skills for Hospitality Majors

A major in hospitality prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Hospitality Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a hospitality student include the following:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Hospitality Management Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with hospitality:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Business Professors	18.0%	$83,960
Compliance Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Food Service Managers	9.0%	$54,240
Gaming Managers	2.2%	$74,700
Lodging Managers	4.0%	$53,390
Loss Prevention Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners	10.9%	$49,370
Regulatory Affairs Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Security Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Supply Chain Managers	8.0%	$107,480

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Hospitality Management?

This major is dominated by women with about 69% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of hospitality majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	58
Black or African American	114
Hispanic or Latino	116
White	421
International Students	277
Other Races/Ethnicities	46

Geographic Diversity

Hospitality appeals to people across the globe. About 26.8% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• China
• South Korea
• Japan
• Taiwan
• Vietnam

How Much Do Hospitality Management Majors Make?

Master’s Degree Starting Salary

The median starting salary of students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a master’s degree in hospitality was $51,148 per year. These stats come from the U.S. Department of Education. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $41,038 (25th percentile) and $56,132 (75th percentile).

It’s important to note that just because the people reporting these salaries have a degree in hospitality, it does not mean that they are working in a job related to their degree.

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $58,960 to $103,330 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to hospitality. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Hospitality Management

Some degrees associated with hospitality may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for hospitality careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	3.7%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	25.6%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	4.6%
Some College Courses	10.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	5.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	34.1%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	1.3%
Master’s Degree	6.8%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.6%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.4%
Doctoral Degree	7.9%

Online Hospitality Management Programs

In 2020-2021, 644 schools offered a hospitality program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	242	17
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	447	40
Bachelor’s Degree	26	13
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	81	21
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	19	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Hospitality Management Worth It?

The median salary for a hospitality grad is $62,270 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 56% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $447,400 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Hospitality Management

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to hospitality.

Major	Number of Grads
Business Administration & Management	131,555
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	31,701
Accounting	19,309
Human Resource Management	12,117
General Business/Commerce	9,137
Finance & Financial Management	5,784
Marketing	4,011
Management Information Systems	2,766
International Business	2,007
Entrepreneurial Studies	1,823
Taxation	1,350
Real Estate	1,280
Other Business, Management & Marketing	1,073
General Sales & Marketing	537
Construction Management	466
Specialized Sales, Merchandising & Marketing	180
Business/Managerial Economics	162
Insurance	143
Business/Corporate Communications	117
Telecommunications Management	23

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Bblackpsu under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.