--- title: Trump University Rating was D- in 2010: Business Bureau description: The Better Business Bureau clarified lingering questions about the business rating of Trump University on Tuesday canonical: https://time.com/4251160/better-business-bureau-trump-university-rating/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-08T17:54:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:24.643Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump University Had D- Rating in 2010: Business Bureau og:description: The rating improved once the school closed and old complaints expired. og:url: https://time.com/4251160/better-business-bureau-trump-university-rating/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5af90efe409e23b/69888a1abc6cfc7be43dc0da/donald-trump-university.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4437 og:image:height: 2496 og:image:alt: US-REPUBLICAN-GOP-DEBATE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump University Had D- Rating in 2010: Business Bureau twitter:description: The rating improved once the school closed and old complaints expired. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5af90efe409e23b/69888a1abc6cfc7be43dc0da/donald-trump-university.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Better Business Bureau: Trump University Had D- Rating in Final Year > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=3a7b9aae-d440-4020-8bb2-0531bef3be17&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 8, 2016 5:54 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during the Republican presidential debate in Detroit on March 3. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during the Republican presidential debate in Detroit on March 3. GEOFF ROBINS—AFP/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 8, 2016 5:54 PM UTC The Better Business Bureau clarified questions about its rating of Trump University on Tuesday, saying the school had a D- score that eventually rose to A+ only after the university began to shut down and older complaints had expired. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump [faced criticism](http://time.com/4240842/rubio-trump-attack-gop-republican/) over the school’s Better Business Bureau rating at Thursday’s debate, when moderator [Megyn Kelly questioned Trump](http://time.com/4247405/donald-trump-megyn-kelly-debate-opponent/) about former students suing to get their money back after the BBB gave the university a D- rating. Trump defended the university, arguing it actually had an A rating. “During the period when Trump University appeared to be active in the marketplace, BBB received multiple customer complaints about this business. These complaints affected the Trump University BBB rating, which was as low as D- in 2010,” the nonprofit said in a statement on Tuesday. “As the company appeared to be winding down, after 2013, no new complaints were reported. Complaints over three years old automatically rolled off of the Business Review, according to BBB policy. As a result, over time, Trump University’s BBB rating went to an A in July 2014 and then to an A+ in January 2015.” Since September 2015, Trump University, which closed in 2010, has had a “no rating” review. The organization also said it never sent a fax to the Republican debate, even though Trump handed a piece of paper to the Fox News moderators during a break and said it had come from the BBB. In a video captured by the Independent Journal Review, Trump can be heard saying, “Better Business Bureau just sent it… this just came in.” But the BBB said it did not send any document to the debate on Thursday. “The document presented to debate moderators did not come from BBB that night,” the statement said. > [](https://twitter.com/INJO/status/705601851987722241) The BBB also said that [an image Trump posted on Twitter](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/705611414128500736) on Thursday depicted a Trump University business report that was not current but, rather, appeared to be part of a review from 2014. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4251160/better-business-bureau-trump-university-rating/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4251160/better-business-bureau-trump-university-rating/"},"headline":"Better Business Bureau: Trump University Had D- Rating in Final Year","datePublished":"2016-03-08T17:54:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:24.643Z","description":"Trump University closed in 2010","url":"https://time.com/4251160/better-business-bureau-trump-university-rating/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5af90efe409e23b/69888a1abc6cfc7be43dc0da/donald-trump-university.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5af90efe409e23b/69888a1abc6cfc7be43dc0da/donald-trump-university.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-REPUBLICAN-GOP-DEBATE","caption":"US-REPUBLICAN-GOP-DEBATE","creditText":"GEOFF ROBINS—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4251160/better-business-bureau-trump-university-rating/","name":"Better Business Bureau: Trump University Had D- Rating in Final Year"}}]}] ```