Master of Science in Hospitality Management

Is the Hospitality Management Program Right for You?

Do you want to play a vital role in addressing the changes and challenges in the hospitality industry ? Would you like to hone your strategic and conceptual skills, technological abilities and become an even more effective communicator? If so, the MS in Hospitality Management degree offers you a variety of learning experiences through case studies, experiential learning, research projects and public, private and institutional partnerships to help you reach your career goals.

Take your passion for the tourism industry to the next level with hands-on experience to become a leader at a top hotel, restaurant, resort or hospitality organization in Florida (and beyond!). You can attend classes on campus or hybrid live online which is a mix of traditional online lessons and real-time discussions through distance learning. Distance students must link to the live class being taught on the USFSM campus to engage in face-to-face discussions with the professor and fellow students in real-time.

Program Information

The Master of Science in Hospitality Management is a 30-credit hour program offered through USFSM’s CHTL. The program will educate students to use strategic development techniques in a variety of private, public and institutional sectors of hospitality environments.

Graduates of this program will go on to play a vital role in addressing the changes and challenges in the hospitality industry within our region, state, nation and world. An effective hospitality leader must possess a wide range of strategic and conceptual skills. Our program is designed to foster strong analytical skills, technological abilities, effective communication and logical ethical approaches to the hospitality industry and academia. Case studies, experiential learning, research projects, and presentations are utilized, along with the more traditional lecture-discussion approach.

All hospitality graduate courses are taught on the USFSM campus during the week, as well as being offered via distance live, through “zoom” technology, for those who live outside the area. Distance live students will attend class via “zoom” technology at the same time and day as the live on-campus students. For students interested in distance live via “zoom”, students must inform the graduate advisor at the time of enrolling into the Master of Science in Hospitality Management program. Students are also responsible for informing the professor if they will be attending class via “zoom”.

Students graduating with this degree will be attractive to corporate offices of hospitality businesses. They will focus on strategic decision-making in the development of hospitality models within the areas of organizational effectiveness, finance, marketing, technology of hospitality ventures and the expanded use of the Internet to improve and expand customer service.

Program Admission Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent from a regionally accredited university.
• Plus one (1) of the following:
  • 3.00 (out of 4.00 scale) or higher overall or upper division (last 60 hours) GPA in the baccalaureate degree. OR
  • A satisfactory score on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) OR (GMAT) Graduate Management Admissions Test. (See admission advisor for recommended score range)

Include the following:

• $30.00 application fee. This fee is required of all applicants including USF System graduates.
• GRE or GMAT test scores taken within the last five (5) years if GPA (overall or upper division) is less than 3.00 (out of 4.00 scale). You may submit your application without your GRE/GMAT scores, but please include the date you plan to take the test.
• A current resume with employer references which includes at least one of the following: one year of full-time experience in a management capacity in the hospitality industry or in a related industry, a minimum of one year of full-time teaching experience in a hospitality management program, or two years of full-time entry level experience in hospitality or in a related industry.
• A brief essay of approximately 1000 words describing
  • The applicant’s background
  • Future career goals
  • Reasons for pursuing a hospitality graduate degree
  • How a USFSM MS degree can help the candidate reach their career goals.
• Three letters of recommendation: at least one from a college faculty member and the others may be from a former employer or a person able to evaluate the applicant’s potential for success in a graduate degree program.

International Students

• TOEFL score of at least 79 on the Internet based test OR A score of at least 6.5 on IELTS with at least 6 on all three components.
• One (1) official transcript from all institutions of higher learning where the applicant has earned a degree. It is not necessary to send USF transcripts. (All foreign transcripts require a course by course evaluation and cumulative and upper-level GPA calculations from an approved foreign transcript evaluation service.)
• Foreign Transcript Evaluation Services website

Future Careers

A degree in hospitality management takes you into a leadership position in the top hotels and restaurants in the hospitality industry. Some of our hospitality graduates have landed careers as:

• General Managers
• Food and Beverage Managers
• Executive Chefs
• Bar Managers
• Floor Managers
• Event Planners
• Travel Agents
• Sales and Marketing Professionals
• Human Resources Managers

Welcome to the University of South Florida. Though a relatively young university, founded in 1956, we have rich traditions – traditions of access and opportunity for students, of academic excellence, of ground breaking research, of serving our communities.

USF is situated in the vibrant and diverse Tampa Bay region, with campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee. Together, our campuses serve more than 50,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist and professional degrees. Across our 13 colleges, undergraduates choose from more than 200 majors, minors and concentrations, from business and engineering to the arts and USF Health.