---
title: Is a Hospitality Administration/Management degree worth the debt?
cip: 5209
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release)
sourceId: src:doe:college-scorecard:field-of-study:2026-06-10
---

# Is a Hospitality Administration/Management degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **146** colleges (146 of 146 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $36,390 ($36,496 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $21,938 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.60× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $32,628–$40,249 — the program you choose moves the number this much.


**How to read this:** these are MEDIANS across college programs, measured **1–2 years after completion** (early career, graduates only) — NOT lifetime earnings, and NOT comparable to a college's 10-years-after-entry figure. They cover **federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report**; small programs are suppressed. A field median is not a prediction of your outcome, not causal (who enters a field differs by field), and **not a "best majors" ranking** — earnings are one dimension of worth. Verify by field at the official College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/).

## By degree level

| Level | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt | Debt/pay | Colleges | Programs reporting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Certificate | $18,186 | $6,734 | 0.33× | 6 | 6/6 |
| Associate's | $28,492 | $19,494 | 0.69× | 22 | 22/22 |
| Bachelor's | $36,390 | $21,938 | 0.60× | 146 | 146/146 |
| Master's | $51,148 | $30,750 | 0.73× | 12 | 12/12 |

## Where a Bachelor's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

Reflects who enrolls and where, not causal program quality.

| College | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cornell University (NY) | $66,090 | $13,086 |
| George Washington University (DC) | $52,591 | $19,250 |
| New York University (NY) | $51,999 | $17,905 |
| University of San Francisco (CA) | $48,649 | $19,000 |
| Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VA) | $47,314 | $24,500 |
| Boston University (MA) | $46,076 | $23,250 |
| San Francisco State University (CA) | $45,806 | $14,125 |
| San Jose State University (CA) | $45,617 | — |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Lehigh Valley (PA) | $45,612 | $23,455 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks (PA) | $45,612 | $23,455 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus (PA) | $45,612 | $23,455 |
| Texas Tech University (TX) | $45,573 | $21,500 |
| Widener University (PA) | $45,377 | $20,500 |
| University of Massachusetts-Amherst (MA) | $45,299 | $21,500 |
| University of Delaware (DE) | $45,097 | $22,850 |

RECORDED College Scorecard figures + one DERIVED ratio (debt-to-earnings). Informs and compares; not advice on what to major in. Each college's full record: `/education/<slug>`.

Structured data: `/education/fields/hospitality-administration-management.jsonld` · `/education/fields/hospitality-administration-management.json`