Meeting and Event Planning Degrees (2026 stats)

Meeting and Event Planning: what the data shows

Common questions about meeting and event planning degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.

What is a meeting and event planning degree?

A Meeting and Event Planning program is classified under NCES CIP 52.0907 in the Hospitality Administration/Management field family (52.09).

A program that prepares individuals to plan, budget, and implement conferences, meetings, and other special events in the public or private sectors. Includes instruction in principles of meeting and event planning; special event management; budgets and finance; site selection; contracts, vendors, and negotiations; marketing and promotions; food and beverage management; audio-visual basics and meeting technology; and hospitality law

IPEDS counted 366 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.

Types of meeting and event planning degrees and related programs

Other NCES program codes in the 52.09 family with pages on EDsmart Data:

• Brewery/Brewpub Operations/Management (CIP 52.0910)
• Casino Management (CIP 52.0908)
• Hospitality Administration/Management, General (CIP 52.0901)
• Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Management (CIP 52.0909)
• Hotel/Motel Administration/Management (CIP 52.0904)
• Resort Management (CIP 52.0906)
• Restaurant/Food Services Management (CIP 52.0905)
• Tourism and Travel Services Management (CIP 52.0903)

How long does it take to get a meeting and event planning degree?

Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 52.0907 in our file:

• 27 Associate (5.8% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
• 366 Bachelor's (78.9% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
• 71 Master's (15.3% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's

Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.

What degree do you need?

For Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%). Bachelor's awards account for a majority of IPEDS completions for CIP 52.0907, but occupation data show multiple pathways.

O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.

What jobs can you get with a meeting and event planning degree?

Our degree→occupation mapping links Meeting and Event Planning to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.

See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.

Is a meeting and event planning degree worth it?

College Scorecard national medians for the Hospitality Administration/Management bachelor's program family: median debt $29,589, median earnings $56,726 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.85.

About 3.1% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.

Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $5,496 and median net price is $11,762.

We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.