Break out the bubbly: The Collins College of Hospitality Management is No. 10 in the 2022 rankings of CEOWORLD magazine’s “Best Hospitality and Hotel Management Schools in the World,” the only program in California to make the Top 50 list.
The magazine based its ranking on the college’s quality of education, job placements of graduates, recruiter response and employer feedback from detailed survey data collected directly from 185,000 individuals.
I am proud to see how far The Collins College has come over the years,” said Dean Lea Dopson. “Despite the obstacles faced during the pandemic, we have always remained hospitality strong.”
As the oldest program of its kind in the Golden State, The Collins College is an established leader in hospitality management education boasting a 90 percent job placement rate. Its master’s degree program ranks among the Top 10 hospitality and tourism graduate programs in the United States.
The undergraduate program counts roughly 1,000 enrolled students whose diversity reflect the region’s cultural wealth. Nearly 70 percent of graduates identify as minorities, and 53 percent are first-generation students. Future leaders are taught in world-class facilities by the “who’s who” of the hospitality industry, infusing the classroom experience with their expertise, innovative scholarly research, and activities in professional associations. Courses prepare students for industry internships and management training programs, entry- and mid-level supervisory and management positions, and entrepreneurship.
Lessons don’t stay in the classroom, either. Students get a real-world taste of business operations and management during their course at the award-winning Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch – the centerpiece and a curriculum requirement of the hospitality management program. Organic ingredients on its lunch and dinner menus are sourced from Cal Poly Pomona’s culinary garden, supported by proceeds from the sale of Horsehill Vineyards wine produced and distributed as a collaboration between The Collins College, the Don B. Huntley College of Agriculture and the College of Environmental Design.
The Collins College enjoys robust industry support. All four of its buildings were built with more than $25 million in private donations from hospitality stalwarts and alumni. Primary benefactors Carol and James A. Collins have matched multi-million gifts from industry individuals, corporations, and foundations.