Overview

The Faculty of Applied Sciences at Özyeğin University boasts two  internationally renowned (four-year) undergraduate programs, each of which is the one of a kind in their respective fields: Hotel Management and Gastronomy and Culinary Arts. 

The first of its kind in Turkey, the Undergraduate Hotel Management Program was launched by the Faculty of Applied Sciences at Özyeğin University with the ultimate goal of being ranked among the world’s best academic programs. This ultimate goal was also publicly announced  during the founding of the program.

In the pursuit of this goal, the Undergraduate Hotel Management Program of the Faculty of Applied Sciences at Özyeğin University signed a memorandum of understanding with the Swissôtel Hotels and Resorts which opened doors for students to complete their internships, and have preferential treatment in screening and selecting for open positions at Swissôtel Hotels and Resorts worldwide. The MoU is especially noteworthy as it has marked the beginning of a unique collaboration in this field.

The Undergraduate Hotel Management Program at Özyeğin University forged its second Memorandum of Understanding with The Marmara Collection Group to further strengthen its bond with the sector.

The Özyeğin University Undergraduate Hotel Management Program formed its first Advisory Board on July 16, 2009 during its foundation phase. The 12-member board featured the doyens of the tourism and hospitality who have made valuable contributions to our academic program since its first meeting to date.

Meanwhile, the Undergraduate Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Program was launched as a culmination of an exclusive partnership with Le Cordon Bleu. The program welcomed its first students in September 2012.

The goal of our Undergraduate Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Program is to serve as an example of excellence in gastronomy and culinary arts, and be recognized as one of the world’s best academic programs.

As a testimony of our commitment to achieve this goal, we established a second 12-member Advisory Board in April 2013, featuring sector leaders and renowned entrepreneurs from the food and beverages industry.

On April 20, 2018, the Özyeğin University Undergraduate Hotel Management Program forged a new collaboration, this time, with AccorHotels Turkey, the world’s 6th largest hotel group, to offer new opportunities to its students.

The Undergraduate Hotel Management and the Undergraduate Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Programs, by their nature, require a perfect blend of modern, theoretical, and practical knowledge. To this end, our students are offered case studies, professional hotel management software, culinary/laboratory and tasting workshops tailored to develop students’ practical skills, interactive simulation programs, courses focused on human and artificial intelligence, projects, at least 14 seminars a year, almost 2,000 hours of internships, elective courses, a second foreign language in Russian, Chinese, German, or Spanish, and a multimedia based education, all of which are taught by a stellar cadre of faculty with a strong research background and an extensive sectoral experience.

Both of our undergraduate programs aspires to prepare successful, internationally recognized professionals for the hotel management and/or culinary arts field(s). We aspire that our graduates:

• Have internalized the culture of global professionalism,
• Are well-versed with a broad horizon and extensive general culture to shape the future of the sector,
• Are able to blend human-centered management approach with financial success,
• Have entrepreneurial, innovative, and creative skills,
• Are able to closely follow and analyze the latest trends in the national and international hospitality industry,
• Are able to transform their sector-integrated education into national or international careers,
• Are able to start their own business or rise to senior management positions in international hotel and restaurant chains.

Our Undergraduate Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Program awards each student a certificate signed by Le Cordon Bleu International after graduation to attest that they took their culinary arts courses directly from the instructor chefs of Le Cordon Bleu, and they learned the Le Cordon Bleu techniques, using the training materials of Le Cordon Bleu. 

Our students put their knowledge at work in the exquisitely decorated and furnished in-house hotel rooms, or the front-desk and reception areas, prepare food in the modern kitchens of the 3,650sqm Center for Excellence, or serve lunch and dinner to the taste of our guests at the L’Atelier Bleu demonstration restaurant. All of these unique experiences vest our students with hands-on experience, and contribute to their personal and professional development, cultivating them as environmentally sensitive and socially conscious individuals who have the necessary skills and capabilities to be the pioneers for the society in which they live.

Since 2008 when they first received their invitation, the Undergraduate Hotel Management Program students at the Faculty of Applied Sciences at Özyeğin University have been attending, and returning home with awards from the EMCup competition, which is held annually in Maastricht, the Netherlands with over 34 European universities.

We also take pride in sharing that the graduates of both of our undergraduate programs easily find employment worldwide, from China to the United States, Norway to Oman.