Meeting & Event Planning

Types of Degrees Meeting & Event Planning Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many meeting and event planning graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	531
Basic Certificate	224
Graduate Certificate	125
Associate Degree	63
Master’s Degree	30
Undergraduate Certificate	16

What Meeting & Event Planning Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, meeting and event planning majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Meeting and Event Planning Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these 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.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• 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.

Skills for Meeting and Event Planning Majors

meeting and event planning majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• 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.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.

Abilities for Meeting and Event Planning Majors

As a meeting and event planning major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

What Can You Do With a Meeting & Event Planning Major?

People with a meeting and event planning degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners	10.9%	$49,370

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Meeting & Event Planning?

This major is dominated by women with about 87% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of meeting and event planning majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	11
Black or African American	18
Hispanic or Latino	90
White	380
International Students	11
Other Races/Ethnicities	21

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Meeting and Event Planning. About 2.1% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Meeting & Event Planning Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Meeting and Event Planning majors often go into careers with median salaries of $53,730. This median refers to 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 Meeting & Event Planning

Some degrees associated with meeting and event planning 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.

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

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	7.9%
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)	6.6%
Some College Courses	37.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	7.5%
Bachelor’s Degree	40.8%

Online Meeting & Event Planning Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 67 schools offered some type of meeting and event planning program. 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)	13	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	16	2
Bachelor’s Degree	4	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	3	1
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Meeting & Event Planning Worth It?

The median salary for a meeting and event planning grad is $53,730 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 35% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $276,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Meeting & Event Planning

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to meeting and event planning.

Major	Number of Grads
General Hospitality Administration/Management	10,606
Hotel/Motel Administration/Management	2,368
Tourism and Travel Services Management	1,303
Restaurant/Food Services Management	944
Other Hospitality Administration/Management	772
Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Management	474
Resort Management	214
Casino Management	18
Brewery/Brewpub Operations/Management	1

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.