Malia Obama

WASHINGTON — A year off between high school and college is becoming a popular choice for U.S. students and it has caught the eye of President Barack Obama’s daughter, Malia. The White House says the high school senior will enter Harvard in 2017, not later this year as had been widely expected.

The elder of Obama’s daughters is a senior at Sidwell Friends, an exclusive private school in the District of Columbia that helped educate another first daughter, Chelsea Clinton, in the 1990s. Malia is set to graduate in June and turn 18 in July. Her sister, Sasha, 14, is a Sidwell freshman.

Obama and first lady Michelle Obama made the long-awaited announcement about Malia’s academic future on Sunday.

Harvard, where both parents earned law degrees, encourages admitted students to defer for one year to travel, pursue a special project or activity, work or spend time in other meaningful ways. The student must not enroll in another college program that would grant the student a degree.

Obama has said he is dreading the day when Malia leaves for college. Her decision to take a “gap year” could keep her closer to home as her family prepares for another major transition next year: leaving the White House and returning to normal life.

Obama plans to live in Washington for a few more years so Sasha can finish high school. The Obamas still own a home in Chicago.

The decision also makes Malia’s eventual arrival on the Boston-area campus easier for parents who have guarded her privacy.

Obama will be out of office and no longer trailed in public by a contingent of news media when she moves into her dorm.