How Far Each Of Donald Trump's Wives Really Got In School
Despite President Donald Trump's administration working to dismantle the Department of Education, he seems to value education for himself and his own family. He graduated from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, and his children followed in his footsteps. His four oldest kids graduated from various institutions, while his youngest son, Barron Trump, began attending NYU in 2024. Donald has always expected excellence from his kids, as seen in an old clip of a young Barron giving his dad a kiss before heading off to school. "I want all As," the future president told his son.
But how has Donald's three wives' education compared? First lady Melania Trump attended the University of Ljubljana in her native country of Slovenia for one year but did not complete her degree. Instead, she left school to follow a career in modeling, something that has humbled her more than once.
Interestingly, her biography in the program handed out during the RNC in 2016 mistakenly claimed she had graduated from college with "a degree in design and architecture" (via CBS News). Ivana Trump and Marla Maples, Donald Trump's first and second wives, got further in their education than Melania, although only Ivana graduaged from college.
One of Trump's first two wives completed her education
Ivana Trump, the mother of Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump, earned her degree from Charles University in Prague, getting a master's in physical education. That's further than her ex went — Donald doesn't have a master's degree, only a bachelor's in economics.
Maples is similar to Melania in that she attended college but left before getting her diploma. She went to the University of Georgia in 1981 for a marketing degree but quit a little over two years later. Maples told Vanity Fair she was exhausted from trying to do everything perfectly: academics, sports, social life, and even modeling. That's a lot on one person's plate. "I wanted to be on top at each level," she said. Maples eventually moved to New York to pursue acting.
Despite not finishing, Maples clearly enjoyed her time in college. In 2018, she posted a photo to Facebook to cheer on her former school's football team. "[University of Georgia] sisters helping our team along! Made it to the Georgia 50 yard line just before the [tide] changed," she captioned the snapshot.