Hospitality Administration/Management at Virginia State University

The earnings trajectory here raises immediate questions. While similar hospitality programs in Virginia suggest first-year earnings around $45,400, the actual reported figure for this program four years post-graduation drops to $31,000—well below both the estimated starting point and the national four-year median. This backward progression is unusual and suggests either graduates are changing careers, working part-time, or facing challenges that peers at James Madison or Virginia Tech (where hospitality grads start near $46,000) may not encounter. The estimated debt load of roughly $25,000 means graduates would be dedicating about 80% of their fourth-year earnings just to match a standard 10-year repayment—a heavy burden.

Virginia State serves a predominantly Pell-eligible population (71%), and while the school's open admission environment provides access, the earnings data suggests that access alone isn't translating into the financial outcomes families need. Hospitality management can lead to solid careers—the field offers clear pathways into hotel operations, event management, and tourism—but the downward earnings trend four years out is concerning enough that you'd want concrete explanations from the career services office about where recent graduates are actually working and why their earnings lag so far behind state peers. Without that clarity, this investment carries substantial risk relative to other Virginia programs with demonstrated results.