Ranked by graduate earnings

Best colleges for Hospitality Management

50 Hospitality Management programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion — from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

Quick answer

For Hospitality Management, Cornell University (New York) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $112,289. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion — not reputation or cost — across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$112,289	$13,086	226	98.4
2	New York University New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$84,375	$17,905	30	91.2
3	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$70,113	$15,000	64	89.9
4	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	Master's Degree	$105,553	—	70	88.1
5	George Washington University Washington, DC	Bachelor's Degree	$75,683	$19,250	31	87.3
6	DePaul University Chicago, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$71,556	$16,500	17	87.1
7	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$65,510	$14,125	53	86.7
8	University of Nevada-Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV	Master's Degree	$84,365	—	55	86.6
9	University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$77,757	$19,000	15	85.6
10	New York University New York, NY	Master's Degree	$72,864	—	93	85
11	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ	Bachelor's Degree	$64,315	$15,000	40	83.9
12	Georgia State University Atlanta, GA	Master's Degree	$83,259	—	24	83.9
13	Boston University Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$82,302	$23,250	72	83.9
14	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$65,655	$18,579	46	83.4
15	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	Bachelor's Degree	$62,673	$17,404	205	83.3
16	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$70,916	$21,500	100	83.2
17	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	Bachelor's Degree	$69,651	$21,815	154	83.1
18	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$65,016	$19,875	122	83
19	Georgetown University Washington, DC	Master's Degree	$85,539	—	12	82.5
20	University of Denver Denver, CO	Bachelor's Degree	$75,118	$21,923	27	82.3
21	Temple University Philadelphia, PA	Master's Degree	$77,510	—	20	82.2
22	University of Houston Houston, TX	Master's Degree	$82,088	$23,500	49	82.1
23	University of Delaware Newark, DE	Bachelor's Degree	$71,102	$22,850	55	81.3
24	San Jose State University San Jose, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$67,022	—	54	80.1
25	Washington State University Pullman, WA	Bachelor's Degree	$66,874	$23,207	210	79.8
26	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO	Bachelor's Degree	$62,556	$18,500	50	79.6
27	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$72,817	$24,500	54	79.5
28	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$60,220	$17,625	37	77.5
29	East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania East Stroudsburg, PA	Master's Degree	$67,976	—	—	77.5
30	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$57,927	$12,500	77	77
31	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$62,727	$20,500	46	76.7
32	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI	Bachelor's Degree	$60,157	$19,261	78	76.5
33	CMC Colorado Mountain College Glenwood Springs, CO	Associate's Degree	$66,500	—	17	76.2
34	Florida Gulf Coast University Fort Myers, FL	Bachelor's Degree	$60,011	$19,500	105	76
35	Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ	Bachelor's Degree	$58,857	$18,750	147	75.9
36	University of Nevada-Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV	Bachelor's Degree	$58,719	$18,750	462	75.8
37	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$57,114	$15,000	252	75.7
38	George Washington University Washington, DC	Master's Degree	$84,644	$58,750	30	75.3
39	Campbell University Buies Creek, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$63,402	$19,750	16	75.2
40	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$58,861	$18,916	86	75.2
41	Florida International University Miami, FL	Master's Degree	$71,050	$30,750	194	75
42	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$63,798	$23,455	134	75
43	Florida International University Miami, FL	Bachelor's Degree	$56,667	$16,398	622	74.7
44	Pace University New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$68,939	—	5	74.5
45	Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham Campus Madison, NJ	Bachelor's Degree	$71,188	$25,000	17	74.4
46	York College of Pennsylvania York, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$64,754	$21,500	16	74
47	Georgia State University Atlanta, GA	Bachelor's Degree	$59,089	$18,750	33	73.7
48	Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO	Bachelor's Degree	$57,312	$16,858	50	73.5
49	College of Charleston Charleston, SC	Bachelor's Degree	$64,154	$23,323	39	73.1
50	University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO	Bachelor's Degree	$61,441	$22,000	48	72.9

Filter Hospitality Management by state & degree level →

Hidden Gems for Hospitality Management

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Hospitality Management — the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	DePaul University Chicago, IL Strong Hospitality Management outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$71,556	76%	87.1
2	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA Strong Hospitality Management outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$65,510	96%	86.7
3	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA Strong Hospitality Management outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$65,655	97%	83.4
4	University of Denver Denver, CO Strong Hospitality Management outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$75,118	78%	82.3
5	East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania East Stroudsburg, PA Strong Hospitality Management outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$67,976	92%	77.5
6	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI Strong Hospitality Management outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$60,157	87%	76.5
7	CMC Colorado Mountain College Glenwood Springs, CO Strong Hospitality Management outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$66,500	—	76.2
8	Campbell University Buies Creek, NC Strong Hospitality Management outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$63,402	87%	75.2
9	Pace University New York, NY Strong Hospitality Management outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$68,939	76%	74.5
10	Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham Campus Madison, NJ Strong Hospitality Management outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$71,188	95%	74.4
11	York College of Pennsylvania York, PA Strong Hospitality Management outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$64,754	74%	74
12	Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO Strong Hospitality Management outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$57,312	99%	73.5

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0–100 within the Hospitality Management field (CIP 52.09) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Hospitality Management programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded — never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Hospitality Management program?+

By our outcome score, Cornell University (New York) ranks #1 for Hospitality Management, with median graduate earnings of $112,289.

How are these Hospitality Management programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0–100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Hospitality Management programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

Keep exploring

Hospitality Management rankings (filterable)All major rankings Browse colleges Tuition-free colleges All Best-Of guides

Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “—” and never estimated. Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.