MS in Hospitality Management

Changes to this program will take effect in the 2045–2025 academic year.

The School of Hospitality Administration’s two-year, research-focused MS degree is designed for full-time students who wish to pursue a secondary degree in hospitality research. Unlike the Master of Management in Hospitality (MMH), which is designed for professional careers, the MS degree is focused on academic research and to formally prepare students for PhD programs in hospitality and tourism management.

MS students will be paired with a SHA research faculty member in their first term. This faculty member will assist them with creating a research plan and course selection to prepare for the final goal of creating a piece of original research in the form of the master’s thesis.

Learning Outcomes

Students will demonstrate:

• The ability to describe the segments, history, icons, market leaders, lexicon, and service elements of the continually expanding hospitality landscape.
• The ability to learn, master, and apply the research methods and skills in a specific discipline of hospitality for an in-depth study; functional areas can include finance/accounting, revenue management, experience design, operations, human resources/people strategies, real estate, marketing, senior living, and more.
• The ability to learn, master, and apply the quantitative skills to synthesize core functional areas of hospitality systems, including finance, operations, human resources/people strategies, and marketing and experience design, real estate, senior living, and more.
• Presentation and storytelling of data and primary and secondary research to deliver meaningful analyses and recommendations applicable to the practice of global hospitality.
• The clear and effective writing of the academic papers and results of research, quality for publication, and presentation.

Curriculum

The degree consists of 44 units as follows.

Unit Requirements–Summary

MS	Units
Required courses	32 units
Elective courses	12 units
2 Research Courses	0 units
Total units	44 units

Course Numbers and Course Titles

Required Courses (32 units)

Two of:

• SHA HF 701 Hospitality Operations Analysis (4 units)
• SHA HF 711 Hospitality Financial Management (4 units)
• SHA HF 733 Hospitality Organizational Leadership (4 units)
• SHA HF 762 Hospitality Marketing and Branding (4 units)

Two of:

• CAS PS 712 Statistics in Psychology II (4 units)
• COM CM 722 Communication Research Methods (4 units)
• MET UA 703 Urban Research Methods (4 units)
• WED RS 600 Intro to Research (4 units)
• WED RS 652 Qualitative Research Methods (4 units)
• WED RS 653 Quantitative Research Methods (4 units)

All of:

• CAS PS 711 Statistics in Psychology (4 units)
• SHA HF 801 Hospitality Research (4 units)
• SHA HF 822 Faculty-Directed Research (4 units) (taken twice for 8 units total)
• SHA HF 840 Self-Directed Research (0 units)
• SHA HF 899 Thesis (0 units)

Elective Courses (12 units)

Choose three from the following:

• SHA HF 619 Hotel Development and Deal-Making (4 units)
• SHA HF 621 Advanced Food & Beverage Management (4 units)
• SHA HF 667 Fundamentals of Digital Content Development (4 units)
• SHA HF 679 Financial Reporting and Analysis (4 units)
• SHA HF 702 Innovation and Disruption in Hospitality (4 units)
• SHA HF 707 Hospitality Entrepreneurship (4 units)
• SHA HF 717 Hospitality Real Estate Financing & Feasibility (4 units)
• SHA HF 760 Strategic Marketing (4 units)
• SHA HF 768 Digital Marketing Strategies (4 units)
• SHA HF 771 Hospitality Revenue Management Strategies (4 units)
• SHA HF 777 Meeting Planning and Special Events Management (4 units)
• SHA HF 778 Hospitality Analytics (4 units)
• SHA HF 781 The Future of Restaurant Business (4 units)