Malia Obama to Attend Harvard University in Fall of 2017

— -- President Obama and the First Lady have announced that their daughter Malia will attend Harvard University in the fall of 2017, taking a gap year after her high school graduation next month.

Malia, 17, is set to graduate from the prestigious Sidwell Friends School in Washington in June.

President Obama recently was asked to speak at the commencement but turned down the offer, saying instead "I'm going to be wearing dark glasses ... and I’m going to cry."

Malia, along with her parents, has visited at least a dozen colleges over the past year and a half. Both the President and First Lady earned their law degrees at Harvard Law School.

The First Lady said in September of 2015 that the family talked over Malia's college plans "every night."

It is unclear just what Malia will do in the gap year after her father leaves office and the family moves out of the White House.

President Obama told Ellen Degeneres in February that Malia is "more than ready" to "make her own way."

"She’s one of my best friends," Obama said. "It’s gonna be hard for me not to have her around all the time. But she’s ready to go. You can tell. She’s just a really smart, capable person."