undergradly.
Major · Business, Management, Marketing

Run restaurants and food operations — but understand the wage ceiling and the lifestyle cost

Restaurant/Food Services Management is the operations-track specialization within the hospitality CIP family, focused specifically on planning, marketing, and managing restaurants, food service chains, franchise networks, and supply operations. About 382 degrees are awarded annually across just 46 colleges — a small, focused field. Bachelor's completers report five-year median earnings near $56,191; associate's completers near $42,850. Two of three tracked career destinations list a high school diploma as the typical entry credential, which compresses the early-career degree premium.

Schools offering
46
Annual completions
382
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$54k

About this major

Restaurant/Food Services Management is the food-and-beverage-specific track inside the hospitality CIP family. Where the general hospitality major (CIP 52.0901) covers lodging, food service, tourism, and recreation as interconnected operations, this specialization (CIP 52.0905) narrows the lens to restaurants, food service chains, franchise networks, and supply operations. The CIP definition is explicit about scope: students are prepared to plan, manage, and market food businesses across hospitality establishments and franchise systems, with curriculum spanning hospitality administration, food services management, wholesale logistics and distribution, franchise operations, business networking, personnel management, culinary fundamentals, business planning and capitalization, food industry operations, marketing and retailing, business law and regulations, finance, and professional standards and ethics. The degree is a business credential with a culinary periphery — not a chef-training program.

The field is small. Just 382 degrees are awarded annually across only 46 colleges, making this one of the more focused specializations in the broader 52.09 hospitality family. The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY is by far the dominant producer at 208 bachelor's completions per year — over half the national total — and its program is unusual in housing restaurant management coursework alongside intensive food production training. Beyond CIA, completions are thinly spread: Colorado State University-Fort Collins and University of Central Florida tie at 32 graduates each, with CUNY LaGuardia, ECPI University, and a handful of regional institutions filling out the rest. Many of the most-respected restaurant management programs in the country — Cornell SHA, FIU Chaplin, UNLV Harrah, Cal Poly Pomona Collins, Penn State Smeal, MSU Eli Broad, Houston Conrad, NYU Tisch H&T — award their degrees under the broader hospitality CIP 52.0901 rather than this specific code, which is part of why this specialization's completions count looks small relative to the field's actual size.

The two BLS-tracked career destinations are food service managers (SOC 11-9051) at $65,310 median wage and 6.4% projected growth, and lodging managers (SOC 11-9081) at $68,130 with 3.4% growth. Both list a high school diploma as the typical entry credential — which compresses the early-career degree premium and explains why the five-year earnings median for this major sits at $53,772, below most business specializations. The bachelor's-vs-associate's wage gap is real ($56,191 vs $42,850), and shows up most clearly when graduates target corporate F&B operations, hotel-affiliated leadership roles, or multi-unit management at chains and contract food service firms. The employer landscape is wide: QSR chains (McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, Starbucks, Wendy's, Subway, Domino's), casual and fast-casual concepts (Cheesecake Factory, Olive Garden, Outback, Texas Roadhouse, Cava, Shake Shack, Panera), independent restaurant groups (Union Square Hospitality, Major Food Group, Lettuce Entertain You), hotel F&B operations (Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton), corporate dining contractors (Aramark, Sodexo, Compass Group North America), college and university dining (Chartwells, Bon Appétit Management Co), stadium and arena F&B (Levy Restaurants, Delaware North), cruise lines, and theme park resort operations.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Food service managers $65k +6.4% High school diploma or equivalent
Lodging managers $68k +3.4% High school diploma or equivalent
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$54k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$43k

Bachelor's

$56k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you're operationally disciplined and energized by service-business mechanics — labor scheduling, food cost control, inventory turnover, customer flow, and the pressure of making it all work during a Friday-night dinner rush. The degree rewards students who already have restaurant or hospitality work experience and want to formalize that experience with management coursework, financial frameworks, and franchise-system literacy. If your target is running a single restaurant unit, an independent restaurant group, or moving into multi-unit leadership at a chain, this specialization is more directly aligned than the general hospitality major. The Foodservice Management Professional (FMP) credential and ServSafe certifications stack well alongside the degree and are essentially expected for management-track graduates. Graduates who advance fastest into the higher-paying multi-unit ($80,000-$120,000) and corporate F&B ($100,000-$200,000+) tiers tend to be strong people managers, comfortable with relocation for promotion, and patient with the typical 5-7 year arc from unit manager to area or regional director.

Think twice if you're attracted primarily to the culinary craft side — recipe development, menu authorship, kitchen leadership. That's a culinary CIP-12 path (Culinary Arts/Chef Training 12.0503, Baking and Pastry 12.0501, or the hybrid Restaurant/Culinary/Catering Management 12.0504), not this business-school specialization. Think twice also if you're not realistic about industry lifestyle: restaurants run nights, weekends, and holidays, and food service has the highest annual turnover of any major employment sector at over 50%. Unit-manager pay is modest in the early years ($45,000-$58,000 plus bonus), and the degree-premium structure shows that two of the three tracked career destinations don't formally require a bachelor's at all — meaning credentialed graduates compete with experienced operators who came up without the degree. Finally, think twice if you expect business-major earnings parity: five-year median earnings near $53,772 sit below most business concentrations, and meaningful wage growth depends on advancing past unit management into corporate operations, contract F&B, or hotel-affiliated leadership.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Restaurant/Food Services Management

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park, NY 0 208 208
Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO 0 40 40
CUNY LaGuardia Community College Long Island City, NY 32 0 32
University of Central Florida Orlando, FL 0 32 32
ECPI University Virginia Beach, VA 0 14 14
University of North Alabama Florence, AL 0 7 7
Central Texas College Killeen, TX 7 0 7
Scottsdale Community College Scottsdale, AZ 4 0 4
Erie Community College Buffalo, NY 4 0 4
Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO 0 4 4
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Hospitality Administration/Management, General

5,942 completions/yr

Hotel/Motel Administration/Management

1,103 completions/yr

Tourism and Travel Services Management

542 completions/yr

Hospitality Administration/Management, Other

427 completions/yr

Meeting and Event Planning

391 completions/yr

Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Management

139 completions/yr

Resort Management

115 completions/yr

Casino Management

15 completions/yr

Considering this direction?

We've taken a hard look at the debt, earnings trajectory, and degree-level tradeoffs for the Restaurant/Food Services Management field. Read our verdict before you commit.

Is Restaurant/Food Services Management worth it? Read verdict
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do restaurant and food services management majors actually study?
Coursework follows the CIP definition closely: hospitality administration, food services management, wholesale logistics and distribution, franchise operations, business networking, personnel management, culinary fundamentals, business planning and capitalization, food industry operations, marketing and retailing, business law and regulations, finance, and professional standards and ethics. Programs blend operational mechanics — back-of-house cost control, food safety, inventory and labor scheduling — with the broader business toolkit needed to run a unit or a franchise. Most students stack industry certifications alongside the degree: ServSafe Food Protection Manager is essentially mandatory, and the National Restaurant Association's Foodservice Management Professional (FMP) credential is common for graduates targeting corporate or multi-unit roles.
Do I need a bachelor's, or will an associate's degree get me into restaurant management?
Both of the tracked career destinations — food service managers and lodging managers — list a high school diploma as the typical entry credential, which means an associate's degree is enough for unit-level management on paper. The data confirms it: associate's completers report five-year median earnings around $42,850, versus $56,191 for bachelor's completers — a gap of roughly $13,300 per year. The bachelor's pays off most clearly when graduates target multi-unit, corporate, or hotel-affiliated F&B leadership roles, where employers like Marriott, Aramark, Compass Group, and Sodexo expect a four-year credential for management-track entry. If your goal is to run a single restaurant unit, the associate's plus operating experience often gets you there faster.
What kinds of jobs do restaurant management graduates actually end up in?
The most direct destination is food service manager (SOC 11-9051) — running a restaurant unit, a food service operation, or a franchise location. BLS reports a median wage of $65,310 with 6.4% projected growth. Lodging managers ($68,130 median, 3.4% growth) is the secondary tracked path, common for graduates moving into hotel F&B operations. Beyond those tracked roles, graduates land at quick-service chains (McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, Starbucks, Panera), casual and fast-casual concepts (Cheesecake Factory, Texas Roadhouse, Cava, Shake Shack), independent restaurant groups, hotel F&B teams (Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, Four Seasons), corporate dining contractors (Aramark, Sodexo, Compass Group), college and university dining (Chartwells, Bon Appétit), stadium and arena F&B (Levy, Delaware North), cruise lines, and theme park operations. The most lucrative track for graduates who advance is multi-unit management, where compensation at $80K-$120K is common, and director-of-operations or VP-operations roles in chain restaurants reach $200K+.
How does this major compare to the broader hospitality, hotel, or tourism management options?
Restaurant/Food Services Management (CIP 52.0905) is the food-and-beverage-specific track within the larger CIP four-digit family. Hospitality Administration/Management, General (52.0901) is the broad umbrella with about 5,942 annual completions and curriculum spanning lodging, food service, tourism, and recreation. Hotel/Motel Administration/Management (52.0904, ~1,103 completions) is the lodging-focused sibling. Tourism and Travel Services Management (52.0903, ~542 completions) targets the travel and destination side. With just 382 annual completions across 46 colleges, this restaurant-focused track is notably smaller than the general hospitality major. Choose this specialization if you know you want to run restaurants — independent, chain, or contract food service. Choose the general hospitality major if you want optionality across hotels, events, recreation, and food service. Importantly, this major is also distinct from culinary CIP-12 programs (12.0503 Culinary Arts/Chef Training, 12.0504 Restaurant/Culinary/Catering Management): restaurant management majors focus on running operations rather than cooking, and the curriculum lives in business schools rather than culinary academies.
Where are the strongest programs, and how concentrated is the field?
The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY dominates by completions volume — 208 bachelor's degrees annually, more than half the national total for this CIP. CIA's program is unusual because it's housed in a culinary school rather than a business school, blending intensive food production training with restaurant management coursework. After CIA, completions drop sharply: Colorado State University-Fort Collins and University of Central Florida tie for second at 32 completions each, followed by CUNY LaGuardia at the associate's level. Outside this narrow CIP-52.0905 list, the most-respected restaurant management programs are typically housed within general hospitality schools — Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, Florida International's Chaplin School, UNLV's Harrah, Cal Poly Pomona's Collins, Penn State Smeal, MSU's Eli Broad, Houston's Conrad, and NYU Tisch H&T — but they award degrees under the broader 52.0901 hospitality umbrella rather than this specific CIP.
What's the realistic lifestyle and career trajectory for restaurant management graduates?
Be honest with yourself about the work. Restaurants run nights, weekends, and holidays, and the industry has the highest annual employee turnover of any major employment sector — over 50% in many segments. New unit managers typically work 50-60 hour weeks and rotate through evenings and weekends. The wage scale is real but compressed at the unit-manager level: entry positions at QSR or casual chains run $45,000-$58,000 plus bonus, with five-year medians around $56,000-$65,000. Wage growth happens primarily through promotion to multi-unit management ($80,000-$120,000) and corporate F&B leadership (Director of Operations $100,000-$160,000, VP-level $200,000+). Graduates who advance fastest tend to be operationally disciplined, strong people managers, and willing to relocate for promotion. AI is augmenting routine scheduling, inventory, and ordering work — and front-of-house automation (kiosks, app ordering) is reducing some entry-level headcount — but in-person operations leadership, culinary judgment, and multi-unit business acumen remain durable.