Investing in San Diego's Financial Future
The Center for Applied Finance at the University of San Diego’s Knauss School of Business connects students and professionals with markets that make San Diego unlike anywhere else. We build pathways for professional development, conduct research that informs the future of financial best practices and create impactful experiences for collaboration and mentorship with students, founders, veterans and family financial stewards. By developing financial fluency through experiential opportunities, industry credentials and practitioner relationships, we are developing leaders who can create and manage wealth for San Diego and the world beyond it.
Financial Knowledge that Serves You
For Finance Students
From Classroom to Career
As a Knauss finance major or graduate student, the Center for Applied Finance helps you apply classroom concepts to real-world applications, earn credentials that are essential for financial practitioners and nurture industry relationships — ones that lead to careers with organizations shaping San Diego's leading industries, including life science and wealth management.
For Families and Professionals
Stay Ahead of San Diego's Evolving Markets
As a founder, industry professional or an individual managing your family’s wealth, the Center for Applied Finance is your resource for staying ahead of trends shaping San Diego’s industries and private wealth sectors. Throughout the year we offer symposiums and workshops led by experts and Knauss School of Business’ finance professors, where they reveal the unique opportunities and challenges in San Diego’s markets accompanied by actionable insights to improve financial fluency.
Where Finance Meets Practice
San Diego's economy is unlike any other in the country — and no academic finance program has built itself around it. The Center for Applied Finance is structured around three markets that define our region to best develop San Diego's financial talent pipeline and support professionals in the industries that drive our local economy.
Applied Learning
Building Leaders
Active fund management. Bloomberg Market Concepts certification. Practitioner networks built before graduation. Our students don't just study finance, they practice it under the guidance of professionals working in the markets they'll one day lead.
Best Practices
Generating Research
Applied research relevant to the industries that power San Diego's economy — life science, private wealth, and military and veteran communities — is conducted by students and faculty working alongside the practitioners who rely on it.
Professional Learning
Serving the Community
Closing the information asymmetry gap for the life science founders, veterans, and family office stewards who make San Diego what it is. In keeping with USD's Catholic values, we believe financial fluency is not a privilege to be protected, but a resource to be shared.
Get Involved
Join the Advisory Board
Advisory board members help shape the Center for Applied Finance’s strategic direction, gain early access to the Knauss School of Business’ student talent, and deepen connections within San Diego's finance and academic communities.
Partner with Us
By sponsoring a conference, becoming a guest speaker or participating in our events, industry partners are core to how we connect students and professionals to advance financial knowledge and one-of-a-kind experiential opportunities.
Invest in Our Students
As the newest center at USD’s Knauss School of Business, we have a big vision to execute and all the gumption needed to bring it to life — with your support. By making a gift, you are helping students gain access to invaluable experiences and relationships that will launch their finance careers in San Diego and beyond. On behalf of our students, alumni and community, thank you for investing in us.