Meeting and Event Planning

Types of Degrees Meeting and Event Planning Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many meeting and event planning graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Graduate Certificate	117
Master’s Degree	76

What Meeting and Event Planning Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to meeting and event planning were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Meeting and Event Planning Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in meeting and event planning 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.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• 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.

Skills for Meeting and Event Planning Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to meeting and event planning:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• 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.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Abilities for Meeting and Event Planning Majors

As a meeting and event planning major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

What Can You Do With a Meeting and Event Planning Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with meeting and event planning:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners	10.9%	$49,370

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Meeting and Event Planning?

The major attracts more women than men. About 87% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of meeting and event planning majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	7
Black or African American	3
Hispanic or Latino	5
White	31
International Students	26
Other Races/Ethnicities	4

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Meeting and Event Planning, too. About 34.2% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Meeting and Event Planning

Some degrees associated with meeting and event planning 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 meeting and event planning have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	7.9%
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)	6.6%
Some College Courses	37.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	7.5%
Bachelor’s Degree	40.8%

Online Meeting and Event Planning 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)	14	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	13	2
Bachelor’s Degree	5	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	5	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

Majors Related to Meeting and Event Planning

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to meeting and event planning.

Major	Number of Grads
General Hospitality Administration/Management	8,593
Hotel/Motel Administration/Management	1,923
Tourism and Travel Services Management	915
Restaurant/Food Services Management	784
Other Hospitality Administration/Management	542
Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Management	323
Resort Management	190
Casino Management	7
Brewery/Brewpub Operations/Management	5

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 Bblackpsu under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.