Kentucky Hospitality Management Colleges

Earn your degree in hospitality management from a Kentucky college. Hospitality management is a great career choice because it gives students the option to work in the hospitality industry. Students with a hospitality management degree can get work in places like in the food industry or hotel industry, and students will have to opportunity to work in a small or large workplace with the degree. The average salary for this industry is around the higher 40,000, with hotel managers making around 47,000 a year, food service managers around 48,000 and some even make around 54,000 a year. Keep in mind that experience can greatly increase the expected salary amount and range. Find Kentucky hospitality schools below.

 

 

 

Kentucky Hispitality Education Requirements

There are many different schools that students can attend in Kentucky to get their Hospitality Management degree, and each one has their requirements there are also classes that need to be taken. These are the classes and other requirements that most schools require for graduation and to earn a degree. And students also have the option to get associates or bachelors in hospitality management. The great thing this kind of a degree is that students don’t have to get any state or certifications to enter their career. Find the perfect hospitality and tourism degree program in Kentucky.

Entrance Requirements
Most schools will only let students into the Hospitality Management program if they have at least a 2.3 GPA, while this is not the requirement of all schools some do require it.

Graduation Requirements
Every school could differ from the graduation requirements, but there are some basic requirements that all of the schools must follow. Students must complete al of the UK Core Requirements, complete all of the school’s requirements, complete 128 hours of credits with a GPA of at least 2.0, and must complete all of the major program curricula.

Kentucky School Requirements
Some schools require some courses to be completed before students start their major classes, these can be science, math, and English courses. It is all up to the school and whether or not students are transferring credits from another school.

The Core Requirement classes that need to be taken will give the student a total of 31 credit hours, and there are some classes that can be chosen for each requirement. Here are the categories that students can choose from each class will give students three credit hours for each course.

• Intellectual Inquiry in Arts and Creativity
• Intellectual Inquiry in the Humanities
• Intellectual Inquiry in the Social Sciences
• Intellectual Inquiry in the Physical, Natural, and Mathematical Sciences
• Composition and Communication I
• Composition and Communication II
• Quantitative Foundations
• Statistical Inferential Reasoning
• Community, Culture, and Citizenship in the USA
• Global Dynamics

All of these Core Requirements are just general requirements; it is up to the student which classes they are going to take in those categories.

Pre-Major Requirements
Most Universities in Kentucky require students to take pre-major classes; this usually includes things like a foreign language and diversity courses like:

• Cultural Diversity in the Modern World
• Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
• Contemporary Latin American Cultures
• Culture and Societies in India
• Introduction to African American Studies
• Introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies in the Social Sciences

While most schools only require a few of these classes, these other classes are required.
• Introduction to Computing
• Financial Accounting
• Managerial Uses of Accounting
• Principles of Economics 1
• Principles of Economics 2
• Business Writing
• Intro to Hospitality Management
• Hotel Rooms Division Management
• Principles of Travel and Tourism
• Elementary Calculus and Its Applications
• Statistical Methods
• Food Service Sanitation

Major Requirements
While the other classes that students take will be the same as every other student at the school, these classes are the ones that will teach students what they need to know for their career.
• Principles of Food and Beverage
• Principles of Food Preparation
• Information Technology in the Hospitality Industry
• Hospitality Managerial Accounting
• Hospitality and Tourism Internship
• Quantity Food Production
• Corporation Finance
• Business Management
• Marketing Management
• Institutional Purchasing
• Human Resources Management for the Food and Hospitality Industries
• Hospitality and Tourism Marketing
• Meetings and Convention Management
• Tourism Planning and Development
• Advanced Seminar in Lodging and Tourism
• Hospitality and Tourism Law and Ethics
• Trends Analysis for the Hospitality Industry
• Strategic Management in the Hospitality and Food Service Industry
• Hospitality and Tourism Special Topics
• Hospitality and Tourism Independent Study

These classes will give students 40 credit hours towards their degree.
Electives
The last requirement for a student’s Hospitality Management degree is 12 credit hours of electives bringing the total credit hours to 128.

Hospitality Management Degree Careers
When students graduate with a Hospitality Management degree, they have many options when it comes to employment. There are many industries where a Hospitality Management degree will be helpful for employment.

One of the jobs that students can get with a Hospitality Management degree is as a Travel Agent. Travel agents help people go to places that they want to go and travel agents give them the best deals and make sure the trip goes according to plan. This job gives people the option to work at a travel agency or to work as a self-employed travel agent, which is great for parents that want to work and stay home with the family. Don't wait to get started with your hospitality management training.

The most popular option in careers for Hospitality Management graduates is as a Lodging Manager. A lodging manager can work at a small or large hotel/motel. The duties of the lodging manager are things like overseeing the daily operations at the hotel/motel, doing inspections to make sure everything is up to the standards of the hotel, supervising the staff, making a budget, approving expenses, and setting the rates for the rooms. This job also requires most to work weekends and evenings since hotels are open 24/7, and hey will have to deal with things like cancellations, upset guests, and profit margins.

Becoming a Meeting and Event Planner is also another great option as a career. Meeting and event planners will help coordinate and plan different events; these events can be things like weddings, parties, business meetings, conferences, and more. This kind of career might sound fun, which it is but it is also hard work. There is so much that goes into planning an event, and it has to be planned how the clients want it. That also means that planners have to meet with clients discuss everything that is expected. Planners also have to deal with vendors, transportation, and food services for the events.

Food Service Manager is a great career option because then graduates can work in kitchen areas in different industries, including hospitals, schools, full-service restaurants, and corporations. The goal of being a food service manager is to ensure that all of the people that you are serving leave satisfied after their dining experience. The responsibilities of the food service manager are to supervise the kitchen and the staff, monitor how the food is prepared, do inventory and ordering of supplies, beverages, and food. They are also responsible for handling customer complaints, doing payroll, and doing the budget. This career will take you far in your career, but you have to know that you will probably be working long hours at a job like this one. Earn your degree in hospitality and tourism management.

Salaries and Best Hospitality Careers

While the above jobs are usually the ones that graduates get after graduation, there are some higher-paying hospitality management jobs that pay more than $75,000 a year.

• Casino Property General Manager: The average pay for this kind of a career is around $200,000 a year but can go up to $240,000 a year. The responsibilities of a casino property general manager are to staff the casino, operations, and customer service. This job requires a bachelor’s degree and at least 12 years of experience.
• Regional Chef: The average salary for a regional chef is around $116,000 a year but can go as high as $134,000 a year. Regional chefs create new menu items and train other chefs to do what they do. This career path requires a bachelor’s degree and at least ten years’ experience.
• Casino Restaurant Director: The average salary for a casino restaurant director is around $104,000 - $117,000 a year. The typical responsibilities of a casino restaurant director are managing more than one restaurant and dealing with revenue and customer satisfaction. This career requires a bachelor’s degree and between six and eight years of experience.
• Hotel Manager: The average salary for a hotel manager is between $99,000 and $129,000 a year. A hotel manager is responsible for overseeing the staff, customers, and operations of the hotel. This career requires a bachelor’s degree and at least seven years of experience.
• Regional Restaurant Manager: Regional restaurant managers make between $85,000 and $99,000 a year. A restaurant regional manager is responsible for multiple restaurants in their region and hiring and training new employees and establishing sales plans. The career choice requires at least seven years’ experience and a bachelor’s degree.
• Travel Manager: The average salary for a travel manager is between $82,000 and $97,000 a year. The duties of a travel manager are to do budgeting, travel requests, and accommodations. This career requires about five years of experience and a bachelor’s degree.
• Slot Operations Manager: The average salary for a slot operations manager is between $80,000 and $101,000 a year. Slot operations managers do the daily operations in the slots department of a casino. This includes reviewing and reporting gaming devices and reporting the Federal cash requirements. A hospitality degree is not required for this career but will make you more qualified but at least five years of experience is needed.
• Food and Beverage Director: The average salary of food and beverage director is between $80,000 and $92,000 a year. The food and beverage director are responsible for overseeing the restaurant, hotel, or casino’s food and beverage services. This includes the menu planning and budgeting, but it also requires knowledge on marketing and event planning. This career requires a bachelor’s degree and at least eight years of experience.
• Event Manager: The average pay for an event manager is between $78,000 and $90,000 a year. The responsibilities of the event manager are to plan meetings and special events, coordinate amenities, accommodations, contract negotiation, and budgeting. This position requires a bachelor’s degree and at least five years’ experience.
• Head of Housekeeping: The head of housekeeping will make around $78,000 and $92,000 a year. The responsibilities of the head of housekeeping are directing daily operations of the housekeeping department in a hotel, casino, or resort. This career path doesn’t require a degree but will help and at least seven years of experience is required.

While these jobs do pay more than other one, these are the jobs that you will be applying for once you have built up experience in the hospitality industry. These jobs are in reach, but dues must be paid before you can get them.

What Employers Look For in a Hospitality Employee?

When students start to apply for hospitality management jobs, they can be discouraged by the Kentucky market, but if they have the right attitude, it will make them more employable. Here are some of the things that employers look for in a candidate.

• Good People Skills: If you want to work in hospitality management, you will have to know how to deal with people and that is one of the first things employers look for in a candidate.
• Work Well Under Pressure: Employers want to know if you can work in a high-stress environment because this industry works at a fast pace and you have to know how to keep up.
• Conflict Resolution: Employers want someone that knows how to resolve conflict with customers as well as employees, if you have that skill, you will be more likely to get hired.
• Multitasking: Multitasking is an important skill that just about any employee should know how to do. You have to know how to be able to complete the different task during the day and if you don’t know how to multitask then you will not be considered for a job.

 

Hospitality Resources in Kentucky

Collegiate Hotel Group - Last updated February 3, 2019

Hospitality Works - Last Updated January 26, 2019