Prospective Students
What you'll learn
Students in the School of Hospitality Administration are offered a “best of two worlds” curriculum: an industry-specific management education taught by the School's full-time Ph.D. faculty, as well as a liberal arts education that takes full advantage of the courses offered by the University's eight other four-year colleges. This arrangement makes it possible to maximize the many opportunities and resources that Boston University provides, while ensuring that the core of the hospitality curriculum remains exclusive and thorough.
At the School of Hospitality Administration, students learn how to manage a staff, set prices, market a hospitality business, and use the most current technology in the field. The curriculum at the School is carefully chosen and reviewed frequently by professionals in hospitality fields who know what students need to learn in order to be successful managers in the industry. From courses in hospitality law and accounting to electives in ethics and tourism management, the curriculum combines a quality core education with extensive elective options on a range of industry-related topics. All core courses within the School are taught by members of our own distinguished faculty, who adhere to an ‘open-door’ policy and not limited office hours. If they are not teaching a class, they are in or near their offices, readily available to students for advice, direction, problem solving, and conversation. All are active in the hospitality industry as well, serving as consultants, teachers, and business owners.
The students' education is complemented by English, mathematics, foreign language, history, and other liberal arts classes in the College of Arts and Sciences. This ensures that graduates of the School are specialists in hospitality management and also well rounded, well spoken, and prepared for the many challenges of the hospitality industry. Students may also choose to enroll in another School or College at Boston University to pursue a dual degree through the Boston University Collaborative Degree Program. Our students have successfully combined their studies in the School of Hospitality Administration with dual enrollment in the School of Management, the College of Communication, or the College of Arts and Sciences.
Upperclass students at the School continue to explore the hospitality industry through required and elective coursework. Tourism Management gives insight into professional techniques and practices of foreign and domestic tourism. Our Fundamentals of Food Service Management course is set up so that students design a restaurant from planning the menu to determining layout and interior design. Introduction to Hospitality Marketing goes one step further, challenging students to understand the importance of market planning, strategizing, and consumer behavior by developing Syllabus for the Leadership Seminara working business plan and marketing plan for a prospective hospitality-related business. The Strategic Hospitality Management and Hospitality Leadership seminar prepares students to take an active role in their management careers by using real case studies, hands-on role play, and other interactive techniques designed to make them think critically about the concept and responsibility of leadership.