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What were Donald Trump's academic records and major at Fordham University compared to Wharton School at Penn in 1966–1968?
Executive Summary
Donald Trump attended Fordham University from 1964–1966, then transferred to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Economics in May 1968. Public academic records for grades or GPA from either Fordham or Wharton have not been released, and several fact-checks and contemporaneous accounts highlight disputes and gaps about his academic performance and claims [1] [2] [3].
1. How the transfer story is consistent across decades — the simple, established timeline
All sources agree on the core timeline: Trump matriculated at Fordham University for two years and then transferred to the Wharton School at Penn, where he completed a Bachelor of Science in economics in 1968. Contemporary profiles and later fact-checks reiterate this sequence as settled fact, noting transfer occurred around 1966 and graduation in May 1968. This timeline forms the noncontroversial backbone of his educational biography and is cited repeatedly in reporting that ranges from deep-dive retrospectives to short fact-checks [3] [2] [1]. Despite different emphases, no supplied source disputes the transfer-and-graduate chronology itself.
2. What we do not have: the missing transcripts and the forged Fordham “report card”
Multiple investigations and institutional statements make clear that detailed grade transcripts from Trump’s college years have not been made public and that at least one widely circulated image claiming to be a Fordham report card is a forgery. Fordham University publicly rejected the authenticity of that image and invoked federal privacy protections; news outlets used that university response to debunk the circulating document. The absence of formal transcript release has left room for speculation, repeated requests, and even reported legal threats in earlier years aimed at preventing disclosures [1] [4] [5].
3. Contradictory impressions from classmates and faculty — a mixed portrait of classroom performance
Eyewitness recollections and retrospective reporting paint a mixed picture of Trump’s engagement and academic standing at Wharton: some classmates and at least one former professor described him as not academically distinguished, with anecdotes of poor preparation and low standing in class, while Trump has publicly emphasized his Wharton degree as central to his credentials. These personal recollections are not backed by released grades, so they function as contextual color rather than documentary proof. Journalistic profiles and a former admissions official’s comments suggest Trump did not appear on dean’s lists and left no clear record indicating class-rank honors [6] [7].
4. Admissions and advantage: contemporaneous context about transfers and influence
Reporting on admission practices of the era indicates transfer applicants had comparatively higher acceptance rates at Penn, and at least one former admissions officer has suggested family connections could have eased Trump’s path. This context does not alter the fact of his degree but offers explanation for how he entered Wharton, highlighting that acceptance standards and gatekeeping for transfers in the 1960s were different from today. The sources note that transfer applicants historically faced lower barriers, and testimony recounts interactions that imply parental involvement in the admissions process, though these details are anecdotal and not formal admissions records [3] [8].
5. Fact-check consensus on contested claims and the limits of available evidence
Recent fact-check pieces converge on two conclusions: first, the claim that a specific Fordham report card showing a 1.28 GPA is authentic is false; second, assertions that Trump graduated at the top of his Wharton class are unsupported. Fact-checkers emphasize the difference between verified institutional records and circulating claims, and they repeatedly note that without released transcripts, definitive statements about GPA or class rank are unprovable. These articles, spanning 2019 to late 2024, stress the need to rely on verifiable documents rather than social-media claims or memory-based anecdotes [1] [4] [9].
6. What remains unresolved and how to interpret the evidence responsibly
The settled facts are his attendance at Fordham (1964–1966), transfer to Wharton (circa 1966), and graduation with a B.S. in economics in 1968. Unresolved questions center on grade-level performance, GPA, and whether admissions involved special influence; those questions cannot be answered definitively with the available public record. Given university refusals to release documents and credible reports of legal pressure to block disclosure, the most rigorous conclusion is that claims about his precise academic performance remain unsubstantiated, while the broad educational milestones are consistently corroborated across sources [5] [9] [6].