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Hospitality Management Major

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Hospitality Management

10,395 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
1,032 Master's Degrees Annually
#49 in Popularity
$62,270 Median Salary

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
Bachelor’s Degree 10,396
Basic Certificate 2,561
Associate Degree 2,539
Master’s Degree 1,032
Undergraduate Certificate 852
Graduate Certificate 275
Doctor’s Degree 34

What Hospitality Management Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to hospitality were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Hospitality Majors

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

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  • 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

When studying hospitality, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

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  • 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

As a hospitality major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

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  • 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
Gaming Supervisors 3.9% NA
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
Slot Supervisors 4.1% NA
Supply Chain Managers 8.0% $107,480
Travel Guides 5.6% NA

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

10,396 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
70% Percent Women
35% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
Hospitality Management runs middle of the road when it comes to popularity, ranking #49 out of all the undergraduate majors we track. In 2021, about 10,395 graduates completed their bachelor’s degree in this field. This major is dominated by women with about 70% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 849
Black or African American 712
Hispanic or Latino 1,700
White 5,249
International Students 1,257
Other Races/Ethnicities 629

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Hospitality, too. About 12.1% 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?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

Data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that hospitality management students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a bachelor’s degree made a median starting salary of $36,364 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $32,629 (25th percentile) and $40,167 (75th percentile).

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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.

Median Salary for a Hospitality Management Major  ( 58960 to 103330 )
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250K
Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
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250K
Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
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250K
Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
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250K

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.

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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!

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

Major Number of Grads
Business Administration & Management 416,590
Accounting 99,265
Finance & Financial Management 57,778
General Business/Commerce 56,042
Marketing 52,916
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods 43,382
Human Resource Management 28,787
Business Support & Assistant Services 19,119
Management Information Systems 13,680
Entrepreneurial Studies 11,319
International Business 9,101
Real Estate 6,547
General Sales & Marketing 5,923
Business/Managerial Economics 5,667
Specialized Sales, Merchandising & Marketing 5,191
Other Business, Management & Marketing 4,822
Construction Management 3,846
Insurance 1,809
Taxation 1,547
Business/Corporate Communications 1,029
Telecommunications Management 55

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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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