Colleges for hospitality/hotel management/travel

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by robertpolyglot

The ones I'm aware of are of:

Cornell (the best, Ivy League/private, a long and prestigious history)
Michigan State Univ. (3)
Univ. of Mass. Amherst (1)
Florida State Univ. (2)
Wash. State Univ. (not in Seattle, in the sticks)
Univ. of Nevada Las Vegas (4)
Univ. of Denver (private) (5)

Was aware that there are few others, and learned about some from the last post.

Comments:
(1) UMass is supposed to be a great experience and a good size of school, and has all kinds of programs
(2) In Tallahassee and on the Panhandle, it's a neat place to go to school
(3) Mich. State Univ. is probably 2nd to Cornell, but huge and a factory
(4) in an area of Las Vegas that has become decrepit and has crime (Maryland Parkway)
(5) knew one girl who went there and was not impressed with her general smarts ... and it's private

If I had a kid, and they asked ME, I'd say UMass and then FSU.

Well, I guess that means everyone who goes to DU is not real smart. I work with someone who went to U Mass, and I'm not terribly impressed with her smarts, either.

[JazzyTallGuy]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

For hands-on opportunity balanced with a well-rounded academic program should your daughter decide after awhile that Hospitality Management isn't for her, check out these schools below which were ranked based on academic quality, awards, reputation, rankings, facilities, and internship opportunities.

#1 Cornell University, School of Hotel Administration
The school is ranked #1 in the world by the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research.
The bachelor’s degree in hotel administration covers all aspects of hospitality management. Students work 800 hours in a hospitality-related field. Valuable internships are available. Students can spend a semester or a year studying abroad. Students can also gain experience working at the Statler Hotel.

#2 Michigan State University, School of Hospitality Business
The school is ranked #3 in the world by the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research.
It’s one of the oldest schools in the field and provides one of the top hospitality programs in the nation. Internships are available throughout the world. Every student is required to complete 400 hours in a Level I Internship and 400 hours in a Level II Internship. A specialization in hospitality-business real estate and development is available. Recruiters from the nation’s top hospitality companies visit the school every year.

#3 University of Nevada at Las Vegas, William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration
Las Vegas serves as one of the world’s largest hospitality and tourism laboratories. The school provides valuable internships and mentors. The hospitality-management bachelor’s-degree program provides a broad educational approach to a career in the hospitality industry. Students can select a concentration in gaming management, meetings and conventions, professional golf management, or restaurant management. The school is ranked #4 in the world by the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research.

#4 Fairleigh Dickinson University, International School of Hospitality and Tourism Management
Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) has one of the nation’s oldest hospitality programs. The program has been rated by Princeton Review‘s “Gourman Report” as one of the top-15, four-year hospitality management programs out of more than 200 in the United States. The BA in Individualized Studies (BAIS) program allows students to specialize in hospitality management. Students study the basic hospitality curriculum. The International School of Hospitality and Tourism Management provides easy access to New York City and Atlantic City, the center of the world’s largest hospitality market. Students have opportunities to gain important hands-on training provided by affiliated hotel/restaurant/conference center properties and numerous clubs in the New York City and Atlantic City areas. Students are expected to gain 1,200 hours of diverse work experience. Every year the International School of Hospitality and Tourism Management offers over 2,000 internship and career-track positions. The school has a network of more than 3,000 alumni in hospitality and tourism leadership positions across the world.

#5 Virginia Tech, Pamplin College of Business, Dept. of Hospitality and Tourism Management
The Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business is consistently ranked among the world’s top-10 hospitality-tourism-and-management programs. The department is regarded as a tier-one recruiting school for many of the top hospitality corporations in the United States, including Hilton, Marriott, Sodexo, and many others. Students take a comprehensive set of core business courses. The program includes 400 hours of internship and professional experience. Students work on-campus for the Virginia Tech Dining Services, the Inn at Virginia Tech, or the Virginia-Tech-owned, historic Hotel Roanoke. The staff includes former presidents and vice-presidents of major hospitality corporations, former hotel and resort general managers, and world-renowned scholars.

#6 University of Massachusetts Amherst, Isenberg School of Management, Dept. of Hospitality and Tourism Management
The Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at UMass-Amherst’s Isenberg School of Management provides one of the world’s oldest and best hospitality programs. Princeton Review‘s Gourman Report has ranked the program #4 among the more than 200 four-year hospitality management programs in the country. It has also been consistently included in the top 20 in the world by independent international ranking organizations. The program offers on-campus and an online bachelor’s-degree programs. It allows students to choose a concentration such as casino management, club management, food-and-beverage management, lodging management, or tourism-convention-and-event management.

#7 Pennsylvania State University, School of Hospitality Management
In Penn State’s School of Hospitality Management, students gain 1,000 hours of real-world experience. Over 100 companies visit the campus to recruit students enrolled in the School’s varioius programs. The hotel, restaurant, and institutional management bachelor’s-degree program offers a hotel-restaurant-and-institutional-management option and a management-dietetics option. The School has a network of international academic partnerships and opportunities for students. It is ranked #5 in the world by the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research.

#8 Washington State University, School of Hospitality Business Management
Washington State’s School of Hospitality Business Management offers a bachelor’s degree in hospitality business management that is the third-oldest in the country, and is consistently rated in the top 5 percent of similar programs around the country. The BA in hospitality business management offers specialized instruction in the major managerial, organizational, service, financial, and technical issues relative to operations in the hospitality industry.
The program provides hands-on instruction and real-world experience, including an internship. The School is also well known for the high quality of its research.

#9 University of Central Florida, Rosen College of Hospitality Management
UCF’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management is located in Orlando, Florida, one of the world’s premier tourist destinations.
Rosen College’s hospitality-management bachelor’s-degree program provides specializations in subjects such as theme-park-and-attraction management and golf-and-club management. The Rosen College has valuable industry connections.

[b]#10 Iowa State University, College of Human Sciences, Dept. of Apparel, Events, and Hospitality Management (AESHM)
Iowa State is well known for hospitality management. The College of Human Sciences’ AESHM department has a major in hospitality management that is well known for its excellence in research. The program has been ranked #15 among the world’s top 100 hospitality and tourism programs, according to the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research.
Students obtain internships with some of the biggest names in hospitality such as Marriott, Embassy Suites, and the Walt Disney Company.

Great list and a great job doing research!

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by seamusnh

My daughter (junior in high school) is interested in the hospitality industry (hotels, resorts, travel). Along with Cornell, what colleges should we consider?

Having been in the business the first fifteen years of my career, my first recommendation would be that your daughter get a lot of experience in the hospitality industry. That would definitely includes positions in restaurants, hotels and resorts. And, yes, that includes fast food places. One chef that I worked with told me that he likes to see at least one year of experience at McDonald's. Why? Because McDonald's graduates have received a lot of training in cleaning and sanitation.

When we were recruiting college graduates, we looked at attributes of the candidate - work ethic, success in academics, serious work history, etc - as much as the education. Even though we did recruit at many of the "top ten" schools, we found a lot of recruits at other hospitality programs and among non-hospitality programs. In fact, we often found that Cornell and Johnson & Wales graduates did not work out in entry level positions.

While I enjoyed my time in the industry, I do want to warn you that the compensation and work-life balance in the industry ranks pretty low among professions. When I turned 30, I realized that if I could manage 50-100 employees in the hospitality industry setting, that I could do the same in an industry that pays a whole lot more.

By the way, a lot of the large titans in the industry publish their campus recruiting schedules on their websites.

[Mar0]

I went to Penn State and have worked in the hospitality industry for a few years now. The recruiting process at PSU was fabulous and I feel that I was better prepared than some of my colleagues who went to other schools. I did a double major and really appreciated that PSU is such a large school and had almost any field of study that you can imagine. PSU also has a separate Recration, parks and tourism management major that is well received as well.