First year at NYU? It’s a wrap for Barron Trump.
After the 19-year-old received his high school diploma in May 2024 from Oxbridge Academy near West Palm Beach, Florida, he broke away from family tradition by attending NYU.
For the most part, the only child of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump navigated his first year at New York University‘s Stern School of Business away from the public eye − as much as was possible anyway.
It’s not every day your father runs for president of the United States, wins and dominates the headlines − good and bad − every day since.
And Barron Trump’s famous family, his mother Melania Trump, half-siblings Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and Tiffany Trump, sister-in-law Lara Trump, niece Kai Madison Trump, and former aunt-by-marriage Vanessa Trump, have each had parts of their private life made public in news stories this year.
Before Barron Trump turned 18 in March 2024, he was largely kept out of the spotlight because of Melania Trump’s protective nature. He has shown interest in his father’s politics, particularly during the 2024 presidential election, though he did not make many public appearances.
The question of where would he attend college after high school graduation became a media obsession. One that was officially revealed when he stepped on to the campus of NYU just after Labor Day 2024.
On Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2025, Donald Trump began his second term in office, four years after leaving 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C. A day later, spring 2025 classes started at New York University, where Barron Trump attends school.
May 6, 2025, marked the end of spring 2025 classes there.
But why NYU?
His father graduated from business school at the University of Pennsylvania, and Barron Trump’s half-siblings — Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump (born to Donald Trump and Ivana Trump) and Tiffany Trump (born to Donald Trump and Marla Maples) — each have ties to the University of Pennsylvania or Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
His parents never disclosed why he chose NYU over University of Penn or Georgetown, but the main campus is in Manhattan, where Barron Trump spent much of his childhood — and lived until his father was sworn in as the 45th president in early 2017.
Where did the Trump family attend college? Here’s a roundup.
They do! Memories of Donald & Melania Trump’s wedding in Palm Beach, reception at Mar-a-Lago
Former president Donald Trump graduated from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in economics.
Barron Trump, the youngest son of Donald Trump and Melania Trump: His life in photos
Melania Trump, former first lady of the U.S. from 2017 to 2021, briefly attended college, but never graduated. Then Melania Knauss, the Slovenian “began modeling at age 16, and two years later she signed on with an agency in Milan. She enrolled at the University of Ljubljana but dropped out after one year to pursue her modeling career,” according to the Melania Trump bio on biography.com.
In her early days of modeling, the site states, Melania Trump worked in Milan and Paris before moving to New York in 1996. She met future husband Donald Trump two years later at a New York fashion party. (The Trumps were engaged in 2004 and married in 2005.)
Melania Trump, then known professionally as Melania Knauss, appeared on the covers of Harper’s Bazaar (Bulgaria edition), Vanity Fair (Italy edition), GQ (for which she posed nude in January 2000) and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
The University of Ljubljana, or UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia.
Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2000. Like his father, Donald Trump Jr. has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance.
According to a March 2017 story in the Georgetown Voice, Donald Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, was a student at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., but transferred after two years to the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Ivanka Trump graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Penn in 2004.
Eric Trump graduated from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., with a bachelor’s degree in finance and management in 2006.
Like her father, Tiffany Trump attended the University of Pennsylvania and graduated in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. Four years later, Tiffany Trump graduated from Georgetown Law School as part of the class of 2020. Like many class of 2020 seniors (for high school and college), Tiffany Trump’s college graduation was a virtual commencement ceremony because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Barron Trump, the youngest son of former president Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump, will be a sophomore at New York University’s Stern School of Business in fall 2025. He started classes in September 2024 and is projected to be part of the class of 2028.
Barron Trump graduated high school May 17, 2024, from Oxbridge Academy near West Palm Beach, Florida.
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
Barron Trump finishes freshman year at NYU. Here's where his family graduated (and who didn't) – The Palm Beach Post
