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Restaurant & Catering Management

Types of Degrees Restaurant & Catering Management Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing Restaurant & Catering Management can earn degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	142
Associate’s Degree	552
Bachelor’s Degree	43
Master’s Degree	606

What Restaurant & Catering Management Majors Need to Know

Studies in Restaurant & Catering Management develop a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Restaurant & Catering Management graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

According to O*NET, a major in Restaurant & Catering Management emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Food Production — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 3.8 / 7.
• Administration and Management — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 3.8 / 7.
• Production and Processing — Importance 3.4 / 5; level 3.5 / 7.
• Sales and Marketing — Importance 3.3 / 5; level 3.6 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

Skills built by a Restaurant & Catering Management program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Monitoring — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 3.6 / 7.
• Coordination — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 3.6 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 3.5 / 7.
• Service Orientation — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 3.5 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 3.4 / 5; level 3.1 / 7.

Abilities

The cognitive and physical abilities most relevant to Restaurant & Catering Management careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Problem Sensitivity — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 3.5 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 3.6 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 3.7 / 7.
• Deductive Reasoning — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 3.4 / 7.
• Speech Clarity — Importance 3.4 / 5; level 3.1 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Restaurant & Catering Management graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Getting Information	4.0 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	3.9 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	3.9 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	3.8 / 7
Performing General Physical Activities	3.7 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	3.7 / 7
Thinking Creatively	3.6 / 7
Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings	3.6 / 7
Monitoring and Controlling Resources	3.5 / 7
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards	3.5 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Restaurant & Catering Management professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Email software	Electronic mail software	—
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	—
Delphi Technology	Financial analysis software	—
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	✓
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	✓
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Intuit QuickBooks	Accounting software	—
YouTube	Video creation and editing software	—
WordPress	Web page creation and editing software	—
Work scheduling software	Calendar and scheduling software	—
Cost tracking software	Accounting software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Restaurant & Catering Management graduates include:

• Culinary Artist
• Private Chef
• Personal Chef
• Culinary Specialist
• Culinary Chef
• Cooking Chef
• Cook
• Kitchen Manager
• Cook Manager
• Food and Beverage Director
• Kitchen Supervisor
• Certified Personal Chef (CPC)
• Personal Private Chef
• Holiday Food Prepper
• Household Cook

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Restaurant & Catering Management graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
High school diploma or equivalent	33.1%
Postsecondary certificate	23.5%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	22.0%
Less than a high school diploma	13.4%
Some college courses	4.7%
Bachelor’s degree	3.2%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Restaurant & Catering Management?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 61% of Restaurant & Catering Management degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	819	61.0%
Men	524	39.0%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Restaurant & Catering Management graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	493	36.7%
Asian	71	5.3%
Hispanic or Latino	377	28.1%
Black or African American	281	20.9%
American Indian / Alaska Native	5	0.4%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	1	0.1%
Two or More Races	56	4.2%
Race Unknown	21	1.6%
International Students	38	2.8%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Restaurant & Catering Management Graduates Earn?

College Scorecard reports median earnings of Restaurant & Catering Management graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Earnings tend to climb steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$24,617
4 years	$29,033
5 years	$32,264

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $32,264 — roughly 31% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Restaurant & Catering Management Programs

Distance learning is tracked by IPEDS for Restaurant & Catering Management. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Master’s	1	0

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Restaurant & Catering Management Worth It?

Looking purely at the federal earnings tracker, Restaurant & Catering Management graduates earn a median of $29,033 four years after completion — about 24% below the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000). On earnings alone, this program does not show an income premium over the baseline; non-financial outcomes (career interests, certification requirements, advancement potential) are typically the stronger argument for fields in this range.

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	CIP Code
Culinary Arts and Related Services	12.05
Baking and Pastry Arts/Baker/Pastry Chef	12.0501
Bartending/Bartender	12.0502
Culinary Arts and Related Services, Other	12.0599
Culinary Arts and Related Services	12.0500
Culinary Arts/Chef Training	12.0503
Culinary Science/Culinology	12.0509
Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant	12.0505
Food Service, Waiter/Waitress, and Dining Room Management/Manager	12.0507
Institutional Food Workers	12.0508
Meat Cutting/Meat Cutter	12.0506
Reserved	12.0580

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.