Hotel School

Cornell's prestigious hotel school, founded in 1922 and the nation's oldest, was once one of few academic options for students wanting to be managers at hotel or other hospitality companies. But the thriving Cornell institution no longer has the corner on the training of the USA's innkeepers. About 200 schools now offer bachelor's degrees to students majoring in hospitality management, a five-fold increase over the past 25 years.

San Diego State's School of Hospitality & Tourism Management started with 13 students in 2001 and now has 500. At the University of Central Florida, the number of students majoring in hospitality management rose from about 85 in 1999 to 2,000 today.

A board member of an association which represents schools with hospitality programs, says a record number of students - 50,000 - are currently enrolled nationwide.

According to San Diego State dean of the program, "We're going from an accidental industry to one where there's an explosion of hospitality schools, and the bar is getting raised."

The $133 billion US industry grew from 32,000 hotels in 1987 to 49,000 hotels today, and the number of hotel brands has increased significantly.

This spring, most hospitality school graduates looking for hotel jobs will get multiple job offers at an annual salary of at least $40,000. Many graduates have annual salaries above $70,000 within three years (according to University of Memphis interim director Richard Zurburg).

John Howie, owner of a hotel in Buffalo first pitched the idea to Cornell in 1912. Howie believed that many hotels could be improved by college-educated managers, and that American travelers deserved better than sleeping on straw mattresses in drafty inns above noisy taverns.

Marriott, the nation's largest hotel company, has a 10-person staff that recruits at more than 75 hospitality schools. It expects to hire 300 to 400 hotel school graduates annually during the new few years.