Pope Francis wrote that “Business is a vocation, and a noble vocation, provided that those engaged in it see themselves challenged by a greater meaning in life.” Here in the Tim and Steph Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America, we prepare you for a successful career in business and help you to find that greater meaning.

Established  in 2013 — the year that Francis became Pope — the Busch School of Business is unique. We are the only business school built from the ground up to integrate faith and business, and the only one where the following seven qualities come together, all of which are absolutely necessary if you are going to pursue business as a noble vocation: 

1. A sound, rigorous education in the techniques, theory, and tools of business. We offer majors and minors in Management, Marketing, Accounting, Finance, and International Business, minors in Entrepreneurship and Sales, and a specialization in Sports Management. These majors and minors — and the combinations you can make among them — will prepare you for a vast range of careers.  
   
   
2. Practical application. Business is an applied discipline. Our location on the 176-acre campus of The Catholic University of America, the largest in Washington, D.C., gives you an extraordinary range of internships and numerous opportunities for interaction with business leaders and local businesses (see for example the work of our Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship). A large proportion of our faculty have been successful business executives, entrepreneurs, and leaders themselves, and we use the case method and other interactive teaching approaches extensively.  All this means that you don’t just learn about business, you learn how to do it. 
   
   
3. A commitment to ethics and Catholic social doctrine. We believe that a course or two in ethics and a discussion here and there about ethics in other courses are not sufficient. An ethical perspective must be infused consistently throughout the curriculum — class discussions must consistently ask not only “Can we?” but “Should we?” At the Busch school everything we do is grounded in Catholic social teaching, which means a firm commitment to the idea that there are unchanging norms of right and wrong, which guide us in living a happy, meaningful, and fulfilled life.
   
   
4. A community dedicated to being the best versions of ourselves. It is not enough to understand what is ethical, to know the right thing to do. You must also get into the habit of doing the right thing — which means forming your character to live a life of virtue. It is not surprising that a large number of our students play varsity sports — athletes know that success is about practicing until you get it right! Our School is a community of students, faculty, and staff striving together to grow in virtue, learning from each other in class and out — in clubs, social activities, and our wide-ranging Supercurriculum program — while holding each other accountable to each be the best versions of ourselves.
   
   
5. A faithfully Catholic liberal arts education. A Carnegie Foundation study of undergraduate business education concluded that the single thing missing from most business degree programs was a solid foundation in the liberal arts. The liberal arts are worth studying for their own sakes (that’s why they are called the “liberal”—free—arts: they are the arts of a life of freedom) and they also provide a vital preparation in thinking clearly, understanding the larger context, communicating effectively — as well as finding the greater meaning in life. But clear thinking, understanding and meaning require not just any liberal arts education, but one that affirms that truth exists and can be known, and can be found in part by engaging with the “the best which has been thought and said in the world,” including Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Shakespeare, and Holy Scripture. 
   
   
6. An affinity for Main Street. In addition to preparing our students for success on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley our program has a strong  focus on entrepreneurship and an affinity for small and medium-sized companies. That’s where most jobs are created, where most new products come from, where the real wealth is created, and where firms can last for generations and have strong ties to their community. A large number of our students come from families who run their own businesses, who are entrepreneurs, and already know the necessity of hard work for success. 
   
   
7. An obsession with mentorship and career preparation. Every Busch school student participates in an integrated career preparation program that begins the moment you arrive on campus. You are paired with a faculty advisor who will help you find success every step of the way through graduation and beyond. Our faculty aren’t just your professors; they are your mentors and role models, and every one of them models the life of business as a noble vocation. 

Here at the Busch School of Business, we do all these things so that you can find the meaning of your life and use that life to serve others through a successful career in business. Are you called to a noble vocation in business? Come and see — perhaps you can become the change we all want to see in our society.