Angelina Jolie on Her Son Maddox Leaving for College in the Fall: ‘I’m Nothing But Proud’

Angelina has taken
a hiatus from acting

Angelina Jolie Moves Daughter Into Historically Black Spelman College

Angelina Jolie‘s first child is about to leave the nest.

The activist and actress, 43, is preparing for her oldest son Maddox, 17, to attend college in the fall — and the mom of six couldn’t be happier for him to take the big step.

“I’m nothing but proud,” Jolie tells PEOPLE in the latest issue. “I look forward to all he will do.”

Though Jolie doesn’t specify where Maddox will be enrolling, the oldest in the Jolie-Pitt clan was seen visiting universities in South Korea with his mom in tow last November. The two visited campuses in Seoul while Jolie was in the country on an official visit as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) Special Envoy.

Jolie, who shares Pax, 15, Zahara, 14, Shiloh, 12, and 10-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne with ex Brad Pitt, is also focusing on another project with her six kids — a new global current affairs TV program for children she’s partnering with the BBC for.

“We enjoy reading the kids pullout of the New York Times and look at National Geographic,” says Jolie, “but as a parent, I felt there wasn’t that one vetted and reliable internationally-minded news program tailored for children that we could sit down and watch together each week. That is what I hope this will be for our family and other families.”

(L-R) Knox, Angelina Jolie, Vivienne, Pax, Shiloh, Zahara and Maddox.
Monica Schipper/Getty

Jolie continues to be actively involved with political and current global events, including her work with the UNHCR and the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI), which she set up along with former British foreign secretary William Hague in 2012.

The activist gave a passionate speech in front of the United Nations to urge them to deploy more female peacekeepers to war-torn areas and beyond.

“If you look across the world there are far too many women and girls who are not only not seeing progress, their rights are slipping away from them. We have to change laws that treat women as second-class citizens. But we also have to enforce them,” Jolie says of her next steps with PSVI.

Up next, the Oscar winner is gearing up for the release of Disney’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, a sequel to the blockbuster 2014 film and her first starring role in 4 years. Jolie is once again starring with Elle Fanning in the movie, and the two are joined by Michelle Pfeiffer for the second outing.

“I love my horns,” Jolie says of her iconic Maleficent costume. “It is such a pleasure to play her and I hope the audience enjoys her as much as I do. It was wonderful to work again with Elle and to have a chance to work with Michelle.”

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil hits theaters Oct. 18.