What was the title of Donald Trump's Wharton degree and what was his major?
Executive summary
Donald J. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics [1] [2]. While the degree title and major are public and routinely confirmed by the university, disputes persist about his academic standing, honors and the context in which he invokes the Wharton credential [3] [4].
1. The credential spelled out: Bachelor of Science in economics from Wharton
University and major listings identify Trump’s credential as a Bachelor of Science in economics awarded by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in May 1968, a fact recorded in multiple reporting and biographical summaries [1] [2]. Institutional policy limits what the university will release beyond date of graduation, degree and major, but that core information — “1968 Wharton graduate” and a BS in economics — is consistently presented by Penn and in archival materials [3].
2. What the official records and reporting actually confirm
Penn’s publicly cited practice — confirming only date of graduation, degree and major for alumni — is the reason most contemporary profiles and archival commencement documents list Trump simply as a 1968 Wharton graduate with a BS in economics [3]. Major media and academic overviews reiterate that Trump transferred into Wharton after two years at Fordham and completed the undergraduate economics degree at Wharton [2] [5].
3. Honors, ranking and “top of the class” claims: contested terrain
Although early profiles and Trump’s own public statements at times suggested he graduated at or near the top of his class, contemporaneous archival lists and classmates’ recollections show he graduated without honors and did not appear on published dean’s lists or prize recipient rosters for 1968, undermining claims that he led the class academically [3]. Several early news profiles that reported high class standing have been disputed by later reporting and archival checks, and Penn records do not support honors distinctions for Trump in 1968 [2] [3].
4. Allegations, context and competing narratives around admission and performance
Beyond grade and honors disputes, allegations have circulated — including claims publicized by family members and media reporting — that Trump benefited from irregular assistance in admission (an SAT allegation) or other favors from family connections; these allegations have prompted calls from some academics for investigation and even for revoking honors by critics, though institutional action by Wharton on his undergraduate degree has not occurred and the university’s published confirmation remains limited to degree and major [6] [5]. At the same time, faculty recollections quoted in profiles offer sharply negative personal assessments of Trump’s classroom engagement, and Trump himself has at times described the Wharton credential as mostly “bragging rights,” reflecting both pride and ambivalence in how the credential has been used in his public persona [4].
5. Why the precise title and major matter politically and culturally
The distinction between degree title and disputed claims about ranking or conduct matters because the Wharton name has been central to Trump’s branding — invoked repeatedly in campaigns to signal business acumen — even as critics and some reporting seek to separate the formal credential (a BS in economics) from contested narratives about how meritorious the undergraduate record actually was [2] [4]. Given Penn’s limited disclosure policy, the publicly verifiable answer is narrow and clear: the title of the degree is Bachelor of Science in economics from the Wharton School, earned in 1968; broader questions about how he performed, how he was admitted, and what the credential signifies are matters of ongoing dispute and reporting [3] [6].