Dakota Fanning to attend NYU in the fall

Dakota Fanning, a former child star who appears in the "Twilight" films, is set to attend New York University this fall, OnTheRedCarpet.com has confirmed.

The 17-year-old graduated from high school in June. She enrolled at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study earlier this year and plans to begin her college courses when the fall semester begins in September, a college spokesperson told OnTheRedCarpet.com on Thursday, August 25.

Fanning's representative had no immediate comment. Nylon magazine reported in April 2010 that the actress was spotted touring Gallatin. Earlier this week, an NYU-branded email address containing her full name - Hannah Dakota Fanning - was seen in the college's database, according to NYU Local, NYU's news blog.

NYU's class of 2015 has been permitted to move into student dorms as early as Monday. It is unclear if Fanning plans to live on campus. Fall 2011 classes at the university are scheduled to begin on September.

Celebrities who have attended NYU in the past include Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, both of whom left before they completed their studies, comedian Aziz Ansari, who graduated in 2004 and actor James Franco, who received his MFA in filmmaking from the university's Tisch School of the Arts earlier this year.

Twins Cody and Dylan Sprouse, who played Zack and Cody on the Disney Channel series "The Suite Life on Deck," which ended in May, are also preparing to begin studying at NYU. They toured the campus in June.

Throughout her high school days at Campbell Hall, an Episcopal day school in North Hollywood, California, Fanning was a cheerleader and was voted homecoming queen.

The Georgia native rose to fame as a child actress when she appeared on the medical drama series "ER" and as a 5-year-old version of Ally McBeal on the law show by the same name.

She later appeared on programs such as "The Practice" and "Malcolm in the Middle" and appeared alongside Sean Penn in the 2001 movie "I Am Sam."

In 2002, she starred in the romantic comedy "Sweet Home Alabama," which featured Reese Witherspoon in the main role, and played Allie Keys in the mini-series "Taken" in 2002. Fanning starred in the 2005 reboot of "War of the Worlds" with Tom Cruise and in the 2006 film "Charlotte's Web." In 2009, Fanning starred in the movie "Push" and played the vampire Jane in "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," the second film in the hit series starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.

In 2010, Fanning co-starred with Stewart in the music biopic "The Runaways" and reprised her role in the third "Twilight" movie, "Eclipse." Fanning plays the same part in the fourth and final installment, the two-part "Breaking Dawn." Part 1 is set for release on November 18 (spoiler alert).

Fanning recently filmed the independent film "Now Is Good" and has several more movies in the works - "Effie" with Emma Thompson, "Mississippi Wild" with Mickey Rourke and "Very Good Girls" with Dustin Hoffman." All films are due out in 2012.

Another film Fanning recently filmed that is due to be released that year is the drama "The Motel Life." It stars Stephen Dorff, who appeared with the actress' younger sister Elle in the 2010 movie "Somewhere." The younger Fanning sister recently won rave reviews for her performance in the sci-fi film "Super 8."