Prospective Students
Where you'll learn
To prepare for a career in hospitality management, the School of Hospitality Administration requires students to complete two 400-hour field internships. Developed to merge classroom knowledge with practical application, the field experience requirement provides students with important insight into different systems of operation within the hospitality industry. Fieldwork challenges students to assess their strengths as professionals and clarify career goals while also enabling them to develop outstanding résumés. In addition, these positions frequently lead to jobs after graduation. Students typically fulfill this graduation requirement in the summer, undertaking their first field experience for credit the summer after their first year. However, many internships can be scheduled around coursework during the school year.
The successful manager or owner within the hospitality industry is likely to speak more than one language and almost certainly is exposed to a variety of cultures, whether working in the United States or abroad. While on campus, students live, study, and work with other students who have traveled to Boston University from around the world. However, exposure to such diversity need not occur only atBack to Where You’ll Learn home.
Past student internshipsBecause the School of Hospitality Administration recognizes the global nature of the hospitality industry, all students must complete an international experience prior to graduating. The School arranges internships for students in any of the countries hosting a Boston University International Program. Internships at a bustling business hotel in London, a major hospitality consulting firm in Sydney, a world-renowned theme park in Paris, or any number of other hospitality-related businesses within the Boston University network are available. Countries with internships available to students through the Boston University International Programs Office include:
- Australia
- Belize
- China
- Equador
- England
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- New Zealand
- Niger
- Russia
- Spain
Some of these programs are specially designed for School of Hospitality Administration majors. In the London Internship Program, for example, students live and work in London, where they take classes with British professors in the social sciences and humanities. Then, in a carefully supervised internship, students may work in a London hotel for ten of the fourteen weeks of the program. They will live in the beautiful Kensington area of London and can enjoy the culture, entertainment, and history of the city. Or — if learning another language is appealing — the Paris Internship Program involves intensive French language instruction and classes in European-style hospitality. Students are placed with a Parisian hotel, restaurant, tourism agency, or other hospitality—related business, while living with a French family or with other foreign students.