The answer to that question is never the same because the best school for you to pursue a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management is different for each individual student.
The short and simple answer to that question is you should pick a school that provides a broad range of hospitality courses with the option of specializing in a particular segment within the industry. Unfortunately that answer doesn’t really help most students. So a more elaborate answer is necessary and it begins by first attempting to define what your professional goals are. That is to say, begin with the end in mind. Defining what your dream job in the hospitality industry is makes it easier to match you with the best school for them.
What many people do not realize is that each hospitality management school has its own unique advantages and disadvantages, so they’re not all the same.
Here are four things that can help you pick the best hospitality management school:
- Specialization
- Placement Rate
- Cost
- Student Life
- Specialization
Specialization
In the medical profession, if a student goes to medical school for seven years, they eventually graduate and become a general practice physician. However, they have the option of going through additional training to specialize in a particular field of medicine such as: pediatrics, cardiology, orthopedics, or other.
Similarly, a degree in hospitality management provides you with the basic foundation to be successful in the hospitality industry, but you also have the option of specializing in a specific are within the hospitality industry.
The hospitality industry is a broad field that includes areas like: lodging, food and beverage, cruise ships, parks and recreation, gaming, club management, event management, and tourism. If you know which of these area you want to work in, picking the best school for you becomes easier. All you would have to do is pick a school that has an emphasis in that particular segment.
If you are unsure what you want to do in the hospitality industry, your best option is to find a school with a general hospitality program and it would be a good idea for you to get an internship in the hospitality industry while going to school to get a better sense of what specialization appeals to you and your lifestyle the most.
However, if you know you have a passion and possibly some experience in a particular segment and want to specialize in it, you’ll need to go through the exercise of identifying which schools offers the specialization you seek.
But how do you do that?
Start with a general search online for hospitality management programs and create a list of 10 to 20 schools that appeal to you based on location, cost, and name recognition.
To find out if the school you are considering offers your specialization, evaluate the following three things:
- Courses: look at the list of all the courses offered at the school you are considering and see if they have a concentration, minor, or area of emphasis in your specialization or at the very least have 3-4 courses specifically focused on your area of interest.
- Faculty: checkout the list of faculty on the schools website and review their profile. See if their faculty actually have industry experience in the area that you want to specialize in. Unfortunately, some schools have faculty with high academic qualifications and research background, but very little or no actual experience working in the field they’re teaching in.
- Location: the city that your school is located in should have a good number of hospitality businesses that focus on your area of specialization. For example, if you wanted to specialize in casino management, you should consider going to school at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV), since they offer that specialization and the location supports it. If you wanted to specialize in event management your option could include schools in Orlando, Chicago, Las Vegas, or San Francisco. Picking the right location provides you with internship training opportunities, industry exposure, networking opportunities, and possibly employment after graduation.
Placement Rate
In addition to a specialized program you’ll need to know what your employment prospects are after you graduate from the school you are interested in.So, call the school and find out if they have a career placement office or staff and what their job placement rate is in your industry. The whole point of going to college and earning a degree is to gain the training, skills, and education to help you be successful in getting a job or starting your own successful business. Ideally speaking, you want a school that has a placement rate that’s 90% or higher. If you’re not able to get the placement rate find out how involved industry professionals are in your school. Some of the questions you should be asking the schools you’re interested in are:
- Does the school have an advisory board made up of industry employers and professionals?
- Does the school have hospitality career fairs?
- Do faculty invite industry professionals as guest speakers to the classroom?
Cost
While education is an investment in your future, it needs to be a manageable investment and not a life-sentence in financial burdens and student loans. Many private and for-profit schools charge an enormous amount in tuition fees. While some are worth the investment for a few students, for the majority of students it is a debt sinkhole that’s hard to climb out of.So what’s the right tuition fee amount? Whatever you’ll be able to comfortable pay-off within a 20-30 year period. The following is not a scientific formula, it’s just a general rule that I tend to suggest.
The annual tuition fees should NOT exceed the amount of annual income you will reasonably expect to earn at your first professional job after you graduate. The average entry-level management position in the hospitality industry tends to be about $30,000 per year. So your annual tuition fees should be no more than about 50%-90%of that amount, which equals to $15,000-$27,000.
To figure out what your monthly payment will be, visit: www.finaid.org/calculators
Student Life
Attending college should be one of the best times of your life. While your goal is to earn a degree and get the best possible training in your field, you should also make sure that you’re enjoying your time in school beyond the classroom walls. So, find out if the school that you’re researching has student clubs or organizations in your major. Find out what type of enrichment programs and activities the school offers for students. Find out if there’s a place on campus where students can just hang-out, socialize, or study. If you’re planning on being in school for 4 years (or more) you might as well have fun while you’re at it.So in conclusion there isn’t one particular thing that you should be looking for when you’re trying to find the best school for you. However, if I were to summarize what you should be looking for in a school I can list them into three things list below. The school should fulfill your:
- Academic goals: earn the degree that you want
- Professional goals: find a job or employment prospectus that you can pursue
- Personal goals: have memorable experiences and build new friendships
Top Schools Picks by Specialization
Hotel Management: Northern Arizona University(http://hrm.nau.edu/)
Restaurant Management: California Polytechnic University, Pomona
(www.csupomona.edu/~collins/)
Casino or Gaming Management: University of Nevada, Las Vegas
(http://www.unlv.edu/hotel/gam)
Event Management: University of Central Florida (http://hospitality.ucf.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/)
Tourism: University of South Carolina, Beaufort
(http://www.uscb.edu/academics/undergraduate/hospitality-management/index.php)
Layout and Design: Purdue University
(http://www.cfs.purdue.edu/HTM/undergraduate/academic_planning/resume_concentrations.html
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