Partnership · University of San Diego

Back where the
Dons began.

This school opened in 1957 as University of San Diego High School — “Uni” — and its teams have been the Dons ever since. Sixty-nine years later, DBI students are back on that campus.

A group of students in the 1980s posing in front of the University of San Diego High School sign.
Uni students at the school sign. The original Dons.

College courses, in high school

DBI students are nominated each year to take college-level business coursework at USD’s Knauss School of Business — while still enrolled at Cathedral Catholic.

An MBA mentor on every team

Since the first cohort, every spring venture team has been paired with an MBA mentor from USD alongside its industry mentor — graduate-school rigor applied to a high-school company.

DBI Advisory Board · Fall keynote

Brian Tietje, PhD

Dean, Knauss School of Business · University of San Diego

The dean of USD’s business school doesn’t just endorse DBI — he sits on its advisory board, and he opens the fall term as its keynote speaker. The partnership runs through the classroom, not just the letterhead.

At DBI
Advisory Board member
This fall
Keynote speaker, first semester
Brian Tietje, Dean of the Knauss School of Business at the University of San Diego, standing outside the business school.
Dean Tietje at the Knauss School of Business.

Where to next

The Course

See the whole year

The room, the pathway, the Case Competition, and the Startup Summit — session by session.

The Partnership

DBI × USD

College business courses at the Knauss School, an MBA mentor on every team, and the dean on our board.

You’re here

Join us

Student or business leader

Apply for the fall term — or teach a session, mentor a venture, or sponsor the Summit.