Hospitality Business Management
Application Deadline
- Spring: December 8
- Summer: April 12 (early sessions)
- Fall: July 19
Class Begins
- Spring: January 6, 2025
- Summer: May 5, 2025 (early sessions)
- Fall: August 19, 2024
Degree Awarded
Bachelor of Arts
in Hospitality Business Management
WSU College
Carson College of Business
Lead in a Fast-Paced, Growing Industry
Are looking for an exciting career in an industry that’s quickly growing, in demand and, most importantly, fun? In today’s ever-changing world full of new technology and abundant consumer choices, the hospitality industry is looking for savvy professional managers to lead it into the future.
What is Hospitality Business Management?
Hospitality business management focuses on operations under the tourism umbrella–lodging, attractions, transportation, and food and beverage businesses. This broad and opportunity-rich industry represents a large and growing portion of the world’s economic output. The people who are most successful in this field have a mastery of industry-specific knowledge, theoretical and applied management methods, interpersonal skills, leadership competencies, and teamwork strategies.
What You’ll Learn
WSU’s hospitality business management program, offered entirely online, is designed to help you learn the fundamentals you need to advance in this fast-growing and wide-ranging industry. Acclaimed WSU faculty members bring extensive hands-on industry experience to the curriculum. You will gain expertise in operations, revenues and cost controls, sales, service, event planning, and leadership. You will learn to apply those skills to careers at hotels, restaurants, sports and convention centers, senior living communities, and tourist destinations, both in the U.S. and across the world.
WSU HBM Program Strengths
- WSU’s hospitality program was established in 1932, making it the third-oldest such program in the U.S. It consistently ranks among the nation’s top 10 hospitality programs and is part of WSU’s AACSB-accredited Carson College of Business. In 2021, the program was ranked No. 2 in the nation by a global ranking organization.
- The Marriott Foundation Industry Relations Manager works with students and employers for internship and graduate placements.
- As part of the online hospitality degree program, students work 1,000 paid hours in the hospitality industry, providing career connections and raising their profile for corporate recruiters.
- Students can apply to spend a semester studying at the Brig campus of César Ritz Colleges in Switzerland.
Courses Designed for Flexibility
The Carson College of Business offers its lower and upper division courses in a 7-week format. Several required upper division courses are offered only once per year. Students will be required to take some courses during the summer.
The 7-week sessions allow students to complete two or four 7-week courses during a traditional 16-week semester and can be taken concurrently with 16-week non-business courses. The 7-week courses are accelerated and require about 15-20 hours of work per week but allow for a more flexible schedule suited for working students. The current 7-week course rotation schedule is provided below in the Program of Study under HBM Core Requirements and Course Rotation.
Program of Study
All courses are available online
All WSU undergraduates must complete a minimum of 120 semester credits of which 40 credits must be at the 300 – 400 level. Students must also complete the University Common Requirements (UCORE). These can generally be satisfied with a direct transfer degree. For a list of direct-transfer agreements, visit WSU’s Transferring an Associate Degree web page.
Students must also complete the College of Business graduation requirements and the hospitality business management degree program requirements.
Admission to the Major
To be eligible to be admitted to a WSU Carson College of Business major, students must meet the following minimum requirements:
- Complete ECONS 101 or 102, MATH 201 or 202, B_A 100, B_A 102 and HBM 101 with a C or higher
- Complete the applicable portion of the Carson Career Amplifier Program (Tier 1 or Crimson Pathway 1)
- Have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 and not be on academic probation
- Complete at least 27 credit hours
Students Must Complete the Courses Below as Required by the Carson College of Business
| FULL SEMESTER COURSES: Offered Each Term | Spring Semester (Jan. – May) | Summer Session (May – July) | Fall Semester (Aug. – Dec.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ECONS 101 [SSCI] – Fundamentals of Microeconomics | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ECONS 102 [SSCI] – Fundamentals of Macroeconomics | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MATH 201 – Finite Math for Business | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MATH 202 [QUAN] – Business Calculus | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 7-WEEK COURSES: Offered on a Rotation Schedule | Spring Session 1 (Jan. – Feb.) | Spring Session 2 (March – May) | Summer Session 1 (May – June) | Summer Session 2 (June – Aug.) | Fall Session 1 (Aug. – Oct.) | Fall Session 2 (Oct. – Dec.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B_A 100 – Introduction to Business (may be waived for qualifying transfer students) | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| B_A 102 – Exploring Careers in Business (may be waived for qualifying transfer students) | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| B_A 211 - Business Ethics, Teams, and Innovation | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| FIN 325 - Introduction to Financial Management | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| HBM 101 – Professional and Career Development for the Business World | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| ACCTG 230 – Financial Accounting | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| ACCTG 231 – Managerial Accounting | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| B_LAW 210 – Business Law | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| B_A 212 – Decision Analysis, Spreadsheets and Data Visualization | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| MGTOP 215 – Business Statistics | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| MIS 250 – Managing Information Technology | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| MKTG 360 - Marketing | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| I_BUS 380 - International Business | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
The course rotation schedules are provided for planning purposes. New students should refer to their personal planning worksheet created by their Global Campus academic advisor for initial planning. Once admitted to the major, students should refer to their Academic Progress Report in myWSU to track their academic progress.
The Carson Career Amplifier Program is a co-curricular program that complements what students are learning in the classroom. Students will develop professional skills through engaging, hands-on experiences.
For more information, visit the College of Business Carson Career Amplifier Program and watch a brief overview on YouTube: Career Amplifier Program Overview.
| 7-WEEK COURSES: Offered on a Rotation Schedule, and Require that Students are Admitted to the Major | Spring Session 1 (Jan. – Feb.) | Spring Session 2 (March – May) | Summer Session 1 (May – June) | Summer Session 2 (June – Aug.) | Fall Session 1 (Aug. – Oct.) | Fall Session 2 (Oct. – Dec.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HBM 101 – Professional and Career Development for the Business World (required for all HBM majors) | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| MGMT 450 – Personnel and Human Resources Management | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| HBM 280 – Hospitality Systems | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| HBM 358 – Foodservice Systems and Control | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| HBM 381 [M] – Hospitality Leadership and Organizational Behavior | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| HBM 401 (1 cr) – Career Management | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| HBM 491 – Operational Analysis | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| HBM 494 [M] – Service Operations Management | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| HBM 495 [CAPS] – Case Studies and Research | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
The course rotation schedule is provided for planning purposes. New students should refer to their personal planning worksheet created by their Global Campus Academic Advisor for initial planning. Once admitted to the major, students should refer to their Academic Progress Report in myWSU to track their academic progress.
Students must also choose one Economic Sciences course from the following:
- ECONS 305 – Intermediate Microeconomics Without Calculus
- ECONS 323 – Labor Economics
The Courses Below Require Students are Admitted to the Major
6 credits of upper division business courses.
All upper division business courses are 7-weeks.
Upper-division electives include courses from ACCTG, B_LAW, ENTRP, FIN, HBM, I_BUS, MGMT, MGTOP, MIS, MKTG.
Students must complete the University Writing Portfolio, and two Writing in the Major [M] courses. For online HBM majors, the Writing in the Major requirement will be fulfilled with HBM 381 and HBM 494.
- 12 credits of Social Science or Humanities Electives: Any courses with the [SSCI] or [HUM] designation (excluding courses in ACCTG, B A, B LAW, ENTRP, FIN, HBM, I BUS, MGMT, MGTOP, MIS, and MKTG), or courses in ANTH, ART, ASIA, CES, CRM J, DTC, ECONS, ENGLISH, FOR LANG, HISTORY, HONORS 270, 280, 370, 380, H D, HUMANITY, PHIL, POL S, PSYCH, SOC, and WGSS (excluding ECONS 101, 102, 198, 327, ENGLISH 101, 105, 402, 403, H D 205, HISTORY 105, 305).
- One of the following Communication courses:
- COM 102 [COMM] – Public Speaking in the Digital Age
- H_D 205 [COMM] – Developing Effective Communication and Life Skills
- 3 credits Written Communications: ENGLISH 402 [WRTG] [M] – Technical and Professional Writing OR ENGLISH 403
- 2.5 cumulative grade point average in all WSU business courses
- Nine upper division (300- and 400-level) business courses must be taken at WSU
- 6 credits International Experience Requirement: A variety of options exists to fulfill this requirement, including study abroad, international internships, and approved coursework.
As part of the hospitality business management program, students work 1,000 paid hours in the hospitality industry, providing career connections and raising their profile for corporate recruiters. Visit Carson College of Business Industry Experience Requirement for details.
Please review the online WSU Catalog for additional information about specific degree requirements.
Related Certificates
Global Campus offers these related undergraduate certificate programs that you can consider pairing with your Hospitality Business Management major.