Restaurant/Food Services Management

Types of Degrees Restaurant/Food Services Management Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many restaurant/food services management graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	472
Basic Certificate	128
Associate Degree	126
Undergraduate Certificate	125
Master’s Degree	64
Graduate Certificate	29

What Restaurant/Food Services Management Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to restaurant/food services management 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 Restaurant/Food Services Management 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.
• 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.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills for Restaurant/Food Services Management Majors

A major in restaurant/food services management prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• 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.
• Management of Personnel Resources - Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Abilities for Restaurant/Food Services Management Majors

Restaurant/Food Services Management majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• 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.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Restaurant/Food Services Management Major?

People with a restaurant/food services management degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Food Service Managers	9.0%	$54,240
Lodging Managers	4.0%	$53,390

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Restaurant/Food Services Management?

This major is dominated by women with about 56% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of restaurant/food services management majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	33
Black or African American	64
Hispanic or Latino	48
White	247
International Students	51
Other Races/Ethnicities	29

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Restaurant/Food Services Management, too. About 10.8% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Restaurant/Food Services Management Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Restaurant/Food Services Management majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $58,960 to $62,270 (25th to 75th percentile). 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 Restaurant/Food Services Management

Some degrees associated with restaurant/food services management may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

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

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	16.5%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	37.0%
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)	3.2%
Some College Courses	14.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	1.5%
Bachelor’s Degree	25.8%
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.	2.4%

Online Restaurant/Food Services Management Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 81 schools offered some type of restaurant/food services management 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)	26	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	31	4
Bachelor’s Degree	1	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	3	1
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Restaurant/Food Services Management Worth It?

The median salary for a restaurant/food services management grad is $58,960 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 48% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $381,200 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Restaurant/Food Services Management

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to restaurant/food services management.

Major	Number of Grads
General Hospitality Administration/Management	10,606
Hotel/Motel Administration/Management	2,368
Tourism and Travel Services Management	1,303
Meeting and Event Planning	989
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.