30 Best Online Hospitality Management Degrees

To be drawn to the hos­pi­tal­i­ty indus­try requires a love of adven­ture, fan­tas­tic food, live music, serv­ing peo­ple, and facil­i­tat­ing incred­i­ble leisure expe­ri­ences. The hos­pi­tal­i­ty indus­try is one of the fastest-grow­ing, rapid­ly chang­ing, and dynam­ic in the world. It is also the top employ­er in the world. 

In the U.S., hotels alone employ eight mil­lion indi­vid­u­als, gen­er­ate $590 bil­lion to U.S. GDP, and own 54,200 prop­er­ties. Com­pen­sa­tion can be very good in the field and jobs often come with awe­some perks such as work­ing in beau­ti­ful places, lots of trav­el, and a flex­i­ble sched­ule. The hos­pi­tal­i­ty indus­try is broad, and a hos­pi­tal­i­ty man­age­ment degree can take you into a vari­ety of areas and loca­tions. From small, pri­vate­ly owned restau­rants to large, fran­chise ones, from stand-alone motels to inter­na­tion­al hotel chains, from casi­nos to amuse­ment parks, from health care to pris­ons, there are thou­sands of oppor­tu­ni­ties, espe­cial­ly with the right qualifications.

When it comes to look­ing at degrees in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment, it’s impor­tant to know some things. The degree comes in many vari­eties. It can be called hotel man­age­ment, hotel and tourism man­age­ment, or hotel admin­is­tra­tion. Gen­er­al­ly housed with­in busi­ness schools, required degrees vary from Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence, Bach­e­lor of Art, or Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion or Gen­er­al Busi­ness with a focus or con­cen­tra­tion in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment. There are advanced Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment degrees too: MBA, MS, and Ph.D.

The gen­er­al cur­ricu­lum for online hos­pi­tal­i­ty degrees includes the fun­da­men­tals of busi­ness ⎯ account­ing, eco­nom­ics, busi­ness law, com­mu­ni­ca­tions and com­put­er appli­ca­tion, and spe­cial­ty cours­es in hos­pi­tal­i­ty and tourism. Some schools have intern­ship require­ments as well. Exam­ples of class­es include:

• Analy­sis of Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Industry
• Food & Bev­er­age Management 
• Front Office Procedures 
• House­keep­ing Management 
• Spe­cial Events Planning 
• Event Man­age­ment
• Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Resort Tourism 
• Cus­tomer Service 
• Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Supervision 
• Hotel & Restau­rant Externship

There are many career options in HM. Salaries depend on posi­tion and com­pa­ny, but accord­ing to Payscale they range from $42,000 a year for a Front Office Man­ag­er to $72,000 for a Gen­er­al Hotel Man­ag­er. Besides the hotel busi­ness, here are some oth­er exam­ples of jobs:

• Amuse­ment Parks
• Bed and Breakfasts
• Casi­nos and Spas
• Con­ven­tion Halls and Stadiums
• Coun­try Clubs
• Hotels and Resorts
• Restau­rants
• Retire­ment Centers
• Air­lines
• Event Plan­ning
• Cruise Lines

Methodology: The Best Online Hospitality Management Degrees

We scoured the nation’s schools to find all of the online hos­pi­tal­i­ty man­age­ment degrees avail­able. Once the list was com­piled, the schools were ranked based on cost per cred­it hour, aver­age ear­ly salary after grad­u­a­tion, stu­dent to fac­ul­ty ratio, and grad­u­a­tion rates. All sta­tis­tics were gath­ered from the Nation­al Cen­ter for Edu­ca­tion Sta­tis­tics, payscale.com, and school web­sites. Each school was giv­en a score based on the data col­lect­ed to pro­vide you with the fol­low­ing list. We hope this will be help­ful in your search for the best hos­pi­tal­i­ty man­age­ment degrees our col­leges have to offer. The rank­ing was cal­cu­lat­ed based using the fol­low­ing percentages:

• Cost per cred­it — 40%
• Grad­u­a­tion rate — 20%
• Stu­dent to fac­ul­ty ratio — 20%
• Aver­age ear­ly career salary — 20%

1. Stratford University

• Loca­tion: Fair­fax, VA
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 2,247
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 4 to 1
• Degrees Offered: One but less than two years cer­tifi­cate, Asso­ci­ate’s degree, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Mas­ter’s degree, Post-mas­ter’s certificate
• Accred­i­ta­tion: Accred­it­ing Coun­cil for Inde­pen­dent Col­leges and Schools as well as sev­er­al oth­er accred­it­ing bodies.

Strat­ford Uni­ver­si­ty focus­es on career prepa­ra­tion. The school pro­vides online, tra­di­tion­al brick-and-mor­tar, and blend­ed online learn­ing which com­bines advanced tech­nol­o­gy, hands-on labs and tra­di­tion­al meth­ods. SU is geared towards work­ing adults.

The Bach­e­lor of Arts in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment can be com­plet­ed online or through the tra­di­tion­al brick-and-mor­tar pro­gram. At Strat­ford, the core of knowl­edge empow­ers grad­u­ates for restau­rant man­age­ment, advanced culi­nary arts, bak­ing and pas­try arts, and man­age­ment skills need­ed for suc­cess­ful oper­a­tion of a hos­pi­tal­i­ty-relat­ed busi­ness. Skills focus on bud­get­ing, com­mu­ni­ca­tion, lead­er­ship, orga­ni­za­tion, and more. The pro­gram is com­prised of 40 class­es and 180 cred­its and can be com­plet­ed in 30 months; each class takes 5–10 weeks to com­plete depend­ing on your pac­ing. SU’s over­all phi­los­o­phy of edu­ca­tion means you will be able to pro­ceed at your own rate and receive indi­vid­u­al­ized atten­tion and sup­port. If your sched­ule requires 100 per­cent online, par­tic­i­pa­tion, it’s avail­able. If you live in any of the loca­tions where SU offers class­es, you can cre­ate a hybrid degree. The School of Hos­pi­tal­i­ty & Culi­nary Arts allows you to apply for admis­sion in Jan­u­ary, March, May, August, and Octo­ber. One of the most afford­able pro­grams on the list, it is easy to see why Strat­ford Uni­ver­si­ty offers the top online hos­pi­tal­i­ty man­age­ment degree in the nation.

• Cost per Cred­it: $370
• Pro­gram Web­site: https://www.stratford.edu/culinary-arts-and-hospitality/bachelor-hospitality-management

2. University of Massachusetts — Amherst

• Loca­tion: Amherst, MA
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 23,373
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 18 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Less than one year cer­tifi­cate, Asso­ci­ate’s degree, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree, Doc­tor’s degree — research/scholarship, Doc­tor’s degree-pro­fes­sion­al practice
• Accred­i­ta­tion: New Eng­land Asso­ci­a­tion of Schools and Col­leges, Com­mis­sion on Insti­tu­tions of High­er Edu­ca­tion as well as numer­ous oth­er accred­it­ing bodies

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts — Amherst is the flag­ship and largest school in the five-cam­pus state sys­tem. The scenic Pio­neer Val­ley of West­ern Mass­a­chu­setts pro­vides on-cam­pus stu­dents an ide­al col­lege set­ting. UMas­sOn­line is tru­ly boom­ing and now offers over 150 degrees and cer­tifi­cates online.

The Isen­berg School of Man­age­ment offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Hotel & Tourism Man­age­ment. Know­ing the busi­ness school’s rep­u­ta­tion is essen­tial: ISM was ranked #7 for Best Pub­lic in the Nation for Recruiter Sat­is­fac­tion by Busi­ness­Week in 2016 and is ranked #1 for Best Under­grad Busi­ness Pro­grams in the North­east by U.S. News and World Report for 2018. The AACSB-accred­it­ed degree in HTM pre­pares grad­u­ates for suc­cess through a proven cur­ricu­lum. Grad­u­ates work at restau­rants, hotels, casi­nos, clubs, con­tract food ser­vices, and more. Require­ments for the HTM degree include 120 cred­its; stu­dents are required to grad­u­ate with a min­i­mum of 45 cred­its tak­en through UMass Amherst. To qual­i­fy for admis­sion into the online HTM pro­gram, you need 27 trans­ferrable cred­its and are con­sid­ered a strong can­di­date with a GPA of 3.0 or above. The rep­u­ta­tion of UMass make this pro­gram worth consideration.

• Cost per Cred­it: $525
• Pro­gram Web­site:https://www.isenberg.umass.edu/programs/undergraduate/online/majors/hospitality-tourism-management

3. Johnson & Wales University

• Loca­tion: Prov­i­dence, RI
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 8,459
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 20 to 1
• Degrees Offered: One but less than two years cer­tifi­cate, Asso­ci­ate’s degree, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Mas­ter’s degree„ Post-mas­ter’s cer­tifi­cate, Doc­tor’s degree — research/scholarship
• Accred­i­ta­tion: New Eng­land Asso­ci­a­tion of Schools and Col­leges, Com­mis­sion on Insti­tu­tions of High­er Education

Found­ed as a busi­ness school at the out­break of WWI, John­son & Wales is a pri­vate, career-focused, uni­ver­si­ty. Still known for excel­lent busi­ness edu­ca­tion JWU offers numer­ous oth­er degrees in a vari­ety of fields. The Uni­ver­si­ty is divid­ed into sev­en schools: The Col­lege of Arts & Sci­ences, Col­lege of Busi­ness, Col­lege of Culi­nary Arts, Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing & Design, Col­lege of Health & Well­ness, Col­lege of Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment, and Col­lege of Online Education.

With a cred­i­ble his­to­ry and proven track record, JWU’s Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment degree is qual­i­ty. The Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree can be tak­en 100 per­cent online. The degree is catered for work­ing pro­fes­sion­als who seek to advance in their careers. The pro­gram can be com­plet­ed in four years. What­ev­er field you are cur­rent­ly work­ing in, the degree offers you advance­ment. A few exam­ples of skills include: Rev­enue man­age­ment, finan­cial analy­sis, busi­ness nego­ti­a­tions, and tourism and sus­tain­abil­i­ty dynam­ics. A tremen­dous ben­e­fit of JWU’s expe­ri­ence is their pro­fes­sion­al con­nec­tions and expert fac­ul­ty. Built over many years, indus­try con­nec­tions that will ben­e­fit you include close ties with Mar­riott, Com­pass Group, and Dar­d­en. Admis­sion requires two years of expe­ri­ence. Upcom­ing dates for admis­sion are Sep­tem­ber 3, Novem­ber 26, and March 4. 

• Cost per Cred­it: $330
• Pro­gram Web­site:https://online.jwu.edu/academics/undergraduate/hospitality-management

4. University of Alabama 

• Loca­tion: Tuscaloosa, AL
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 32,563
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 23 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Bach­e­lor’s degree, Mas­ter’s degree, Post-mas­ter’s cer­tifi­cate, Doc­tor’s degree — research/scholarship, Doc­tor’s degree-pro­fes­sion­al practice
• Accred­i­ta­tion: South­ern Asso­ci­a­tion of Col­leges and Schools, Com­mis­sion on Col­leges as well as numer­ous oth­er accred­it­ing bodies

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Alaba­ma con­sis­tent­ly ranks high in many areas. UA is the old­est uni­ver­si­ty in Alaba­ma (found­ed in 1820) and it is the flag­ship of the state sys­tem. The Uni­ver­si­ty has been ranked in the top 60 for “Best Col­leges” for over a decade by U.S. News and World Report. UA is known for excel­lent research, engi­neer­ing, and of course, Crim­son Tide football.

The option for Hotel Man­age­ment at UA comes through their BS in Com­merce and Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion. Through the Cul­ver Col­lege of Busi­ness, you will receive broad-based knowl­edge for a foun­da­tion, not just for the hos­pi­tal­i­ty indus­try, but for any busi­ness ven­ture or orga­ni­za­tion. The degree is 100-per­cent online and flex­i­ble. Its works for work­ing peo­ple, first-year stu­dents, trans­fers, or those hop­ing to use it as a path to an advanced degree. Admis­sion for trans­fers requires a 2.0 GPA, for high school grad­u­ates, a 3.0 GPA and accept­able SAT/ACT scores. You can apply by April 15 for sum­mer, July 15 for fall, or Novem­ber 15 for spring. The UAB advan­tage is their expe­ri­ence and track-record, broad-based busi­ness of foun­da­tion with a focus on Hotel Man­age­ment, and afford­abil­i­ty at $355 per cred­it. The pro­gram is AACSB-accredited.

• Cost per Cred­it: $355
• Pro­gram Web­site:http://bamabydistance.ua.edu/degrees/bs-in-cba-general-business-online/index.php

5. Indiana Wesleyan University

• Loca­tion: Mar­i­on, IN
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 2,782
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 14 to 1
• Degrees Offered: One but less than two years cer­tifi­cate, Asso­ci­ate’s degree, Bach­e­lor’s degree. Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree, Post-mas­ter’s certificate
• Accred­i­ta­tion: The Com­mis­sion on Accred­it­ing of the Asso­ci­a­tion of The­o­log­i­cal Schools and the High­er Learn­ing Commission

Indi­ana Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty is a pri­vate, Chris­t­ian uni­ver­si­ty locat­ed in Mar­i­on, Indi­ana. It is the largest pri­vate uni­ver­si­ty in the state. The School offers more than 80 under­grad­u­ate degrees, 38 grad­u­ate degrees and five doc­tor­ate degrees. IWU takes pride in a Chris­t­ian envi­ron­ment and is known for out­stand­ing adult education

If you are look­ing for an online edu­ca­tion infused with a Chris­t­ian world­view, IWU is a fit. Their BS in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment pre­pares grad­u­ates for career suc­cess and a strong faith-life. The cur­ricu­lum for the BS in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment includes foun­da­tion­al learn­ing in Busi­ness Com­mu­ni­ca­tion, Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Mar­ket Devel­op­ment, Strate­gic Human Asset Man­age­ment and more. The online pro­gram pro­ceeds sequen­tial­ly at your own pace. Once you com­plete a course, you move to the next one. Stu­dents are also required to com­plete a field expe­ri­ence. All in all, expect to inte­grate all aspects of your train­ing with a Chris­t­ian world­view. Start dates for the Online Hos­pi­tal­i­ty man­age­ment degree include August, Jan­u­ary, and May. To qual­i­fy for the pro­gram, stu­dents must have com­plet­ed a min­i­mum of 60 trans­fer­able cred­it hours from a region­al­ly accred­it­ed col­lege or university.

• Cost per Cred­it: $432

6. Fort Hays State University

• Loca­tion: Hays, KS
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 12,045
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 16 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Asso­ci­ate’s degree, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Mas­ter’s degree, Post-mas­ter’s cer­tifi­cate, Doc­tor’s degree-pro­fes­sion­al practice
• Accred­i­ta­tion: High­er Learn­ing Com­mis­sion as well as sev­er­al oth­er accred­it­ing bodies

Few founders of Fort Hays State Uni­ver­si­ty could have imag­ined the trans­for­ma­tion from dog town to boom­ing col­lege of 15,000 stu­dents. FHSU offers the most inex­pen­sive tuition in the Kansas Board of Regents Sys­tem. The School mot­to says it all, “For­ward-think­ing. World ready.” Their for­ward-think­ing goal has pro­pelled the Uni­ver­si­ty to one of the best in the state.

In the U.S., Tourism and Hos­pi­tal­i­ty ranks in the top three indus­tries, is a $1.3‑trillion indus­try, and employs 13 mil­lion peo­ple. The Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Tourism and Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment pre­pares stu­dents for a vari­ety of jobs: Cruise Direc­tor, Casi­no Man­ag­er, Restau­rant Own­er, and more. The pro­gram is the most inex­pen­sive on the list, so the return on invest­ment is very good. Some dis­tinc­tions of this pro­gram are the strong busi­ness core and the choice of con­cen­tra­tion. After a Gen­er­al Core and Busi­ness Core of class­es, stu­dents are giv­en a choice among three dif­fer­ent con­cen­tra­tions. They can choose Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Oper­a­tions, Events Man­age­ment or Health & Well­ness Tourism Oper­a­tions. Built on the sol­id busi­ness core, FSHU sets you up for suc­cess in our rapid­ly chang­ing world. With the price and flex­i­bil­i­ty of FHSU’s BS in Tourism and Hos­pi­tal­i­ty, you can add the con­ve­nience of being online. Afford­able and flex­i­ble, Fort Hays State is worth considering.

• Cost per Cred­it: $213

7. Washington State University

• Loca­tion: Pull­man, WA
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 24,904
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 15 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Less than one year cer­tifi­cate, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post­bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree, Post-mas­ter’s cer­tifi­cate, Doc­tor’s degree — research/scholarship,Doctor’s degree-pro­fes­sion­al practice
• Accred­i­ta­tion: North­west Com­mis­sion on Col­leges and Uni­ver­si­ties as well as numer­ous oth­er accred­it­ing bodies

Wash­ing­ton State Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed in 1890 as one of our nation’s land-grant uni­ver­si­ties. WSU is orga­nized into 11 col­leges offer­ing a great diver­si­ty of pro­grams. WSU also boasts 11 Nation­al Acad­e­my members.

At Wash­ing­ton State Uni­ver­si­ty, the Bachelor’s in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment (HBM) is 100 per­cent online. Stu­dents can enroll part-time or full time and almost all the cours­es are asyn­chro­nous. Grad­u­ates start their careers or advance with knowl­edge and skills for a vari­ety of posi­tions with­in the field. Skills include oper­a­tions, rev­enues, sales, ser­vice, event plan­ning, and con­sult­ing. These skills apply in hotels, restau­rants, sports and con­ven­tion cen­ters, senior facil­i­ties, and tourist des­ti­na­tions. The flow of course­work is sev­en weeks long for degree-spe­cif­ic class­es and 16 weeks for non-busi­ness cours­es. All under­grad­u­ates must com­plete the Uni­ver­si­ty Com­mon Require­ments (UCORE). These can also be ful­filled by trans­fer cred­its. A few things worth not­ing are the inter­na­tion­al expe­ri­ence require­ment that can take you to Switzer­land, as well as some spe­cif­ic Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment schol­ar­ships. The AACSB Inter­na­tion­al-accred­it­ed pro­gram is taught by the same expert fac­ul­ty that teach on cam­pus. The school’s busi­ness edu­ca­tion expe­ri­ence goes back to 1932, pro­vid­ing WSU with a long-stand­ing his­to­ry of excellence.

• Cost per Cred­it: $565
• Pro­gram Web­site:https://online.wsu.edu/undergrad/HBM.aspx

8. University of Southern Mississippi

• Loca­tion: Hat­ties­burg, MS
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 11,77
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 17 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Less than one year cer­tifi­cate, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree, Post-mas­ter’s cer­tifi­cate, Doc­tor’s degree — research/scholarship
• Accred­i­ta­tion: South­ern Asso­ci­a­tion of Col­leges and Schools, Com­mis­sion on Col­leges as well as numer­ous oth­er accred­it­ing bodies

The Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Mis­sis­sip­pi is a large, com­pre­hen­sive, pub­lic uni­ver­si­ty offer­ing numer­ous oppor­tu­ni­ties in aca­d­e­mics, ath­let­ics, and extracur­ric­u­lars. South­ern Miss began as a nor­mal school (teacher train­ing) in 1910. It is now is prized as the pre­mier research school on the Gulf Coast and has incred­i­ble study abroad choic­es through their Cen­ter for Inter­na­tion­al
Edu­ca­tion.

At South­ern Miss, the road to land­ing in the Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment world is through their Bachelor’s of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion. The gen­er­al busi­ness degree pro­vides strong foun­da­tion­al busi­ness knowl­edge and skill-set. The 100 per­cent online degree offers cours­es with­in the BSBA that focus on Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment. Class­es include Glob­al Tourism, Cus­tomer Ser­vice Man­age­ment, Hotel Oper­a­tions, Casi­no and Resort Oper­a­tions, and Casi­no and Resort Mar­ket­ing. The option at South­ern Miss may be a good fit for some­one who is inter­est­ed in the field of Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment but not exact­ly sure where they’re head­ed. The sol­id broad foun­da­tion with some spe­cial­iza­tion pro­vides an expe­ri­ence that leads to a num­ber of jobs with­in the field or fur­ther edu­ca­tion. Admis­sion require­ments include basic Eng­lish, math, and his­to­ry. USM also cred­its up to 62 hours of pre­vi­ous col­lege work. South­ern Miss is worth con­sid­er­ing; stu­dents receive the high-qual­i­ty South­ern Miss edu­ca­tion at an afford­able price.

• Cost per Cred­it: $339
• Pro­gram Web­site:https://online.usm.edu/undergrad/business-administration-bs/

9. Eastern New Mexico University

• Loca­tion: Por­tales, NM
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 4,591
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 17 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Less than one year cer­tifi­cate, One but less than two years cer­tifi­cate, Asso­ci­ate’s degree, Two but less than four years cer­tifi­cate, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree
• Accred­i­ta­tion: High­er Learn­ing Com­mis­sion as well as a few oth­er accred­it­ing bodies.

Locat­ed in Por­tales, New Mex­i­co, East­ern New Mex­i­co Uni­ver­si­ty is a pub­lic four-year uni­ver­si­ty that offers more than 60 asso­ciate, bach­e­lor’s and mas­ter’s degrees and over 30 online degrees. ENMU is known for putting stu­dents first through indi­vid­ual atten­tion at a low cost.

ENMU offers a Bach­e­lors in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion with an empha­sis in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment. The degree is 100 per­cent online and both asyn­chro­nous and syn­chro­nous depend­ing on the course. Those that are offered at spe­cif­ic times involve lis­ten­ing to spe­cif­ic lec­tures and hav­ing dis­cus­sions with those in the pro­gram. True to their mot­to, “Stu­dent Success—that’s what it’s all about!”, ENMU’s BBA in HM is afford­able. Tuition is the sec­ond low­est on our list at $246 mak­ing a strong return on invest­ment. The ACB­SP-accred­it­ed busi­ness admin­is­tra­tion core pre­pares grad­u­ates to excel in any area with­in the Hos­pi­tal­i­ty indus­try such as lodg­ing, hos­pi­tal­i­ty, restau­rants, food ser­vice, tourism, and pub­lic or pri­vate orga­ni­za­tions. Hav­ing a BBA also means you will have the poten­tial for oth­er busi­ness jobs or advanced degrees. The Col­lege of Busi­ness offers 29 schol­ar­ships for cur­rent students.

• Cost per Cred­it: $246
• Pro­gram Web­site: https://www.enmu.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1523:online-bachelor-of-business-administration-with-an-emphasis-in-hospitality-management&catid=30

10. Sullivan University

• Loca­tion: Louisville, KY
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 2,419
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 13 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Less than one year cer­tifi­cate, One but less than two years cer­tifi­cate, Asso­ci­ate’s degree, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree, Doc­tor’s degree — research/scholarship, Doc­tor’s degree-pro­fes­sion­al practice
• Accred­i­ta­tion: South­ern Asso­ci­a­tion of Col­leges and Schools, Com­mis­sion on Colleges

Sul­li­van Uni­ver­si­ty is career-focused. The Uni­ver­si­ty is ful­ly accred­it­ed and has cam­pus­es in Louisville, Lex­ing­ton, Fort Knox, var­i­ous edu­ca­tion­al cen­ters, and offers online pro­grams. Found­ed in 1962, the mis­sion to edu­cate indi­vid­u­als with high stan­dards remains. 

The Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment at Sul­li­van is ful­ly online and accred­it­ed. The degree is offered through SU’s Nation­al Cen­ter for Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Stud­ies, a nation­al­ly rec­og­nized leader in train­ing busi­ness­men and women with knowl­edge, skill, and lead­er­ship. The Cen­ter was ranked in the Top 20 Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment Schools by Full Ser­vice Restau­rant Mag­a­zine. The total num­ber of cred­its for the degree is 180 quar­ter cred­its (120 per semes­ter). Depend­ing on trans­fer cred­its, pac­ing, and oth­er fac­tors it is pos­si­ble to com­plete the BS in HM in as lit­tle as 18 months. Know­ing that fac­ul­ty are rec­og­nized lead­ers and authors with­in the hos­pi­tal­i­ty indus­try gives you con­fi­dence about the qual­i­ty of edu­ca­tion. The small class­es are also an advan­tage to learn­ing that sticks. SU has a rolling admis­sion and no dead­lines; class­es start in Jan­u­ary, March, June, and September.

• Cost per Cred­it: $490
• Pro­gram Web­site: https://sullivan.edu/national-center-for-hospitality-studies/bachelor-of-science-in-hospitality-management/

11. Northern Arizona University 

• Loca­tion: Flagstaff, AZ
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 26,500
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 18 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Less than one year cer­tifi­cate, One but less than two years cer­tifi­cate, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree, Post-mas­ter’s cer­tifi­cate, Doc­tor’s degree — research/scholarship, Doc­tor’s degree-pro­fes­sion­al practice
• Accred­i­ta­tion: High­er Learn­ing Com­mis­sion as well as numer­ous oth­er accred­it­ing bodies

North­ern Ari­zona Uni­ver­si­ty is a large pub­lic research uni­ver­si­ty locat­ed in Flagstaff, Ari­zona. NAU start­ed as a teacher train­ing school in 1899 with 23 stu­dents. It now edu­cates tens of thou­sands of stu­dents in face-to-face, hybrid, and online degrees. 

NAU’s School of Hotel and Restau­rant Man­age­ment offers a Bachelor’s in Hotels and Restau­rant Man­age­ment. The degree is accred­it­ed by the Accred­i­ta­tion Com­mis­sion For Pro­grams In Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Admin­is­tra­tion (ACPHA) – an hon­or held by few­er than 20 per­cent of hos­pi­tal­i­ty pro­grams. Know­ing this can increase your con­fi­dence in the aca­d­e­m­ic qual­i­ty of the degree. It also is a fac­tor in cal­cu­lat­ing the ROI of the pro­gram. Trans­fer cred­its are accept­ed, and dif­fer­ent cred­it amounts depend on the school of ori­gin. Of the 120 total required, stu­dents estab­lish a sol­id busi­ness foun­da­tion before the upper-divi­sion Hos­pi­tal­i­ty core. There are two cap­stone projects. The junior-year project is writ­ing, and the senior cap­stone involves appli­ca­tion, syn­the­sis, prac­tice, or inquiry. Upon clos­er exam­i­na­tion of the pro­gram, it becomes clear that the pedi­gree and qual­i­ty is high. For exam­ple, there are detailed stu­dent out­comes for sev­en areas from Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment Con­tent Knowl­edge to Crit­i­cal Think­ing. For those inter­est­ed in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment, North­ern Ari­zona is worth considering.

• Cost per Cred­it: $459
• Pro­gram Web­site:https://ec.nau.edu/BachelorsDegrees/HotelAndRestaurantManagement-24/

12. SUNY College of Technology at Delhi

• Loca­tion: Del­hi, NY
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 3,474
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 16 to 1
• Degrees Offered: One but less than two years cer­tifi­cate, Asso­ci­ate’s degree, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Mas­ter’s degree
• Accred­i­ta­tion: Mid­dle States Com­mis­sion on High­er Edu­ca­tion as well as sev­er­al oth­er accred­it­ing bodies

The State Uni­ver­si­ty of New York at Del­hi, or SUNY Del­hi, began with nine stu­dents in a Dairy Barn. Today the pub­lic uni­ver­si­ty has 3400 under­grad­u­ates and a cam­pus with mul­ti­ple new build­ings. Pro­grams of note at SUNY Del­hi are their award-win­ning Golf and Turf Man­age­ment and their Culi­nary Arts programs.

The Bach­e­lor of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment degree at SUNY is online and high-qual­i­ty. As one of the old­est Hos­pi­tal­i­ty pro­grams in the nation, SUNY knows how to pre­pare grad­u­ates for suc­cess start­ing on day one. The degree includes a strong expe­ri­en­tial require­ment of 320 hours of work expe­ri­ence in a relat­ed field. Why not accom­plish that at Dis­ney World Resort? SUNY’s BBA in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment pro­vides you that option—to earn cred­its in the six-month Walt Dis­ney Col­lege Pro­gram. At SUNY you are taught by expert fac­ul­ty with pro­fes­sion­al con­nec­tions. SUNY has grad­u­ates work­ing at Hyatt, Hilton, Mar­riott, and Gay­lord Enter­tain­ment. Admis­sion is rolling and requires a cumu­la­tive GPA of 2.3 or above and 60 hours of pre­vi­ous cred­its (can be met by trans­fer­ring or at SUNY), and spe­cif­ic lib­er­al-arts prerequisites. 

• Cost per Cred­it: $333

13. Norfolk State University

• Loca­tion: Nor­folk, VA
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 4,739
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 17 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Asso­ci­ate’s degree, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Mas­ter’s degree, Doc­tor’s degree — research/scholarship, Doc­tor’s degree-pro­fes­sion­al practice
• Accred­i­ta­tion: South­ern Asso­ci­a­tion of Col­leges and Schools, Com­mis­sion on Col­leges as well as sev­er­al oth­er accred­it­ing bodies.

Estab­lished dur­ing the Great Depres­sion, Nor­folk State Uni­ver­si­ty is one of the old­est his­tor­i­cal­ly black uni­ver­si­ties in Amer­i­ca. NSU is a com­pre­hen­sive urban pub­lic insti­tu­tion that offers over 50 degrees. In 2000, it was award­ed a grant by NASA to con­duct research on cam­pus, an area that has grown into a point of pride.

The 120-cred­it Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Tourism and Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment at NSU can be com­plet­ed on cam­pus or online. The hos­pi­tal­i­ty indus­try is very com­pet­i­tive and has evolved rapid­ly in recent years. Thank­ful­ly, the AACSB-accred­it­ed Col­lege of Busi­ness HM cur­ricu­lum pro­vides all the foun­da­tions in the lib­er­al arts core and busi­ness cours­es to pre­pare you to lead. From Basic Prin­ci­ples of Eco­nom­ics to Com­put­ers in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty, NSU has you cov­ered. The abil­i­ty to com­plete the degree 100 per­cent online is a plus in today’s fast-paced cul­ture. There is an expe­ri­ence-based cred­it as well as a senior project for the HM degree. Admis­sion requires a $25 non-refund­able fee, and NSU takes into con­sid­er­a­tion SAT/ACT among oth­er fac­tors to deter­mine acceptance. 

• Cost per Cred­it: $376
• Pro­gram Web­site:https://www.nsu.edu/Academics/Faculty-and-Academic-Divisions/Schools-and-Colleges/School-of-Business/Programs/Tourism-and-Hospitality

14. California State University East Bay

• Loca­tion: Hay­ward, CA
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 13,407
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 27 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Bach­e­lor’s degree, Mas­ter’s degree, Doc­tor’s degree 
• Accred­i­ta­tion: West­ern Asso­ci­a­tion of Schools and Col­leges, Senior Col­lege and Uni­ver­si­ty Com­mis­sion as well as sev­er­al oth­er accred­it­ing bodies

Of the 23-cam­pus Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem, Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty East Bay is con­sid­ered by some to be the best. In 2013, Prince­ton Review ranked it in the “Best in the West.” Cal State East Bay is locat­ed in Hay­ward and was found­ed in 1957.

CSUEB offers a BS in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty and Tourism through the Depart­ment of Hos­pi­tal­i­ty, Recre­ation, and Tourism. The Pro­gram “pre­pares stu­dents to become pro­fes­sion­als in our dynam­ic, grow­ing and excit­ing indus­try.” Cal State under­stands what it takes for suc­cess with a focus on peo­ple and cre­ative prob­lem-solv­ing skills. This focus is pre­cise­ly what is need­ed whether you choose to become a Resort Man­ag­er, Eco-Tourism Pro­fes­sion­al, Food Sup­pli­er, or a Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Sales and Mar­ket­ing Man­ag­er. Besides the gen­er­al core and busi­ness class­es, you are required to com­plete a Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Intern­ship. The degree can be entire­ly online, hybrid, or on-cam­pus depend­ing on what works best for you. Close­ly relat­ed to the BS in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty, CSUEB also offers a BS in Recre­ation Man­age­ment or Recre­ation Ther­a­py. With a price of $368 per cred­it, Cal State East Bay may be the place for you.

• Cost per Cred­it: $368
• Pro­gram Web­site:http://catalog.csueastbay.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=4&poid=1488

15. Bay State College

• Loca­tion: Boston, MA
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 889
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 14 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Less than one year cer­tifi­cate, Asso­ci­ate’s degree, Bach­e­lor’s degree
• Accred­i­ta­tion: New Eng­land Asso­ci­a­tion of Schools and Col­leges, Com­mis­sion on Insti­tu­tions of High­er Edu­ca­tion as well as sev­er­al oth­er accred­it­ing bodies

Three val­ues guide Bay State College—Quality, Respect and Sup­port. Since 1946, the College’s focus has been career-focused. To this day the pri­vate insti­tu­tion pro­vides qual­i­ty and afford­able edu­ca­tion. BSC is known for busi­ness, infor­ma­tion tech­nol­o­gy, and healthcare.

Bay State offers a Bachelor’s of Sci­ence in Man­age­ment with a con­cen­tra­tion in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment. With sol­id busi­ness prepa­ra­tion and three internship/work expe­ri­ence require­ments, you will be pre­pared and con­fi­dent on your first day of work. Since BSC is locat­ed in Boston, there are a num­ber of fan­tas­tic places to gain valu­able real-world expe­ri­ence. Stu­dents can also add expert fac­ul­ty and a sup­port­ive atmos­phere to the loca­tion advan­tage. Flex­i­bil­i­ty should be men­tioned as well. The 100-per­cent online degree offers class­es every eight weeks you can take at your con­ve­nience; they are avail­able 24/7. With rolling admis­sion, there are no dead­lines either. Busi­ness­es grad­u­ates are employed at Mar­riott Cor­po­ra­tion, Jet­Blue, Aar­mark, Hard Rock Cafe, and Star­wood Hotels to name a few. Over­all, the strong busi­ness focus and hands-on learn­ing, flex­i­bil­i­ty, and afford­abil­i­ty put BSC on our list.

• Cost per Cred­it: $400

16. Granite State College

• Loca­tion: Con­cord, NH
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents:1,854
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 13 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Asso­ci­ate’s degree, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree
• Accred­i­ta­tion: New Eng­land Asso­ci­a­tion of Schools and Col­leges, Com­mis­sion on Insti­tu­tions of High­er Education

Gran­ite State Col­lege is locat­ed in Con­cord, New Hamp­shire. Since GSC’s incep­tion in the 70’s it has pro­vid­ed acces­si­ble, afford­able, and qual­i­ty career-focused edu­ca­tion for adults. Gran­ite State oper­ates sev­en statewide loca­tions and a rec­og­nized online pres­ence (U.S. News and World Report rec­og­nized it for Best Online Bachelor’s in 2018.)

At Gran­ite State the BS in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment is online and afford­able. To cut to the chase, GSC tuition is the fourth low­est on our list at $307. With 84 per­cent trans­fer stu­dents in the BSHM pro­gram, you can see the draw. The degree is designed to build on a pre­vi­ous asso­ci­ate’s degree in hos­pi­tal­i­ty ser­vices, tourism, or a relat­ed field. Though hav­ing an associate’s from a region­al­ly-accred­it­ed school is the nor­mal route, pro­fes­sion­al expe­ri­ence or licen­sure is pos­si­ble as an excep­tion. You can also be admit­ted as a true fresh­men. With rolling admis­sion, there are no dead­lines. What­ev­er road you may choose, if you end up at GSC you will acquire knowl­edge and best prac­tices in ser­vice and hos­pi­tal­i­ty man­age­ment to be set up for suc­cess in a vari­ety of jobs. The degree is online but does include a cou­ple of on-cam­pus visits. 

• Cost per Cred­it: $307

17. Charleston Southern University

• Loca­tion: Charleston, SC
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 3,204
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 15 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Bach­e­lor’s degree, Mas­ter’s degree, Post-mas­ter’s certificate
• Accred­i­ta­tion: South­ern Asso­ci­a­tion of Col­leges and Schools, Com­mis­sion on Colleges

For over 50 years Charleston South­ern Uni­ver­si­ty has been train­ing young men and women with an inte­grat­ed edu­ca­tion of faith, learn­ing, lead­er­ship, and ser­vice. CSU (for­mer­ly Bap­tist Col­lege at Charleston) is affil­i­at­ed with South Car­oli­na Bap­tist Con­ven­tion. The Chris­t­ian school offers 48 under­grad­u­ate degrees and eight grad­u­ate degree programs.

U.S. News and World Report rec­og­nize the Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty and Tourism degree at Charleston South­ern for “Best Online Pro­gram.” The online degree is an Orga­ni­za­tion­al Man­age­ment degree with Con­cen­tra­tion in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty. The cur­ricu­lum is built on 47 cred­its of CSU’s Lib­er­al Arts Core. Like any degree at CSU, the Chris­t­ian faith is infused through­out with pro­fes­sion­al fac­ul­ty who take a per­son­al inter­est. For exam­ple, you are required to take an Old and New Tes­ta­ment Sur­vey class. The Hos­pi­tal­i­ty and Tourism por­tion of the degree is 51 hours. Includ­ed in your prepa­ra­tion is busi­ness cours­es on macro­eco­nom­ics, busi­ness man­age­ment, and oth­er fun­da­men­tals. Also you learn all the basics of the indus­try of Hos­pi­tal­i­ty and Tourism: Orga­ni­za­tion­al Behav­ior, Advanced Mar­ket­ing, Plan­ning and Devel­op­ing as well as unique case studies. 

• Cost per Cred­it: $470
• Pro­gram Web­site: http://www.csuniv.edu/hospitality/index.php

18. Arizona State University

• Loca­tion: Tempe, AZ
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 42,477
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 23 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Less than one year cer­tifi­cate, One but less than two years cer­tifi­cate, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree, Doc­tor’s degree — research/scholarship
• Accred­i­ta­tion: High­er Learn­ing Com­mis­sion as well as numer­ous oth­er accred­it­ing bodies

Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty is a large, pub­lic met­ro­pol­i­tan research uni­ver­si­ty in Tempe, Ari­zona. ASU is rec­og­nized as an inno­v­a­tive uni­ver­si­ty and has more Ful­bright schol­ars than Cor­nell, UC Berke­ley, Duke, and UCLA. ASU is also known for its excel­lent aca­d­e­mics and is one of the more selec­tive colleges.

Ari­zona State’s top-ranked W.P Carey School of Busi­ness offers an online Bach­e­lor of Arts in Busi­ness Tourism. Taught by W. P. Carey fac­ul­ty, which includes a Nobel Lau­re­ate, Nation­al Acad­e­my of Sci­ences mem­bers, and experts in the field assures you of the qual­i­ty. Like most things in life, though, qual­i­ty costs more. Tuition at ASU is one of the high­est on our list at $618 a cred­it. This inte­grat­ed and inter­dis­ci­pli­nary degree is unique. With a sol­id foun­da­tion in busi­ness prin­ci­ples, you make your­self mar­ketable for a vari­ety of jobs. Admis­sion require­ments vary depend­ing on if you are a res­i­dent or not but in gen­er­al include a 3.0 GPA, a top 25 per­cent rank­ing in your high school class, and an SAT Rea­son­ing score of 1120 or 1180 (res­i­den­t/non-res­i­dent). Some careers avail­able to you are Sales Man­ag­er, Tour Guide, Trav­el Agent, or Busi­ness Analyst. 

• Cost per Cred­it: $618
• Pro­gram Web­site: https://asuonline.asu.edu/online-degree-programs/undergraduate/bachelor-arts-business-tourism

19. Missouri State University

• Loca­tion: Spring­field, MO
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 20,316
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 22 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Less than one year cer­tifi­cate, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree, Post-mas­ter’s cer­tifi­cate, Doc­tor’s degree — pro­fes­sion­al practice
• Accred­i­ta­tion: High­er Learn­ing Com­mis­sion as well as numer­ous oth­er accred­it­ing bodies

Mis­souri State Uni­ver­si­ty traces its begin­nings to the State Fruit Exper­i­ment Sta­tion in Moun­tain Grove, MO in 1899. From there MSU became a nor­mal school and trained teach­ers. Now Mis­souri State is a large, pub­lic research insti­tu­tion (Moun­tain Grove is still a research sta­tion). Mis­souri State is known for busi­ness and research.

The Depart­ment of Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Lead­er­ship at Mis­souri State Uni­ver­si­ty offers two degrees, a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence and a Bach­e­lor of Applied Sci­ence. The BAS is online and flex­i­ble. It is designed for stu­dents who have earned an Asso­ciate of Applied Sci­ence in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment or Culi­nary Arts. The pro­gram pre­pares you for a num­ber of excit­ing careers with a great vari­ety of com­pa­nies: restau­rants, casi­nos, tourist orga­ni­za­tions, air­lines, and many more. Some­thing to note is the Hotel Nikko San Fran­cis­co Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Lead­ers Schol­ar­ship. Aimed at Juniors and Seniors, the schol­ar­ship is worth up to $7500. The pro­gram includes all the knowl­edge and skills for today’s com­pet­i­tive hos­pi­tal­i­ty indus­try from busi­ness man­age­ment skills to finan­cial planning—leadership train­ing is incor­po­rat­ed through­out the degree. 

• Cost per Cred­it: $477
• Pro­gram Web­site: https://outreach.missouristate.edu/online/bashl.aspx

20. Monroe College

• Loca­tion: Bronx, NY
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 5,888
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 18 to 1
• Degrees Offered: One but less than two years cer­tifi­cate, Asso­ci­ate’s degree
• Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree practice
• Accred­i­ta­tion: Mid­dle States Com­mis­sion on High­er Education

Mon­roe Col­lege is locat­ed in the Bronx. The school was found­ed in 1933 and is focused on career edu­ca­tion. Mon­roe Col­lege offers many degrees includ­ing over 30 online pro­grams. Being as they oper­ate on three semes­ters, stu­dents have the poten­tial to com­plete their bachelor’s in three years. 

Mon­roe Col­lege is known for its excel­lent School of Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment and Culi­nary Arts pro­gram. Through the ful­ly-accred­it­ed School, you can earn an asso­ci­ate’s, bachelor’s, and/or mas­ter’s. The Bachelor’s in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment will open the doors to a num­ber of careers. A sam­pling includes Des­ti­na­tion and Trav­el Resort Man­ag­er, Direc­tor of House­keep­ing Facil­i­ties, and Food and Bev­er­age Man­ag­er. There are many more choic­es than these as the BBA in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment at Mon­roe is tru­ly real-world train­ing. This is espe­cial­ly true because of the teach­ers. The fac­ul­ty includes expe­ri­enced chefs, exec­u­tive pas­try chefs, and hos­pi­tal­i­ty man­agers who under­stand the field and know what it takes to suc­ceed. The online pro­grams are asyn­chro­nous and can be tak­en in 7 ½ and 15-week ses­sions. With an excep­tion­al fac­ul­ty, qual­i­ty his­to­ry, and online flex­i­bil­i­ty Mon­roe could be the place for you.

• Cost per Cred­it: $579
• Pro­gram Web­site: https://www.monroecollege.edu/Online/Online-Degrees/Online-Bachelors-Degrees/Online-Bachelors-Hospitality-Degree/

21. University of the Southwest

• Loca­tion: Hobbs, NM
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 530
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 13 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Bach­e­lor’s degree, Mas­ter’s degree
• Accred­i­ta­tion: High­er Learn­ing Commission

The Uni­ver­si­ty of the South­west (USW) is a pri­vate Chris­t­ian school locat­ed in Hobbs, New Mex­i­co. From USW’s incep­tion in the late fifties it is has sought to form young men and women to make a pos­i­tive dif­fer­ence in the world. The school is non-denom­i­na­tion­al and offers a vari­ety of under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate degrees. 

The Bachelor’s of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment from USW will pre­pare you to enter the indus­try at a high lev­el. Besides a high­er earn­ing poten­tial and ROI for your edu­ca­tion, the degree gives you fun­da­men­tals for any busi­ness ven­ture or com­pa­ny. Grad­u­ates typ­i­cal­ly work in hotels, tourism com­pa­nies, tradeshow and con­ven­tion host­ing, food ser­vice, and oth­er hos­pi­tal­i­ty ser­vice orga­ni­za­tions. The degree is 100 per­cent online, hybrid, or on-cam­pus. Ulti­mate flex­i­bil­i­ty is yours regard­ing class time and sched­ule. As a Chris­t­ian uni­ver­si­ty, you will have ele­ments of faith inte­grat­ed into your lib­er­al-arts core. On top of the core, there is busi­ness cours­es in finance, man­age­ment, and more as well as hos­pi­tal­i­ty course­work. The same fac­ul­ty teach­es all class­es as the USW tra­di­tion­al brick-and-mor­tar cur­ricu­lum. Tuition is afford­able at $449 a credit.

• Cost per Cred­it: $449
• Pro­gram Web­site:https://online.usw.edu/bba-hospitality-management

22. North Carolina Central University

• Loca­tion: Durham, NC
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 6,283
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 16 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree, Doc­tor’s degree — research/scholarship, Doc­tor’s degree — pro­fes­sion­al practice
• Accred­i­ta­tion: South­ern Asso­ci­a­tion of Col­leges and Schools, Com­mis­sion on Col­leges as well as sev­er­al oth­er accred­it­ing bodies

The his­to­ry of North Car­oli­na Cen­tral Uni­ver­si­ty is deep and impor­tant. NCCU was found­ed in 1909 by James E. Shep­ard as the Nation­al Reli­gious Train­ing School and Chau­tauqua for the Col­ored Race. Aid­ed by finan­cial sup­port from Woodrow Wil­son and oth­er pro­gres­sives the insti­tu­tion sur­vived and is now thriv­ing; it is known for excel­lent lib­er­al arts, law, and busi­ness. NCCU is a mem­ber of the Thur­good Mar­shall Col­lege Fund.

The Bachelor’s of Sci­ence in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty and Tourism Admin­is­tra­tion at NCCU is ACPHA-accred­it­ed, and the Busi­ness School which hous­es the pro­gram is AACSB accred­it­ed. The pro­gram is online and will pre­pare young men and women to take lead­er­ship in the grow­ing and com­pet­i­tive field of hos­pi­tal­i­ty man­age­ment. Whether you seek to gain entry to Lodg­ing, Con­ven­tion and Vis­i­tors Bureaus, Resorts, Food Ser­vice, Cruise Lines, or Air­lines you will be ready on day one. Cours­es include all the knowl­edge, skills, and best prac­tices in this dynam­ic field. The degree is 128 cred­its. Admis­sion requires a min­i­mum 2.5 GPA. The com­bi­na­tion of afford­abil­i­ty, flex­i­bil­i­ty, and qual­i­ty make NCCU a com­pelling option. 

• Cost per Cred­it: $573
• Pro­gram Web­site:https://nccuonline.nccu.edu/programs/hospitality-tourism-administration/

23. East Carolina University

• Loca­tion: Greenville, NC
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 22,969
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 18 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree, Post-mas­ter’s cer­tifi­cate, Doc­tor’s degree — research/scholarship, Doc­tor’s degree — pro­fes­sion­al practice
• Accred­i­ta­tion: South­ern Asso­ci­a­tion of Col­leges and Schools, Com­mis­sion on Col­leges as well as numer­ous oth­er accred­it­ing bodies

East Car­oli­na Uni­ver­si­ty is a large pub­lic uni­ver­si­ty in Greenville, North Car­oli­na. Found­ed in 1907, ECU now serves 28,000 stu­dents and offers more than 100 under­grad­u­ate degrees and more than 75 mas­ter’s pro­grams. Besides their main cam­pus, ECU oper­ates a Health Sci­ences Cam­pus, West Research Cam­pus, the Field Sta­tion for Coastal Stud­ies in New Hol­land, North Car­oli­na, and the Mil­len­ni­al Research and Inno­va­tion Campus.

The expe­ri­ence, sup­port, and resources of the Col­lege of Busi­ness are behind ECU’s Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment, mak­ing it a pro­gram worth con­sid­er­ing. The pro­gram, housed in the Depart­ment of Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Lead­er­ship, is entire­ly online and packed with all the knowl­edge and skills you need to be suc­cess­ful. Add to the con­ve­nience of the online learn­ing expe­ri­ence the choice to con­cen­trate on the area you want: Con­ven­tion and Spe­cial Events Man­age­ment, Food and Bev­er­age Man­age­ment, or Lodg­ing Man­age­ment. The cur­ricu­lum includes a num­ber of expe­ri­ence-based require­ments, includ­ing an inter­na­tion­al expe­ri­ence. Anoth­er unique choice you have at ECU is the ease to either move into or begin your degree that will end with a grad­u­ate degree in the field. A notable down­side is that tuition is near­ly the most expen­sive on our top 30. 

• Cost per Cred­it: $716
• Pro­gram Web­site: https://business.ecu.edu/shl/

24. Bethune-Cookman University

• Loca­tion: Day­tona Beach, FL
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 3,796
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 15 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Bach­e­lor’s degree, Mas­ter’s degree
• Accred­i­ta­tion: South­ern Asso­ci­a­tion of Col­leges and Schools, Com­mis­sion on College

Bethune-Cook­man Uni­ver­si­ty is a pri­vate, his­tor­i­cal­ly black col­lege. Found­ed for girls to learn indus­tri­al skills, Bethune-Cook­man now offers 39 bach­e­lor’s degrees and six mas­ter’s degrees. It is known for out­stand­ing lib­er­al arts, busi­ness, engi­neer­ing, and music. 

The online Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment is designed for the work­ing per­son. The online plat­form pro­vides the flex­i­bil­i­ty to bal­ance edu­ca­tion and the busy life we live today. ACPHA-accred­it­ed and built on the same excel­lent fac­ul­ty who teach on cam­pus and the same proven cur­ricu­lum. The BS in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment pre­pares you for entry into the excit­ing field in a wide range of pos­si­bil­i­ties from air­lines to food­ser­vice man­age­ment. If you hap­pen to be in high school and know you want to enter the indus­try, the School of Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment offers the Hyatt Sum­mer Bridge Pro­gram. An often over­looked, but impor­tant con­sid­er­a­tion in choos­ing a high-qual­i­ty pro­gram is the indus­try con­nec­tions. At B‑CU you will be con­nect­ed with incred­i­ble expe­ri­ence oppor­tu­ni­ties that can even lead to a career; part­ners include Mar­riott Inter­na­tion­al, Hyatt, Res­i­dence Inn Day­tona Beach Ocean­front, The Plaza Resort & Spa, Blue­green Cor­po­ra­tion, and more. 

• Cost per Cred­it: $560

25. Union Institute & University

• Loca­tion: Cincin­nati, OH
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 837
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 8 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree, Post-mas­ter’s cer­tifi­cate, Doc­tor’s degree — research/scholarship
• Accred­i­ta­tion: High­er Learn­ing Commission

The his­to­ry of Union Insti­tute & Uni­ver­si­ty is unique and fas­ci­nat­ing. The School was formed when nine uni­ver­si­ties decid­ed to coor­di­nate in edu­ca­tion­al inno­va­tion. At first, it was mod­eled on the Oxbridge tuto­r­i­al sys­tem. It is now an accred­it­ed, non-prof­it uni­ver­si­ty focus­ing on dig­i­tal learning.

UI&U offers a BS in Busi­ness Man­age­ment with a con­cen­tra­tion in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment. The crit­i­cal advan­tage is flex­i­bil­i­ty. If you are bring­ing pre­vi­ous cred­its or if you need to con­tin­ue work­ing while going to school, Union may fit the bill. The degree can be tak­en entire­ly online or hybrid and can be full-time or part-time. You are free to study at the time of your choos­ing (asyn­chro­nous). Class­es start every eight weeks giv­ing you the abil­i­ty to begin when­ev­er is most con­ve­nient. The Uni­ver­si­ty will also take up to 90 trans­fer cred­its. The 120-cred­it program’s cur­ricu­lum is built on Union’s gen­er­al ed core, the busi­ness core, and class­es in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty for your con­cen­tra­tion. With the man­age­ment degree comes the abil­i­ty to apply your skills in many posi­tions with­in the Hos­pi­tal­i­ty indus­try, and if you choose, in a dif­fer­ent field. With the incred­i­ble flex­i­bil­i­ty, it’s easy to see why Union made our top 30. 

• Cost per Cred­it: $545
• Pro­gram Web­site: https://myunion.edu/academics/bachelors/business-management/

26. University of South Carolina

• Loca­tion: Colum­bia, South Car­oli­na
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 25,556
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 18 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Less than one year cer­tifi­cate, Asso­ci­ate’s degree, Two but less than four years cer­tifi­cate, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree, Post-mas­ter’s cer­tifi­cate, Doc­tor’s degree — research/scholarship, Doc­tor’s degree — pro­fes­sion­al practice
• Accred­i­ta­tion: South­ern Asso­ci­a­tion of Col­leges and Schools, Com­mis­sion on Col­leges as well as numer­ous oth­er accred­it­ing bodies

The Uni­ver­si­ty of South Car­oli­na was estab­lished in the wake of the Amer­i­can Rev­o­lu­tion to unite peo­ple. Offer­ing a tra­di­tion­al clas­si­cal cur­ricu­lum, South Car­oli­na Col­lege earned a rep­u­ta­tion as the train­ing ground for the ante­bel­lum elite. Today, the Uni­ver­si­ty of South Car­oli­na is flour­ish­ing and con­tin­ues aca­d­e­m­ic excel­lence. USC is known for research, busi­ness, engi­neer­ing, and more.

The Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment at the Uni­ver­si­ty of South Car­oli­na is designed for stu­dents who have pre­vi­ous edu­ca­tion or an asso­ciate degree in the field. If you are a true fresh­man, you can choose to earn your asso­ciate at USC and then enter the BS in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment as well. USC Beau­fort issues the online degree and admin­is­tered through Pal­met­to Col­lege, a part of USC that spe­cial­izes in online edu­ca­tion and asso­ciate degrees. Admis­sion require­ments include a 2.0 GPA and a min­i­mum of 45 cred­its. The degree is online and can be tak­en full-time (and be com­plet­ed in two years) or part-time. Appli­ca­tions for Fall are due in August and Sum­mer are due in May. What­ev­er route you choose, if you go through the pro­gram at USC you will be pre­pared with the busi­ness know-how and lead­er­ship sense to start with con­fi­dence on day one. 

• Cost per Cred­it: $848

27. Troy University

• Loca­tion: Troy, AL
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 14,144
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 15 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Less than one year cer­tifi­cate, Asso­ci­ate’s degree,
• Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree, Post-mas­ter’s cer­tifi­cate, Doc­tor’s degree — pro­fes­sion­al practice
• Accred­i­ta­tion: South­ern Asso­ci­a­tion of Col­leges and Schools, Com­mis­sion on Colleges

Troy Uni­ver­si­ty is a pub­lic uni­ver­si­ty with a main cam­pus in Troy, Alaba­ma. It is gen­uine­ly spread all over Amer­i­ca and the world with 60 teach­ing sites in 17 U.S. States and 11 coun­tries. In addi­tion to offer­ing excel­lent tra­di­tion­al on-cam­pus asso­ciate to doctor’s degrees, Troy is known for a rapid­ly grow­ing and effec­tive online education.

The Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty, Sports, and Tourism Man­age­ment is a new degree at Troy. The BS in HSTM is ful­ly online and pro­vides stu­dents the flex­i­bil­i­ty they need to accom­plish work and school, trans­fer in from anoth­er insti­tu­tion, or com­plete an asso­ci­ate’s at your pace on your time. The HSTM pro­gram offers three con­cen­tra­tions, Hos­pi­tal­i­ty, Sports, or Tourism. This focus enables you to enter the area of the indus­try you want. The fac­ul­ty at Troy are known for research. Areas of exper­tise include eco­nom­ic val­u­a­tion, mar­ket­ing, legal aspects and tourism devel­op­ment and plan­ning, and more. At Troy, you are taught by experts and thus, can gain the abil­i­ty to ana­lyze, lead, and resolve issues in the chal­leng­ing and com­pet­i­tive industry. 

• Cost per Cred­it: $632

28. Robert Morris University

• Loca­tion: Moon Town­ship, PA
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 4,384
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 15 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Less than one year cer­tifi­cate, One but less than two years cer­tifi­cate, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree, Doc­tor’s degree — research/scholarship, Doc­tor’s degree — pro­fes­sion­al practice
• Accred­i­ta­tion: Mid­dle States Com­mis­sion on High­er Education

Robert Mor­ris Uni­ver­si­ty is a pri­vate school locat­ed in Moon, a sub­urb of Pitts­burgh. Found­ed in 1921 as a busi­ness school, RMU con­tin­ues to pro­vide per­son­al and pro­fes­sion­al edu­ca­tion. RMU is rec­og­nized (among oth­er things) for nurs­ing, edu­ca­tion, com­put­er infor­ma­tion tech­nol­o­gy, and busi­ness grad­u­ate programs.

RMU offers an entire­ly online BS in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment. The school web­site states, that “Every grad­u­ate of the RMU hos­pi­tal­i­ty and tourism degree pro­gram is cur­rent­ly employed.” With proven suc­cess, you know what you’re going to get and can eval­u­ate the cost. Tuition is the sec­ond high­est, though no oth­er school on our list boast­ed a 100 per­cent job place­ment rate. The BSHM degree is taught by the same expe­ri­enced School of Busi­ness fac­ul­ty as tra­di­tion­al learn­ers. The cur­ricu­lum includes 42 cred­its of the RMU core, 30 of Busi­ness Foun­da­tion, 21 in the HM con­cen­tra­tion, and 27 elec­tive cred­its. There is no appli­ca­tion fee, and you can do it online. All in all, what you know at RMU is the assured qual­i­ty that will allow you to step into a job with skill and con­fi­dence on day one. 

• Cost per Cred­it: $930

29. Florida International University

• Loca­tion: Mia­mi, FL
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 45,856
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 27 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Asso­ci­ate’s degree, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree, Post-mas­ter’s cer­tifi­cate, Doc­tor’s degree — research/scholarship, Doc­tor’s degree-pro­fes­sion­al practice
• Accred­i­ta­tion: South­ern Asso­ci­a­tion of Col­leges and Schools, Com­mis­sion on Col­leges as well as numer­ous oth­er accred­it­ing bodies

Flori­da Inter­na­tion­al Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed in 1965 and began on an aban­doned airstrip. It is now one of the largest uni­ver­si­ties in the nation. FIU is known for research and is des­ig­nat­ed as the high­est research activ­i­ty by Carnegie. FIU offers near­ly 300 majors to choose from and has a robust online learn­ing presence. 

At FIU the 100 per­cent online Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment pre­pares stu­dents for the hos­pi­tal­i­ty indus­try of the 21st cen­tu­ry. If you hap­pen to be FIU alum­ni, cor­po­rate part­ner, or vet­er­ans you are eli­gi­ble for a $2,250 schol­ar­ship for the BSHM pro­gram. Through the Chap­lin School of Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment, which opened the first Amer­i­can hos­pi­tal­i­ty and tourism school in Tian­jin, Chi­na, and is nation­al­ly rec­og­nized, you will be taught well. The cur­ricu­lum is 60 cred­its of low­er-divi­sion, 30 of Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Core, 18–30 of Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Elec­tive (with options for 18 Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Major Cours­es), an option­al minor, and a required 1300 hours of Indus­try Expe­ri­ence. If you have over 1000 hours of pre­vi­ous expe­ri­ence, you may be able to apply those to the require­ment. All in all, FIU’s degree is impres­sive in qual­i­ty while hav­ing rea­son­able tuition.

• Cost per Cred­it: $618
• Pro­gram Web­site: https://hospitality.fiu.edu/online/

30. Coastal Carolina University

• Loca­tion: Con­way, SC
• Total Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents: 9,747
• Stu­dent to Fac­ul­ty Ratio: 17 to 1
• Degrees Offered: Less than one year cer­tifi­cate, Asso­ci­ate’s degree, Bach­e­lor’s degree, Post Bac­calau­re­ate cer­tifi­cate, Mas­ter’s degree, Post-mas­ter’s cer­tifi­cate, Doc­tor’s degree — research/scholarship
• Accred­i­ta­tion: South­ern Asso­ci­a­tion of Col­leges and Schools, Com­mis­sion on Col­leges as well as sev­er­al oth­er accred­it­ing bodies

Coastal Car­oli­na Uni­ver­si­ty is a nation­al sea-grant insti­tu­tion locat­ed in Con­way, South Car­oli­na. The school owns part of Waties Island which oper­ates a nation­al lab­o­ra­to­ry. The most pop­u­lar under­grad­u­ate majors are marine sci­ence, man­age­ment, exer­cise and sports sci­ence, and com­mu­ni­ca­tion. CCU’s Marine Sci­ence pro­grams are nation­al­ly known and recognized.

The E. Craig Wall Sr. Col­lege of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion offers a BSBA in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty, Resort & Tourism Man­age­ment. The AACSB-accred­it­ed HRTM at CCU is high-qual­i­ty. There is also choice with­in the pro­gram. As a BSBA you take all the foun­da­tion­al busi­ness cours­es in finance, man­age­ment, mar­ket­ing, and com­mu­ni­ca­tions but can choose the area of the hos­pi­tal­i­ty indus­try you’re inter­est­ed in. If you are unsure, you can add more busi­ness cours­es and minor in HRTM. You are also giv­en the flex­i­bil­i­ty to com­plete the intern­ship require­ment. If you are in-state or out-of-state, you get to choose the place to intern at—a strate­gic advan­tage as you may well end up start­ing your career there. The one down­side to CCU is the cost. It is the most expen­sive on our list at $1107.

• Cost per Cred­it: $1107
• Pro­gram Web­site: https://www.coastal.edu/business/hrtm/

Best Online Hospitality Management Degrees in Conclusion:

Abra­ham Lin­coln said, “My father taught me to work, but not to love it. I nev­er did like to work, and I don’t deny it. I’d rather read, tell sto­ries, crack jokes, talk, laugh — any­thing but work.” To get away from it all, as Frank Sina­tra sang, seems to be hap­pen­ing more often these days. Per­haps it is our work-obsessed cul­ture or men­tal­ly-clut­tered lifestyle. What­ev­er the case, though, the trav­el, hos­pi­tal­i­ty, and tourist indus­try is boom­ing. Now is a great time advance in your career, start a new one, or even to begin con­sid­er­ing in Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment. The online hos­pi­tal­i­ty degrees on this list are a great place to start. 

Here are some hos­pi­tal­i­ty asso­ci­a­tions that can inform you and con­nect you to vital areas and peo­ple with­in the industry:

• Amer­i­can Hotel & Lodg­ing Asso­ci­a­tion (AH&LA)
• Meet­ing and Event Man­agers Asso­ci­a­tion (MEMA)
• Food and Bev­er­age Man­agers Asso­ci­a­tion (FBMA)
• Nation­al Soci­ety of Minori­ties in Hospitality(NSMH)

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