--- title: Malia Obama Going to Harvard University description: President Obama's older daughter Malia will attend Harvard University after first taking a gap year, the White House said Sunday. canonical: https://time.com/4313615/malia-obama-harvard-barack-gap-year/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-01T15:30:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T13:19:55.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Malia Obama Is Going to Harvard—After a Year Off og:description: Her parents both got law degrees there og:url: https://time.com/4313615/malia-obama-harvard-barack-gap-year/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbcc051ec5397f7d2/698891512dce01199b9e8e1e/malia-obama-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: U.S. President Barack Obama and his daughter Malia walk from Marine One to board Air Force One upon their departure from O'Hare Airport in Chicago og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Malia Obama Is Going to Harvard—After a Year Off twitter:description: Her parents both got law degrees there twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbcc051ec5397f7d2/698891512dce01199b9e8e1e/malia-obama-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Malia Obama Is Going to Harvard — After a Year Off  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Updated: Dec 13, 2023 1:19 PM UTCPublished: May 1, 2016 3:30 PM UTC  President Barack Obama and his daughter Malia walk from Marine One to board Air Force One upon their departure from O'Hare Airport in Chicago on April 7, 2016. President Barack Obama and his daughter Malia walk from Marine One to board Air Force One upon their departure from O'Hare Airport in Chicago on April 7, 2016.Kevin Lamarque—Reuters  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Updated: Dec 13, 2023 1:19 PM UTCPublished: May 1, 2016 3:30 PM UTC President Obama’s older daughter Malia will attend Harvard University after first taking a gap year, the White House said Sunday. The brief statement did not say what the 17-year-old will be doing during the time off, which will partly coincide with her father’s final months in office. Harvard, where both President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama earned law degrees, was one of the Ivy League schools said to be on the Sidwell Friends senior’s [college list](http://time.com/money/4061313/tips-from-malia-obamas-college-search/), along with her parents’ alma maters Columbia University and Princeton University. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4313615/malia-obama-harvard-barack-gap-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4313615/malia-obama-harvard-barack-gap-year/"},"headline":"Malia Obama Is Going to Harvard — After a Year Off","datePublished":"2016-05-01T15:30:30.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T13:19:55.000Z","description":"Her parents both got law degrees there","url":"https://time.com/4313615/malia-obama-harvard-barack-gap-year/","keywords":["White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbcc051ec5397f7d2/698891512dce01199b9e8e1e/malia-obama-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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