College Graduation Gift Ideas

College graduates leave school with mixed emotions, from exhilarated to bittersweet and everything in between. The reason? They know it’s time to adjust to the real world where needs often meet head on with wants. Unless you’ve also just graduated yourself, think back to when you were that age and what you could have used to start out. Those memories will give you a better feel for what gifts are meaningful and necessary for college graduates today. Besides boatloads of money, here are some thoughtful college graduation gifts that can give a grad that extra special boost where it counts.

Give the college graduate a heads up when it comes to dressing for the job. If you know where they are going to work, customize your present with a gift card to the appropriate retailer along with a book on dressing for success or a subscription to a fashion magazine. Young adults today may need a primer on what it means to dress for the workplace or why a suit can sometimes be appropriate in some offices and overkill in others. If the college graduate you know is heading to a town where there’s a popular retailer, make it extra special by booking them an appointment with a personal shopper along with a gift card to the store. Or book an appointment with a traditional tailor or designer for a custom-designed suit or dress that will last your grad for years to come.

If the graduate is more of the entrepreneurial type, nudge them along with a business start-up kit that includes everything a future shark needs to know to get started in business. One of the best college graduation gifts for the self-motivated business type is to help them build a library of books with digital or hardcover reads of famous entrepreneurs and practical guides on start-ups.

Sure, it’s easy to hand them an envelope with a check or big bill. But make it count by thinking out of the box on how to present the loot. There are literally hundreds of ways to present money to college graduates. For example, create a double-duty gift by handing over bills attached in a leather checkbook cover so they appear like checks — a way to drive home the message that they should bank the dough. Put bills into a diploma frame, giving your graduate two gifts in one. Or roll a couple of large bills around a top-grade silver or gold writing pen.

Now that the graduate is out of the dorm (or their childhood home), give them the gift of a personal account. One year of Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime is a practical gift that keeps on giving. Gifting the graduate in your life his or her own new account is a rite of passage into adulthood and will make their lives easier moving forward.

A fun way to break the new grad into adulthood is by packing a first day of work survival kit filled with breath mints, a bottle of aspirin or pain reliever, a coffee mug and gift card, hand sanitizer, spot remover for clothes, and a sewing kit for the desk. It’ll bring a smile to the college grad in your life who has first-job jitters.

A college graduate will learn to appreciate a financial-themed gift over time. Build up his or her financial skills with a kit that includes a popular book on investing along with a certificate to a share or shares of stock that relate to their degree. Or gift the graduate one of the financial apps that helps keep track of finances. Another way to help them step up is to make an appointment for the graduate to meet a financial adviser, then off to a lunch in the financial district of town.

There’s nothing that says “adulthood” to a college graduate more than an upscale watch, wallet, or business card holder. If the young grad in your life is heading to a new home, a gift card to a better-known home furnishings store will be ever appreciated. Or create the same effect by building a basket filled with quality bed and bath products so the grad can finally walk away from shabby dorm living.

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We hope these ideas will help the college grad in your life thrive!