What academic degree does Trump have
Executive summary
Donald J. Trump holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, earned in 1968 after transferring from Fordham University, and he did not complete graduate studies such as an MBA at Wharton; public debate around the pedigree and implications of that undergraduate degree has persisted for decades [1] [2] [3].
1. The diploma: bachelor’s in economics from Wharton (the baseline fact)
Contemporary biographies and university records cited by multiple outlets record that Trump graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, a fact repeated in encyclopedic and institutional summaries of his life [1] [4] [5].
2. The road there: Fordham, transfer, and timing
Trump began his college education at Fordham University in 1964 and transferred to Penn’s Wharton School near the end of his sophomore year, a move he and others have described as motivated in part by family preference and networking opportunities associated with Wharton and his father’s business connections [2] [3].
3. What Trump did not earn: no Wharton MBA or graduate degree
Public reporting and academic profiles make clear that Trump’s relationship with Wharton is as an undergraduate alumnus — he earned a bachelor’s degree, not a master’s in business administration or other graduate credential from Penn — and several outlets note he has sometimes used the shorthand “went to Wharton” in ways that have created confusion about the level of the degree [3] [5].
4. Honors, transcripts and an opaque record on academic distinction
Efforts to determine whether Trump graduated with academic honors have turned up nothing indicating distinction: commencement programs and Dean’s List records from 1968 do not list his name among honors recipients, and Penn’s privacy rules plus Trump’s reported restrictions on transcript release have left public accounts relying on such omissions rather than university-published confirmation [6].
5. The controversy: claims about admissions and calls to rescind the degree
Beyond questions of honors, there have been accusations and calls for investigation — notably from some Wharton faculty and commentators — alleging irregularities in Trump’s admission testing in the 1960s, with advocates urging Penn to investigate and, if fraud were confirmed, consider revoking the degree; these demands remain contested and hinge on evidence that, by law and university policy, is difficult to obtain publicly [7].
6. How Trump uses the credential in public life
Trump has repeatedly invoked Wharton as a credential to bolster his business bona fides, and commentators note he treats the undergraduate Wharton degree as a central credential even while he rarely clarified publicly that it is a bachelor’s and not a graduate professional degree; critics and some reporters say that rhetorical ambiguity has contributed to misperceptions about the depth of his formal academic training [5] [3].
7. Limits of reporting and what remains unverified
University privacy rules and the absence of released transcripts mean some detailed academic questions — exact grades, course performance, and whether specific admissions irregularities occurred — remain unresolved in the public record; existing accounts therefore combine university-published facts (degree and dates) with investigative reporting and commentary where documentary access is limited [6] [7].
8. Bottom line: a concise answer and context
The documented and widely cited fact is that Donald J. Trump earned a Bachelor of Science in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1968 after transferring from Fordham University; he did not earn a graduate degree from Wharton, and debates about honors, admissions integrity, and how he markets the credential persist in public discourse [1] [2] [7].