So, you’re interested in working in the sprawling network of businesses that compose the $1.3 billion domestic tourism and hospitality industry? You’ve come to the right place. The variety of hospitality roles, breadth of locations in the world, and growth opportunities make the hospitality management career a fertile place to support yourself, your family, and grow into a role that is challenging and fulfilling. Hospitality is a massive, convoluted realm with a ton of overlapping roles in very different companies and work environments. What’s the best way to navigate this chaotic sea? An academic framework to the industry would be a helpful start.
We’ve ranked the 30 Best Online Hospitality Management Degrees to give you a huge advantage in finding the most suitable, cheapest programs in the hospitality management field. We’ve prioritized online hospitality degree programs because they allow you to easily meet your ongoing responsibilities while earning your degree.
Degrees in Hospitality Management are not all the same. Some schools award a Bachelor of Art, Bachelor of Science, or Bachelor of Science in Business Administration/General Business with a focus or concentration in Hospitality Management. Additionally, many institutions offer advanced degrees such as an MBA, MS, or PhD. Hospitality Management programs are sometimes also referred to as Hotel Administration or Tourism Management, and Hospitality programs can have more specific subsets such as Fort Hays State University’s (#6 on our list!) Event Management or Health & Wellness Tourism Operations concentrations.
The hospitality industry offers tremendously flexible work options, so it makes sense that getting a degree in Hospitality Management should also have a breadth of flexible options as well. Beyond brick-and-mortar institutions, there is a wealth of quality universities that offer online degree programs both full- and part-time. This gives the unique opportunity to work in the industry while simultaneously studying the field from an academic lens, allowing the student to immediately apply the learnings to their role and gain a greater understanding of how their company operates in the hospitality ecosystem.
Consider this a kickstart to the search process for quality degree programs, and don’t forget our 30 Best Online Hospitality Management Degrees, which will surely aid your contemplation. The methodology used to rank the top 30 programs is as follows:
- Cost per credit hour
- Average early salary after graduation
- Student to Faculty ratio
- Graduation rates
Their rankings on each criterion were combined to create a composite score, which was then used to create the master list of the Top 30 Online Hospitality Management Degrees. The composite scores are listed along with the ranking to provide more transparency, and the data pulled to create the scores were compiled from:
- Payscale.com
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Each school’s website
If you’re serious about pursuing Hospitality and Tourism as a career path, these schools will be a tremendous resource in developing your skillset and making your plan viable. Be sure to look at the different specializations schools provide, as well as any accelerated or flexible enrollment programs that schools offer so that you can find the timeline that best lines up with your needs. You never know where you might end up in hospitality management!
Related:
25 Best Bachelor’s in Hospitality Management
15 Best Online Bachelor’s in Hospitality Management
10 Fastest Online Bachelor’s in Hospitality Management
10 Most Affordable Bachelor’s in Hospitality Management