Types of Degrees Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many hospitality management graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	9,211
Associate Degree	2,273
Basic Certificate	2,203
Master’s Degree	1,297
Undergraduate Certificate	737
Graduate Certificate	244
Doctor’s Degree	50

What 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

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in hospitality should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• 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

As you progress with your hospitality degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• 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 Major?

People with a hospitality degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
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 Bachelor’s Degree in ?

This is one of the most frequently chosen business majors. It is the 10th most popular in the country with 10,395 students graduating with a bachelor’s in hospitality in 2021. The major attracts more women than men. About 68% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	699
Black or African American	635
Hispanic or Latino	1,495
White	4,697
International Students	1,168
Other Races/Ethnicities	517

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Hospitality. About 12.7% 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 Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

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 the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

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

Some careers associated with hospitality require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. 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.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to hospitality have obtained the following education levels.

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 Programs

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)	241	20
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	435	49
Bachelor’s Degree	31	10
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	77	22
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 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

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

Major	Number of Grads
Business Administration & Management	403,753
Accounting	93,982
General Business/Commerce	56,779
Finance & Financial Management	54,690
Marketing	52,078
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	48,037
Human Resource Management	27,074
Business Support & Assistant Services	19,686
Management Information Systems	12,429
Entrepreneurial Studies	12,241
International Business	8,014
Real Estate	7,448
General Sales & Marketing	5,450
Business/Managerial Economics	5,151
Specialized Sales, Merchandising & Marketing	4,668
Other Business, Management & Marketing	4,606
Construction Management	4,158
Insurance	1,737
Taxation	1,447
Business/Corporate Communications	897
Telecommunications Management	68

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.