Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Hospitality Administration/Management

Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.

50

Schools Ranked

$37,175

Avg. Earnings

1.5 yrs

Best Payback

13,176

Graduates

How we calculate value: Payback = (4 years of net price) / (major earnings - $35k baseline). A 2-year payback means you recoup your investment in 2 years through higher earnings vs. not attending college.

#	School	Net Price/yr	Major Earnings	Payback
1	Cornell University Ithaca, NY · Private	$9,785	$61,124	1.5 yrs
2	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN · Public	$8,450	$45,082	3.4 yrs
3	George Washington University Washington, DC · Private	$21,174	$56,415	4 yrs
4	University of Delaware Newark, DE · Public	$17,260	$48,432	5.1 yrs
5	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX · Public	$15,248	$46,718	5.2 yrs
6	San Jose State University San Jose, CA · Public	$17,338	$47,930	5.4 yrs
7	Boston University Boston, MA · Private	$18,458	$47,650	5.8 yrs
8	New York University New York, NY · Private	$31,355	$55,964	6 yrs
9	Washington State University Pullman, WA · Public	$14,233	$44,170	6.2 yrs
10	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA · Public	$18,372	$46,478	6.4 yrs
11	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA · Public	$16,065	$44,755	6.6 yrs
12	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Lehigh Valley Center Valley, PA · Public	$19,297	$46,608	6.6 yrs
13	University of Nevada-Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV · Public	$11,929	$42,073	6.7 yrs
14	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA · Public	$16,667	$43,922	7.5 yrs
15	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks Reading, PA · Public	$22,967	$46,608	7.9 yrs
16	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL · Public	$11,506	$40,780	8 yrs
17	Florida International University Miami, FL · Public	$7,292	$38,634	8 yrs
18	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA · Public	$19,216	$44,542	8.1 yrs
19	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI · Public	$15,183	$42,433	8.2 yrs
20	University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA · Private	$36,818	$52,107	8.6 yrs
21	Fairleigh Dickinson University-Metropolitan Campus Teaneck, NJ · Private	$15,022	$41,937	8.7 yrs
22	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Durham, NH · Public	$20,896	$44,244	9 yrs
23	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA · Public	$27,137	$46,608	9.4 yrs
24	Pace University New York, NY · Private	$28,066	$46,478	9.8 yrs
25	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI · Public	$20,557	$43,269	9.9 yrs
26	George Mason University Fairfax, VA · Public	$19,066	$42,682	9.9 yrs
27	Temple University Philadelphia, PA · Public	$21,568	$42,570	11.4 yrs
28	Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham Campus Madison, NJ · Private	$20,940	$41,937	12.1 yrs
29	Iowa State University Ames, IA · Public	$14,641	$39,832	12.1 yrs
30	Auburn University Auburn, AL · Public	$23,468	$42,682	12.2 yrs
31	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	$13,273	$39,214	12.6 yrs
32	North Dakota State University-Main Campus Fargo, ND · Public	$16,071	$40,089	12.6 yrs
33	National Louis University Chicago, IL · Private	$16,487	$40,140	12.8 yrs
34	University of Denver Denver, CO · Private	$27,767	$43,426	13.2 yrs
35	Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ · Public	$14,142	$39,257	13.3 yrs
36	Widener University Chester, PA · Private	$31,002	$44,276	13.4 yrs
37	University of Wisconsin-Stout Menomonie, WI · Public	$15,247	$39,369	14 yrs
38	Northeastern State University Tahlequah, OK · Public	$11,718	$38,289	14.3 yrs
39	Lynn University Boca Raton, FL · Private	$36,166	$44,942	14.6 yrs
40	DePaul University Chicago, IL · Private	$28,577	$42,682	14.9 yrs
41	University of Houston Houston, TX · Public	$13,382	$38,455	15.5 yrs
42	Endicott College Beverly, MA · Private	$31,192	$42,682	16.2 yrs
43	Saint Leo University Saint Leo, FL · Private	$18,084	$39,369	16.6 yrs
44	Walnut Hill College Philadelphia, PA · For-Profit	$33,009	$42,682	17.2 yrs
45	Campbell University Buies Creek, NC · Private	$22,356	$39,729	18.9 yrs
46	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA · Public	$15,958	$38,356	19 yrs
47	College of Charleston Charleston, SC · Public	$20,142	$39,009	20.1 yrs
48	Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO · Public	$14,679	$37,748	21.4 yrs
49	Southern New Hampshire University Manchester, NH · Private	$41,757	$42,682	21.7 yrs
50	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO · Public	$15,086	$37,748	22 yrs

Top Earners in Hospitality Administration/Management

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

Explore best value colleges across all majors and categories.

Payback uses earnings by major from the College Scorecard's field-of-study file, last updated June 2026, against net price from the June 2026 release. Scorecard publishes the two separately, so they are different vintages.