Malia Obama to attend Harvard after gap year

Malia Obama, the oldest of President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama’s two daughters, will attend Harvard University.

She’ll begin there in the fall of 2017, after taking a gap year, the White House announced Sunday. She’ll be a member of the class of 2021.

Obama said at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday that his family plans to stay in Washington for two years after his presidency ends so that their youngest daughter, Sasha, can finish high school.

“Our decision has actually presented a bit of a dilemma because traditionally presidents don’t stick around after they’re done. And it’s something that I’ve been brooding about a little bit,” Obama joked during the comedy routine at the dinner, using it to launch into a video about what he’d do after leaving office – which featured Vice President Joe Biden and former House Speaker John Boehner.

Barack Obama, then a Democratic presidential hopeful, addresses voters at a January 2008 rally in Des Moines, Iowa, accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha, then 9 and 6, respectively. Click through the gallery to see how the Obama girls grew up before the nation after their father's 2008 election as President.

The family hands out food for Thanksgiving in their hometown of Chicago in November 2008 shortly after Barack Obama's campaign victory.

Obama takes the oath of office with his family by his side on January 20, 2009, at the US Capitol. Sasha is at far right, next to Malia.

The President takes Malia, left, and Sasha for a walk with their new dog, Bo, on the South Lawn of the White House in April 2009. The Portuguese water dog was a gift from Sen. Edward Kennedy. The first family chose the purebreed puppy largely because of Malia's allergies.

Sasha watches her dad from the Truman Balcony after he arrives on the South Lawn of the White House in May 2009.

Sasha and Malia play with Bo as they wait for their dad's helicopter to land at the White House in September 2009.

Sasha looks at a turkey named Courage during a Thanksgiving tradition to "pardon" a turkey in November 2009.

Malia and Sasha read a book to children during a visit to a hospital in Washington in December 2009.

With an assist from his wife and daughters, Obama presses the button to light the National Christmas Tree on December 2009 at the Ellipse near the White House.

Sasha and her mother serve meals to the needy in Washington in January 2010. The President and Malia also helped in the dining room.

President Obama and Sasha watch a WNBA game in Washington in August 2010.

The first lady and her daughters read to children as they visit a community center in Johannesburg in June 2011.

The first family greets children dressed as elves at a museum in Washington in December 2011.

The President walks with his daughters after a visit to Sea Life Park in Hawaii in December 2011.

The first family sings with Kermit the Frog at the National Tree lighting ceremony in December 2011.

Obama gives Malia a hug and a kiss after not kissing his wife, Michelle, on the "Kiss Cam" at the Verizon Center in July 2012.

The first family walks across Lafayette Park to attend Sunday services in Washington in August 2012.

The President and his daughters watch on television as the first lady gives a speech at the Democratic National Convention in September 2012.

President Obama greets his wife and daughters after being sworn in for his second term in January 2013.

The first daughters take a selfie of themselves during the presidential inaugural parade on January 21, 2013, in Washington. Malia was 14 and Sasha 11 at the time of their father's second inaugural.

Obama, with Sasha, center, and Malia, pays for a purchase at the Politics & Prose bookstore in northwest Washington in November 2013.

The first lady and her daughters receive an escort from Patrick Prendergast, provost and president of Trinity College Dublin, during their June 2013 visit to Ireland.

The first family sings during the finale of TNT's "Christmas in Washington" program in December 2013. Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson, and the program's host, actor Hugh Jackman, are at left. Time Warner is the parent company of TNT and CNN.

Obama and Sasha make burritos at DC Central Kitchen as part of a service project on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January 2014.

Michelle Obama shares a light moment with her daughters as they visit the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China in March 2014.

The Obamas head to Marine One as they leave the White House for a wedding in August 2014.

The first family takes the stage during a taping of the "Christmas in Washington" program in December 2014.

Malia and Sasha arrive at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in March 2015. The Obamas were in Alabama to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when state troopers clubbed and tear-gassed civil rights marchers headed to Montgomery.

Sasha, left, and Malia join their dad as he delivers remarks for the turkey pardoning ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House in November 2015.

Malia and Sasha Obama, grandmother Marian Robinson, the first lady and President attend the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony on the Ellipse south of the White House in December 2015.

Malia attends a state dinner at the White House in March 2016. The dinner was in honor of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and first lady Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau.

Sasha attends the Trudeau state dinner in March 2016.

Obama hugs Malia at the White House Fourth of July party in 2016. She was celebrating her 18th birthday during the party, which included musicians Janelle Monae and Kendrick Lamar.

Obama and the first lady head to the tarmac to board Air Force One with their daughters Malia, right, and Sasha, left, at Air Station Cape Cod in Massachusetts in August 2016.

How they've grown! Malia and Sasha Obama: 2008-present

Prev Next

He also joked that Michelle Obama is eager to “stay closer to her plot of carrots. She’s already making plans to see them every day.”

Malia Obama’s year-long deferral before her first year at Harvard is a route taken by about 80 to 110 admitted students. Higher education experts tout the off-year as a way to travel, engage in a long-term special project or otherwise use the time in a constructive and meaningful way.

Malia Obama is far from the first child of a president to make a college decision while her father occupied the Oval Office.

Chelsea Clinton began her undergraduate studies at Stanford University in California in the fall of 1997 – before her father, Bill Clinton, departed office in early 2001.

George W. Bush’s twin daughters began college just months before their father’s election in 2000 – with Jenna Bush Hager attending the University of Texas and Barbara Pierce Bush attending Yale University, her father’s school. Both graduated in 2004, near the end of their father’s first term.