Malia Obama Will Take a Gap Year, Then Head to Harvard

U.S. President Barack Obama's eldest daughter Malia will attend Harvard University in the fall of 2017 after taking a year off from studies following her high school graduation this spring, the White House said on Sunday.

"Malia will take a gap year before beginning school," a White House statement said, breaking a months-long silence about Malia's college search.

Both her parents attended Harvard Law School.

Malia, 17, will concentrate on finishing her high school final exams before considering how to spend her gap year, an official who had been briefed on Malia's decision told Reuters.

She has shown interest in film and television, having worked two summer internships in the industry. Last summer, she worked in Brooklyn, N.Y., on the set of the HBO series Girls.

In 2014 she worked on the set of CBS science fiction series Extant, starring Halle Berry. The now-canceled series was produced by Steven Spielberg, a prominent donor to Obama's presidential campaigns.

Harvard College, the university's undergraduate division, said on its admissions website that it encouraged admitted students to defer enrollment for one year to travel, pursue a project or work. About 80 to 110 students did so each year, it said.

(Reporting By David Lawder and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Angus MacSwan)