Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
What was Donald Trump's actual GPA at Wharton?
Executive Summary
Donald Trump’s precise Wharton GPA is disputed: one 2025 fact-check reports a 2.94 GPA and no honors, while multiple earlier investigations conclude the exact GPA is not publicly verifiable because Penn does not release individual grades; all agree he did not graduate atop his class and did not receive honors [1] [2] [3]. The record of contemporaneous classmates, a partial junior transcript, and faculty recollections portray an unremarkable academic record, and allegations that he claimed to be “first in his class” are contradicted by commencement lists and Dean’s List records [4] [5] [6].
1. A 2025 claim that settles the number — or does it?
A June 2025 fact-check explicitly states Donald Trump’s Wharton GPA as 2.94 and says he graduated without honors, directly contradicting Trump’s past claims of being first in his class; this piece serves as the freshest published numeric assertion in the record [1]. That report is definitive in tone and offers a clear figure, which matters because most prior articles stopped short of publishing a GPA, citing university privacy rules and the absence of official transcripts in the public domain [2] [7]. The 2025 piece should be treated as a significant development because it supplies a concrete number where earlier coverage relied on indirect evidence; however, the chain of custody and sourcing for that numeric claim require scrutiny because earlier contemporaneous documentation from 1968 does not list him among honors recipients or Dean’s List designees [4] [2].
2. Institutional secrecy and why earlier reporters hit a wall
The University of Pennsylvania’s policy of not releasing alumni grades is a central reason multiple investigations concluded the exact GPA was not verifiable from public records; reporters relied instead on commencement programs, Dean’s List rosters, alumni recollections, and a partial junior-year transcript leak [2] [7] [5]. Several pieces across years explicitly state that no public, authenticated full transcript has been produced, leaving room for disagreement about numeric specifics even while converging on qualitative conclusions — that Trump did not graduate with honors and was not at the top of his class [8] [3]. The privacy barrier explains why press coverage before 2025 emphasized the absence of honors and the lack of Dean’s List entries as the strongest available indicators of his academic standing [4].
3. Eyewitness memories and a professor’s blunt verdict
Classmate recollections and at least one former professor’s comment — that Trump was the “dumbest goddamn student I ever had” — appear repeatedly in reporting and have shaped the public narrative about his Wharton performance [9] [6]. Alumni who publicly remembered Trump described him as not academically distinguished, and multiple articles used those firsthand accounts to challenge Trump’s claims of exceptional scholastic achievement [4] [6]. Memory-based sourcing carries risks of hindsight bias and personal attitudes, and while these accounts consistently point to an unremarkable record, they cannot substitute for a complete official transcript; still, the convergence of independent recollections with commencement and Dean’s List absences strengthens the inference that his grades were average rather than exceptional [8] [7].
4. Partial transcripts, legal threats, and why secrecy might persist
Reporters have obtained fragments — a section of a junior-year transcript — but no full, authenticated record has been released publicly, and testimony exists alleging that Trump or his representatives threatened legal action to prevent disclosure of academic records [5] [6]. Coverage notes that Trump himself has said a Wharton degree “doesn’t prove very much,” which researchers cite alongside behavior aimed at keeping grades private as an explanation for the continued opacity [9] [6]. Those details frame a dynamic where privacy rules, partial leaks, and alleged intimidation combine, producing a record where qualitative conclusions (no honors, not top of class) are stronger than certain numeric claims — until the 2025 piece which published a specific GPA [3] [1].
5. Weighing the evidence: what is settled and what remains open
What is settled across the body of reporting is that Trump graduated from Wharton in 1968 without honors, was not on the Dean’s List, and did not graduate first in his class; these points are supported by commencement materials, alumni testimony, and consistent reporting over many years [4] [2] [3]. What remains contested is the definitive numeric GPA: earlier sources uniformly described the GPA as unverified due to Penn’s release policy and lack of a full transcript [8] [7], while a 2025 fact-check presents a specific 2.94 figure [1]. Readers should treat the 2025 numeric claim as a major new data point but note the prior consensus about the absence of honors and top-class distinctions, and recognize that institutional privacy and incomplete documentary trails explain why the question persisted for decades [1] [2].