Which universities have publicly confirmed Donald Trump's attendance or degrees?
Executive summary
Public records and multiple profiles consistently say Donald Trump attended Fordham University for two years (1964–1966) and graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1968 [1] [2]. University and government profiles—including the White House and scholarly summaries—regularly list New York Military Academy, Fordham, and Wharton/Penn as parts of his education [3] [1] [2].
1. The short answer: Fordham and the Wharton School at Penn
Contemporary biographical summaries and university-focused reporting agree that Trump enrolled at Fordham University after New York Military Academy, then transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and received a bachelor’s degree in economics in May 1968 [1] [2] [4]. Major reference profiles—Miller Center and the White House Historical Association—state this sequence directly [2] [3].
2. What the schools themselves have publicly confirmed (and what the sources say)
Available reporting cites university affiliations rather than verbatim confirmation letters or degree transcripts: profiles and news outlets treat Penn/Wharton as the granting institution and Fordham as the initial college; the Miller Center and other outlets explicitly say he “earned a bachelor’s degree in economics through Penn’s Wharton School” [2]. The White House historical profile also lists Wharton and New York Military Academy in his education history [3]. The BestColleges and local reporting repeat those facts as established background [5] [4].
3. Gaps and secrecy: what is not publicly documented in these sources
While multiple sources state his Wharton degree, they note limits on detail: Philadelphia magazine reported that Trump has not released detailed academic records and that his academic performance at Wharton remains private in public reporting [6]. The sources provided do not include direct copies of university confirmations, registrar statements, or transcripts; they rely on established biographical accounts and institutional reputations [2] [6]. Therefore, available sources do not mention primary-documents such as scanned diplomas or Penn registrar confirmations.
4. Honorary degrees and later revocations — a distinct category
The record of honorary degrees is separate from earned degrees. BestColleges reports Trump received honorary degrees from several institutions (including one later revoked by Robert Gordon University in 2015), a point treated as distinct from his academic degrees [5]. The supplied timeline and profiles emphasize the earned bachelor’s degree at Wharton rather than honorary doctorates [5].
5. Public narratives and political use of the Wharton credential
Reporting shows Trump has repeatedly invoked his Wharton degree as a credential in public life; Philadelphia magazine documented his frequent name-dropping of Wharton and noted the degree’s prominent role in his public biography [6]. That coverage highlights a political use of the credential while also noting a lack of public release of more granular academic records [6].
6. Secondary summaries and encyclopedic entries corroborate the same schools
Encyclopedic and timeline-style sources (Wikipedia entries and education timelines) summarize the same path—NYMA, Fordham, then Wharton/Penn—with the caveat that Wikipedia entries are compilations of reporting rather than primary confirmations [1] [7]. The Miller Center and other institutional profiles serve as mainstream corroboration cited across outlets [2].
7. How to interpret these sources and remaining caveats
The convergence of multiple independent profiles—academic-focused outlets, the White House historical page, and long-form journalism—creates a consistent public record that Trump attended Fordham and graduated from Wharton/Penn [3] [1] [2]. However, the documents in the provided reporting are secondary summaries: they do not show raw registrar files or direct university statements included here. For a stricter documentary confirmation, request-of-records or an official registrar statement would be necessary; available sources do not mention such primary-documents in this set (not found in current reporting).
Bottom line: contemporary reporting and institutional biographies name New York Military Academy, Fordham University, and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania as the schools Trump attended and from which he received an earned bachelor’s degree in economics in 1968; detailed academic transcripts or direct registrar releases are not shown in the provided sources [3] [1] [2] [6].