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2024 Best Hospitality Management Schools in California

18 Colleges in California
1,106 Hospitality Degrees Awarded
$47,477 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in hospitality management, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #66 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual reviewed 18 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of hospitality management. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,106 degrees in hospitality management during the 2021-2022 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Hospitality Management School

Best Hospitality Management Schools in California The hospitality program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Hospitality Management rankings. We derive our Best Overall Hospitality Management School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Hospitality Management Rankings by Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Hospitality
Bachelor's Degrees in Hospitality
Master's Degrees in Hospitality

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Hospitality Management Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Hospitality Management in California

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the hospitality degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top California Schools in Hospitality

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
83 Hospitality Degrees Awarded
43.4% Growth in Graduates

Every student who is interested in hospitality management needs to check out University of Southern California. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were about 83 hospitality management students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. Hospitality Management degree recipients from University of Southern California earn a boost of about $60,142 above the average income of hospitality management graduates.

More information about a degree in hospitality management from University of Southern California

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
108 Hospitality Degrees Awarded
$43,577 Median Starting Salary

San Diego State University is a great option for students pursuing a degree in hospitality management. SDSU is a fairly large public university located in the city of San Diego. A Best Colleges rank of #141 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means SDSU is a great university overall.

There were roughly 108 hospitality management students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the hospitality program state that they receive average early career earnings of $43,577.

More information about a degree in hospitality management from San Diego State University

3
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$48,649 Median Starting Salary
$19,000 Median Student Debt

Every student pursuing a degree in hospitality management needs to look into University of San Francisco. USFCA is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of San Francisco. A Best Colleges rank of #164 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USFCA is a great university overall.

There were roughly 15 hospitality management students who graduated with this degree at USFCA in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, hospitality degree recipients generally earn about $48,649 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in hospitality management from University of San Francisco

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
257 Hospitality Degrees Awarded
$35,592 Median Starting Salary

California State Polytechnic University - Pomona is a great option for students pursuing a degree in hospitality management. Cal Poly Pomona is a very large public university located in the suburb of Pomona. This university ranks 65th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 257 hospitality management students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly Pomona in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the hospitality program state that they receive average early career income of $35,592.

More information about a degree in hospitality management from California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

5
Graduate Certificate Highest Degree Type
62 Hospitality Degrees Awarded
$45,806 Median Starting Salary

SFSU is a fairly large public university located in the city of San Francisco. A Best Colleges rank of #204 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means SFSU is a great university overall.

There were approximately 62 hospitality management students who graduated with this degree at SFSU in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the hospitality program state that they receive average early career earnings of $45,806.

More information about a degree in hospitality management from San Francisco State University

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
54 Hospitality Degrees Awarded
$42,683 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Hayward, Cal State East Bay is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #366 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Cal State East Bay is a great university overall.

There were approximately 54 hospitality management students who graduated with this degree at Cal State East Bay in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, hospitality degree recipients typically earn around $42,683 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in hospitality management from California State University - East Bay

7
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
77 Hospitality Degrees Awarded
6.5% Growth in Graduates

CSULB is a very large public university located in the city of Long Beach. A Best Colleges rank of #186 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means CSULB is a great university overall.

There were roughly 77 hospitality management students who graduated with this degree at CSULB in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the hospitality program report average early career earnings of $36,180.

More information about a degree in hospitality management from California State University - Long Beach

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
50 Hospitality Degrees Awarded
$36,185 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Northridge, CSUN is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #299 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means CSUN is a great university overall.

There were approximately 50 hospitality management students who graduated with this degree at CSUN in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the hospitality program earn an average of $36,185 for their early career.

More information about a degree in hospitality management from California State University - Northridge

9
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
54 Hospitality Degrees Awarded
$45,617 Median Starting Salary

San Jose State is a very large public university located in the large city of San Jose. A Best Colleges rank of #161 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means San Jose State is a great university overall.

There were roughly 54 hospitality management students who graduated with this degree at San Jose State in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the hospitality program earn about $45,617 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a degree in hospitality management from San Jose State University

10
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
8th Most Popular In CA

Located in the suburb of Walnut, Mt. SAC is a public college with a very large student population. This college ranks 105th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 29 hospitality management students who graduated with this degree at Mt. SAC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in hospitality management from Mt. San Antonio College

Best Hospitality Management Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Hospitality Management Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

StateCollegesDegrees Awarded
Washington300215
Oregon26631
Nevada192721
Hawaii164248
Alaska11911

View All Rankings >

One of 21 majors within the Business, Management & Marketing area of study, Hospitality Management has other similar majors worth exploring.

Hospitality Concentrations

MajorAnnual Graduates
General Hospitality Administration/Management863
Other Hospitality Administration/Management104
Restaurant/Food Services Management61
Hotel/Motel Administration/Management52
Meeting and Event Planning24
Resort Management2

View All Hospitality Concentrations >

Related MajorAnnual Graduates
Business Administration & Management61,616
Accounting7,141
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods5,860
General Business/Commerce2,956
Business Support & Assistant Services2,007
Real Estate1,988
Human Resource Management1,768
Finance & Financial Management1,544
Marketing1,412
Entrepreneurial Studies1,401

View All Hospitality Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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