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"For those of us who have daughters, it just happens fast," he told the audience. "I dropped off Malia at college, and I was saying to Joe and Jill [Biden] that it was a little bit like open-heart surgery."
Obama said he was able to hold it together in front of Malia, but lost it once he and wife Michelle left campus.
"I was proud that I did not cry in front of her," Obama said, "but on the way back, the secret service was looking straight ahead pretending they weren't hearing me as I sniffled and blew my nose. It was rough."
Malia Obama started her first year at Harvard in August after deferring her enrollment for a year. The former first couple were seen on campus as they helped their 19-year-old daughter move in.
Obama's speech this week was one of the few public appearances he's made since leaving office.
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