In the vast and growing hospitality industry, the need for qualified supervisors, managers, and owners is also continuing to grow. College-level hospitality business programs will be an important source of qualified industry professionals. Therefore, the determinants that freshman and sophomore students use to decide on hospitality business as an academic major are of interest. This study extends Ajzen's (1985) Theory of Planned Behavior by adding constructs from Magolda's (1999) Self-Authorship Theory to predict how students choose Hospitality Business as an academic major. The contribution of this study is the 19% increase in predictability of students choosing hospitality business through the combination of Theory of Planned Behavior and Self-Authorship Theory (66%) over employing the Theory of Planned Behavior alone (47%). Students perceive the influence of others (parents, advisors, professors, friends, siblings, classmates, and business people) as most important in deciding to major in hospitality business. Other determinants are discussed and practical implications are presented.
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