Hospitality Management major
Hospitality Management: courses, careers, and where to study
Hospitality Management combines business fundamentals with the operation of hotels, restaurants, events, and tourism, suiting students who want to run guest-facing service businesses.
A Hospitality Management major is typically a bachelor's degree that applies core business skills, accounting, marketing, finance, and human resources, to the lodging, food-service, events, and travel industries. Coursework covers hotel and resort operations, restaurant and food-and-beverage management, event and meeting planning, revenue management, and the service-quality practices that shape guest experience. Many programs require a supervised internship or practicum in a hotel, restaurant, conference venue, or tourism organization.
Graduates manage the day-to-day operations of properties and venues: scheduling and supervising staff, controlling food and labor costs, setting room rates and tracking occupancy, coordinating events, and resolving guest issues. Roles span hotels and resorts, restaurant groups, casinos, cruise lines, convention centers, and destination-marketing organizations, often starting in an assistant or department-supervisor role before advancing into property or regional management.
For lodging managers, one common destination for graduates, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 3.4% employment growth from 2024 to 2034 and reports a 2024 median wage of $68,130. A four-year hospitality degree is a common path into management roles and the broader field.
Academic classification (CIP)
In the federal Classification of Instructional Programs, Hospitality Management maps to CIP 52.0901, Hospitality Administration/Management, General, within the BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT, MARKETING, AND RELATED SUPPORT SERVICES family. The official definition:
A program that prepares individuals to serve as general managers and directors of hospitality operations on a system-wide basis, including both travel arrangements and promotion and the provision of traveler facilities. Includes instruction in principles of operations in the travel and tourism, hotel and lodging facilities, food services, and recreation facilities industries; hospitality marketing strategies; hospitality planning; management and coordination of franchise and unit operations; business management; accounting and financial management; hospitality transportation and logistics; and hospitality industry policies and regulations.
Source: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) 2020. View on nces.ed.gov
What credential Hospitality Management is awarded as
Of the 7,965 Hospitality Management credentials U.S. colleges reported conferring in 2023-24:
- Certificate14%1,140
- Associate12%936
- Bachelor's63%5,021
- Graduate11%868
This mix is fairly consistent nationally: across the 32 states reporting it, the certificate share moves by about 50 percentage points between the 10th and 90th percentile state, so the credential is more a property of the field than of where you study it. See the full study.
Credentials conferred in 2023-24, U.S. Department of Education IPEDS completions. A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one, and this counts what was awarded rather than what a college currently offers.
What you'll study
- Hotel, resort, and lodging operations management
- Restaurant and food-and-beverage management, including cost control
- Event, meeting, and convention planning
- Revenue management, pricing, and occupancy/yield analysis
- Hospitality marketing, branding, and guest-experience design
- Hospitality accounting and financial management
- Human resources, staffing, and front-of-house/back-of-house supervision
- A supervised internship or practicum in a hospitality setting
Typical careers
- Lodging managers
- Food Service / Restaurant Manager
- Event and Meeting Planner
- Front Office / Guest Services Manager
- Revenue Manager
- Resort or Tourism Operations Manager
Typical salary range: Informational only (BLS, 2024 lodging managers median $68,130). Not a starting wage.Ranges are early-career estimates. Any BLS figure shown is the occupation-wide median across all experience levels, not a starting wage, and is informational only.
Related occupations
Occupations the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk associates with Hospitality Management, with what each one pays and how many openings it is projected to average each year. Ordered by projected annual openings, largest first. Linked titles open the full CampusPin career page.
| Occupation | Median pay | Openings / yr | Projected change | Most entrants hold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food Service Managers | $65,310 | 42,000 | +6.4% | High school diploma or equivalent |
| Entertainment and Recreation Managers, Except Gambling | $77,180 | 5,500 | +7.7% | Bachelor's degree |
| Lodging Managers | $68,130 | 5,400 | +3.4% | High school diploma or equivalent |
| Personal Service Managers, All Other | $61,340 | 2,100 | +6.5% | High school diploma or equivalent |
Crosswalk: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), CIP 2020 to SOC 2018. Pay, openings and projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2024 wages, Employment Projections). 4 of these 4 occupations report a median wage.
“Most entrants hold” is what BLS observes about people already working in the occupation. It is not a legal requirement, not an admission rule, and not a guarantee of entry. Studying Hospitality Management does not guarantee any specific occupation, and many of these roles are entered from several different fields. Projected openings are a projection, not jobs promised.
Before you commit to a Hospitality Management major
CampusPin does not rank programs. Use these prompts to pressure-test whether a specific Hospitality Management program fits your goals, they are decision questions, not claims about any school.
Ask the Hospitality Management department
- Which concentrations or specializations are offered, and which faculty lead them?
- What does the typical course sequence look like, and how much is required vs. elective?
- What labs, studios, clinical placements, or research opportunities are available to undergraduates?
- Is there a capstone, thesis, internship, or co-op requirement?
Ask current students & check the curriculum
- How heavy is the workload, and how accessible is the faculty?
- What internships or co-ops did you do, and where do recent graduates end up?
- Does the required curriculum actually match the careers listed above?
- How easy is it to add a minor, double major, or switch tracks later?
Find a Hospitality Management program
CampusPin lists U.S. universities and community colleges by state, tuition, school size, acceptance rate, and campus setting, no account required.
Colleges that awarded the most Hospitality Management credentials
Largest by credentials conferred in 2023-24. This measures the size of the graduating class, not quality, and it is not a ranking.
- Florida International UniversityFL · 914
- University of Central FloridaFL · 518
- University of Nevada-Las VegasNV · 453
- California State Polytechnic University-PomonaCA · 176
- Sinclair Community CollegeOH · 175
- The University of AlabamaAL · 165
- Florida State UniversityFL · 161
- Washington State UniversityWA · 155
- Ensign CollegeUT · 138
- Northern Arizona UniversityAZ · 134
- University of South Carolina-ColumbiaSC · 127
- James Madison UniversityVA · 123
Based on credentials this institution reported conferring in the federal IPEDS completions collection for 2023-24. It confirms the field was awarded that year, not that the program currently accepts students, and it covers only the fields CampusPin tracks. Confirm current offerings with the institution.
Where Hospitality Management credentials were awarded
22 states have a distinct enough set of Hospitality Management colleges to be worth its own page.
Search Hospitality Management schools by state
- Hospitality Management in California
- Hospitality Management in Florida
- Hospitality Management in Georgia
- Hospitality Management in Illinois
- Hospitality Management in Maryland
- Hospitality Management in Massachusetts
- Hospitality Management in New York
- Hospitality Management in North Carolina
- Hospitality Management in Pennsylvania
- Hospitality Management in Texas
Related majors
Business Administration
Business Administration is the most popular U.S. major, a broad foundation in accounting, finance, marketing, management, and economics that prepares graduates for nearly any industry.
Marketing
Marketing majors learn how to identify, reach, and convert customers, combining strategy, consumer behavior, digital channels, brand management, and analytics.
Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management studies how organizations hire, develop, pay, and retain people, a business major suited to students who want to work at the intersection of people and operations.
Supply Chain Management
Supply Chain Management studies how goods, information, and money move from suppliers to customers, suiting students who like logistics, data, and operations.
Economics
Economics studies how individuals, firms, and governments allocate resources, combining theory with empirical analysis and a strong mathematical foundation.
Put this major in context
The salary above is an occupation-wide median from federal data, not a starting wage or a guarantee. These CampusPin guides and reports help you read it well, see where a Hospitality Management degree can lead, and weigh it against cost and program quality.
Explore Management careers
Median pay, job outlook, and the occupations this field covers.
How one major leads to many careers
Why a single Hospitality Management degree can open more than one path, and how to read the occupations above.
Why a median wage is not a starting salary
How to read a BLS median, and why early-career pay usually sits below it.
When accreditation and licensure matter
How program accreditation and state licensure can shape a Hospitality Management path before you enroll.
Does a pricier college pay off?
How college cost lines up with graduation and earnings, an association, not a ranking.
Does picking a major narrow your college list?
Across the federal completions data, most fields barely change which colleges are on the table. Which ones genuinely do.
Certificate or degree?
What credential a field is usually awarded as is mostly set by the field itself, not by the state, with a short list of exceptions.
How this guide is sourced
This is an editorial guide from the CampusPin Editorial Team. Career and wage figures are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, occupation-wide medians across all experience levels, not starting wages, and link to each career page. Program availability comes from CampusPin's free institution search; CampusPin does not assert that any specific school offers this exact major until that program data is verified. Last reviewed 2026-06-15. How CampusPin sources data · Report a correction.