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What was Trump's academic performance like during his time at Fordham University before transferring to Wharton?
Executive summary
Donald Trump attended Fordham University for two years before transferring to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania; no authenticated Fordham transcript or GPA for Trump has been released, and an image that circulated claiming he had a 1.28 GPA has been declared a forgery by Fordham [1] [2]. Reporting and fact-checks from 2019 through 2024 consistently show the purported grades are not verifiable and that federal privacy protections prevent public release of authentic student records without consent [2] [1]. Secondary claims — including allegations from family members and unverified social-media artifacts — have fueled debate but do not alter the central fact that there is no credible, documented public record of Trump’s academic performance at Fordham [3] [4].
1. Why the purported Fordham transcript set off alarms — and why the university called it a forgery
An image circulating since 2019 purports to show Trump’s Fordham grades — three C‑minuses, a D+ in English literature, an F in statistics, and a 1.28 GPA — and that image was widely shared in later years. Fordham University publicly said the pictured document is not an authentic transcript and pointed out factual errors on it, such as an address mismatch, while also noting that federal student privacy laws (FERPA) protect academic records and the university cannot release them without authorization [2] [5]. Multiple fact-checking outlets, re-checking the image in 2024, reached the same conclusion: the image is a fabrication and cannot be treated as evidence of Trump’s academic performance [1]. The consistent institutional rejection of the document’s authenticity is the primary reason mainstream outlets treat the claim as debunked.
2. What independent reporting and fact-checkers found when they dug in
Major fact-check organizations and news agencies revisited the claim in 2024 and reaffirmed earlier findings: there is no verifiable record in the public domain showing low grades at Fordham, and the specific viral image is a fake according to Fordham officials [1] [2]. These reports emphasize that Trump’s schools have routinely protected academic records and that releasing grades would violate federal privacy rules, which both explains the absence of official transcripts and complicates any effort to independently verify rumors [2] [5]. Journalists also documented that Trump rarely discusses his Fordham years and that his formal degree comes from Wharton in 1968, where he graduated without honors according to contemporaneous reporting and profiles [1] [3]. The convergence of institutional denials and legal privacy limits is central to the fact-checking consensus.
3. Secondary allegations and sources that keep the story alive
Beyond the forged transcript, several narratives persist: reports citing family members allege low undergraduate performance at Fordham or questionable admissions-related behavior, and some commentators have highlighted past attempts by Trump’s lawyers to forestall schools from releasing records. Mary Trump’s book and other accounts suggest claims of underwhelming grades and controversial admissions maneuvers, while past legal letters from Trump’s team underscore a desire to prevent record disclosure; however, these accounts are either anecdotal, disputed, or not supported by released transcripts [4] [3]. Fact-checkers note that such allegations raise legitimate questions but do not constitute documentary proof of specific grades at Fordham, and Fordham’s statement that the viral document is fake remains decisive for the specific 1.28 GPA claim [5].
4. The Wharton transfer and what we do know about Trump’s later academic record
Trump spent two years at Fordham before transferring to Wharton, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in economics in 1968; publicly available records and reporting indicate he did not graduate with honors or make the Dean’s List, contradicting some of his own past claims of top-class standing [1] [3]. Because Wharton records and alumni listings confirm the degree but not detailed grade transcripts, the empirical picture is that Trump completed his degree at Wharton with a standard diploma but without documented academic honors in the public record. Reporting around 2019–2024 repeatedly notes that attempts to obtain or compel release of detailed transcripts have been blocked by privacy rules or rebuffed by the institutions involved [2] [1].
5. The bottom line: what can be stated as fact, and what remains unresolved
Factually, Trump attended Fordham for two years, then graduated from Wharton in 1968, and the specific viral Fordham transcript claiming a 1.28 GPA is a forgery acknowledged by Fordham [1] [2]. What remains unresolved — and likely will remain so unless authorized records are released — is any precise, verified breakdown of Trump’s course grades or GPA while at Fordham, because federal privacy protections and institutional denials prevent independent confirmation [5] [2]. Readers should treat unverified images and anecdotal claims as unproven and rely on the institutional statement that the purported transcript is not authentic when evaluating claims about Trump’s Fordham academic performance [2] [3].