What was Donald Trump's major and coursework at the University of Pennsylvania?

1. A Diploma on Record — What the University Program Shows

The University of Pennsylvania’s 1968 commencement materials and multiple biographical summaries consistently show Donald Trump under the Bachelor of Science in Economics degree conferred by Wharton, which establishes the formal credential issued in May 1968; that institutional evidence is the strongest primary indicator of his major as recorded at graduation ^{[2] [1]}. Reporting from both contemporary and retrospective sources restates this diploma designation and treats Wharton’s degree as the core fact, but the ceremony program and summaries do not enumerate the precise catalog of courses he completed, so the degree title stands while coursework details remain absent from public archival displays ^{[2] [3]}.

2. The “Real Estate” Label — Emphasis or Separate Major?

Several profiles and fact-check pieces describe Trump as having focused on real estate while at Wharton, and some sources even phrase it as a B.S. “in real estate,” reflecting the reality that Wharton offered electives and concentrations that allowed substantial study of real estate topics within an economics curriculum, and that Trump pursued investments while a student ^{[4] [6]}. This creates an interpretive split: institutional records list economics as the degree, while journalistic accounts and alumni recollections emphasize a practical concentration and extracurricular real estate activities; both can be true because Wharton’s degree structure permits disciplinary emphasis without changing the formal degree designation ^{[6] [4]}.

3. Coursework and Transcripts — Why the Record Is Thin

No publicly released, itemized transcript from Trump’s time at Wharton has been produced, and reporting repeatedly notes his refusal to make academic records public, which hampers definitive statements about specific courses, grades or whether he completed a formal “real estate major” track within the economics degree ^{[5] [4]}. Journalists and historians therefore rely on commencement lists, contemporaneous university catalogs, and alumni testimony to infer likely coursework; those methods indicate a Wharton economics curriculum with options in finance and real estate, but cannot substitute for a transcript when evaluating grade-based claims or honors ^{[5] [1]}.

4. Competing Narratives — Boasts, Criticism and Context

Biographical sketches record that Trump has sometimes highlighted Wharton prestige in professional narratives, while some classmates and profiles have questioned his academic standing, noting he did not appear on honor rolls and that recollections of his academic rigor vary widely; these divergent accounts create a political and rhetorical battleground between proponents who stress the Wharton credential and critics who cast doubt on claims of top grades or honors ^{[4] [5]}. Reporters and historians flag that absent transcripts, assertions about class rank or exceptional academic performance remain unverified, and the debate often reflects broader agendas about how educational prestige is used in public messaging ^{[4] [5]}.

5. Bottom Line — What We Can State with Confidence

Based on the most direct documentary evidence and multiple reputable accounts, the established, provable fact is that Donald Trump received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1968; assertions that he held a distinct B.S. labeled strictly “real estate” reflect an emphasis or concentration rather than a different diploma in the archival record ^{[2] [3]}. Because his detailed transcripts and honors documentation remain private, readers should treat claims about specific coursework, exact concentration titles, class rank, or grade-based accolades as unverified unless primary academic records are released; present coverage therefore combines a firm credentialal fact with unresolved details about curricular specificity and academic performance ^{[1] [4]}.