US College Programs

Hospitality Management (Bachelor's) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

  • 7 programs report first-year pay
  • 7 also report federal debt
  • Bachelor's in Hospitality Administration/Management

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California hospitality management bachelor's program pays its graduates $34,153 in their first year, $550 less than the national median. San Diego State reports the highest first-year pay ($40,009), and Cal State Monterey Bay the lowest median debt ($11,000).

Median first-year pay$34,153National $34,703
Median pay after 5 years$57,549National $51,398
Median federal debt$16,063National $23,905
Debt-to-earnings44%National 67%

All 7 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every California hospitality management program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 7 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

  1. San Diego State$40,009
  2. Cal State Monterey Bay$35,760
  3. Cal State Long Beach$34,560
  4. San Francisco State$34,153
  5. Cal State East Bay$34,015

Lowest median debt

  1. Cal State Monterey Bay$11,000
  2. San Francisco State$14,400
  3. Cal Poly Pomona$15,000
  4. CSUN$15,000
  5. Cal State Long Beach$17,125

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. Cal State Monterey Bay31%
  2. San Francisco State42%
  3. Cal Poly Pomona44%
  4. San Diego State44%
  5. Cal State Long Beach50%

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to hospitality management, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Food Service Managers

$78,260

Median pay in California. 33,180 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 38,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $47,690Top 10%: $127,340

Facilities Managers

$118,620

Median pay in California. 20,550 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $70,690Top 10%: $203,400

Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners

$71,120

Median pay in California. 20,650 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $44,850Top 10%: $121,310

Tour and Travel Guides

$46,000

Median pay in California. 6,900 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $36,500Top 10%: $66,220

Common questions

San Diego State in San Diego reports the highest median first-year pay, $40,009. Its median federal debt is $17,749.

Related pages

Hospitality Management (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked133 programs by pay and debt

About this data

  • Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
  • Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
  • Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of California rankings when their main campus is in another state.
  • Medians are across the hospitality management bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024