In April 2026, social media users claimed that rather than graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of business "at the top of his class" in 1968, as news outlets such as The New York Times reported over the years, U.S. President Donald Trump graduated 364th in a class of 366.
"Trump bragged he graduated top of his class at Wharton… There were 366 students. He finished… wait for it… 364th," one X post with more than 2 million views claimed (archived).
The claim spread across multiple social media platforms, and Snopes readers also searched the site for answers.
Because we found no evidence to confirm or refute whether Trump placed 364th in his class, we have left this claim unrated. We will update this article if we learn more.
A UPenn spokesperson said in an email to Snopes the university does not disclose class rankings of its alumni.
The oldest post we could find making the claim that Trump placed 364th out of 366 in his class originated from X user @BraddrofliT (archived) that posted largely anti-Trump content and whose bio said, in part, "Deeply blue, fighting for truth. Politics stripped of spin." We contacted the user for comment, and will update this story if we receive a response.
Early in Trump's career, news media outlets, including The New York Times, reported that he graduated "first in his class." Trump has not disputed the claim.
In 2017, UPenn's student newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian, reported (archived) that there were 366 Wharton graduates in 1968 and that Trump was not on the dean's list, which recognized top students:
Given that there are 366 listed 1968 Wharton graduates on QuakerNet, Penn's alumni database, the Dean's List of 56 students represents approximately the top 15 percent of the class. The omission of Trump's name suggests that his academic record at Penn was not as outstanding as he has claimed.
Based on an archived program for the 1968 commencement featuring Trump's name (Page 21), he did not graduate with cum laude, magna cum laude or summa cum laude honors (Page 66).
https://media.snopes.com/2026/04/1968_upenn_commencement_program.pdf
In sum, there is no evidence Trump ranked 364th in his class, and UPenn's policy is to not release any information regarding students' rankings.
Sources:
'UPenn 1968 Commencement Program'. 20 May 1968, https://archives.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/commencement-program-1968.pdf.
'Was Trump Really a Top Student at Wharton? His Classmates Say Not so Much'. Was Trump Really a Top Student at Wharton? His Classmates Say Not so Much - The Daily Pennsylvanian, https://www.thedp.com/article/2017/02/trump-academics-at-wharton. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
Whitman, Alden. 'A Builder Looks Back—and Moves Forward'. The New York Times, 28 Jan. 1973, https://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/28/archives/a-builder-looks-backand-moves-forward-builder-looks-back-but-moves.html#:~:text=Park%20Brian%2C%20in%20Forest%20Hills,is%20one%20evidence%20of%20that.%E2%80%9D.
- YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g39Osnpa0IA. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
