Trump's GPA
Executive summary
The precise numerical GPA for Donald J. Trump’s college record is not publicly verifiable because official transcripts have not been released; contemporary reporting and institutional statements indicate no honors or dean’s‑list recognition at Penn and that an alleged Fordham transcript circulating online was declared a forgery by the university [1] [2]. Reporting and testimony also document that Trump’s lawyer threatened schools and the College Board against releasing his grades, which helps explain why exact figures are unavailable [3] [4].
1. What can be established from public records and reporting
Donald Trump attended Fordham University for two years and then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics — facts that are widely reported and confirmed by institutional statements and biographical profiles [2] [5] [6]. Multiple contemporary sources note that Trump did not graduate with academic honors from Wharton and that his name does not appear on the 1968 Dean’s List published by the Daily Pennsylvanian, a proof‑by‑omission cited because colleges won’t release private transcripts without the student’s consent [1] [7].
2. Why the exact GPA remains unknown
Federal privacy rules prevent universities from releasing student transcripts to third parties, and reporting indicates Trump instructed advisers to block disclosure — including, according to Michael Cohen’s testimony, letters threatening legal action to Fordham and other institutions if grades or SAT scores were released — which has left researchers reliant on indirect evidence rather than a confirmed numeric GPA [3] [4]. Efforts to identify an actual transcript have produced at least one widely circulated image that Fordham called a forgery, reinforcing that publicly available “report cards” should be treated skeptically [2].
3. Conflicting claims and unsubstantiated figures
Over the years a range of figures and impressions have circulated: some online posts and later retellings claim a high GPA (for example, internet articles have floated numbers like 3.7), but those assertions are not supported by primary documentation and appear to originate from secondary or dubious sources rather than university records [8]. Conversely, anecdotal recollections from professors and classmates cited in profiles and books portray Trump as an undistinguished student, yet anecdote cannot substitute for a transcript and those recollections are themselves subject to bias and selective memory [7] [1].
4. Motives, narratives and what they reveal
The contest over Trump’s GPA is as much political theater as scholastic inquiry: Trump’s opponents treat academic records as character evidence, while his defenders emphasize business success and question the relevance of a college GPA, creating incentives on both sides to amplify partial evidence or silence [4] [5]. Michael Cohen’s testimony that he was directed to threaten schools suggests an explicit effort to control the narrative around Trump’s academic record, which in turn shaped media coverage and public curiosity [4] [3].
5. Bottom line and limits of the record
There is no verifiable public record establishing a specific GPA for Donald Trump; reliable public facts are limited to his attendance at Fordham and graduation from Wharton, and the documented absence of honors or dean’s‑list mentions in contemporaneous publications — all consistent with the conclusion that no official GPA has been released and that attempted disclosures have been blocked, contested or debunked [1] [2] [3]. If an exact numeric GPA is required, reporting shows the only authoritative route would be access to Trump’s sealed academic transcripts or his voluntary release, neither of which, according to available sources, has occurred [1] [4].