Restaurant & Catering Management

 

Types of Degrees Restaurant & Catering Management Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many restaurant, culinary, & catering management/manager graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	582
Associate Degree	569
Undergraduate Certificate	137
Bachelor’s Degree	102

What Restaurant & Catering Management Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to restaurant, culinary, and catering management/manager and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Restaurant, Culinary, and Catering Management/Manager Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in restaurant, culinary, and catering management/manager should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

Skills for Restaurant, Culinary, and Catering Management/Manager Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to restaurant, culinary, and catering management/manager:

• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Abilities for Restaurant, Culinary, and Catering Management/Manager Majors

As you progress with your restaurant, culinary, and catering management/manager degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Restaurant & Catering Management Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with restaurant, culinary, and catering management/manager:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Chefs and Head Cooks	9.6%	$48,460
Cooks, Private Household	5.2%	$37,590
First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers	9.3%	$32,450
Food Service Managers	9.0%	$54,240

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Restaurant & Catering Management?

The major attracts more women than men. About 64% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of restaurant, culinary, and catering management/manager majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	36
Black or African American	136
Hispanic or Latino	140
White	186
International Students	27
Other Races/Ethnicities	44

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Restaurant, Culinary, and Catering Management/Manager, too. About 4.7% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Restaurant & Catering Management Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $36,190 to $52,160 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to restaurant, culinary, and catering management/manager. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Restaurant & Catering Management

Some degrees associated with restaurant, culinary, and catering management/manager may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to restaurant, culinary, and catering management/manager have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	15.3%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	36.4%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	17.2%
Some College Courses	11.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	17.3%
Bachelor’s Degree	3.3%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	1.0%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.9%

Online Restaurant & Catering Management Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	53	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	109	1
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	2	1
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Restaurant & Catering Management Worth It?

The median salary for a restaurant, culinary, and catering management/manager grad is $41,240 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 3% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $26,800 after 20 years!

Trades Related to Restaurant & Catering Management

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to restaurant, culinary, and catering management/manager.

Major	Number of Grads
Culinary Arts/Chef Training	10,546
Baking & Pastry Arts/Baker/Pastry Chef	5,029
General Cooking & Related Culinary Arts	3,303
Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant	786
Other Culinary Arts & Related Services	335
Institutional Food Workers	204
Culinary Science/Culinology	203
Bartending/Bartender	157
Food Service, Waiter/Waitress, & Dining Room Management/Manager	82
Meat Cutting/Meat Cutter	28
Wine Steward/Sommelier	8

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By U.S. Army Europe Images under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.