Gifts for College Bound High School Grads

Huge congratulations to the high school graduate in your life! As a parent, it’s so exciting to watch your child walk on the stage and off, diploma in hand. Celebrating 12 years of hard work is a wonderful thing before thinking about what comes next. After the high of graduation wears off, the reality of leaving home for college sets in. Help lessen the anxiety and nervousness by giving graduation gifts for college bound high school grads that celebrate and prepare them for what lies ahead.

Best Gifts for College Bound High School Grads

This collection of gifts for college bound high school grads is based on the things my own daughter (currently a rising college junior) received as she graduated from high school and the things I’m planning to give my son’s friends who are graduating from high school this month. These thoughtful, yet practical, things might not be on your radar as graduation gifts but my daughter reports that these are things she uses every day. She even reviewed this list before I hit publish!  

If you’re looking for Dorm Room Essentials, I’ll have a post with must-haves in late June. If you can’t wait, I put together this post on how to Save Money on College Essentials During Amazon Prime Days last year. I do plan to publish an Amazon Prime Day dorm room list before Prime Day on July 23. 

Something to Remind Them of Home

We sent our daughter to school with a Well Told Custom Water Bottle ($34.95) that features a map of her hometown. She carries her Well Told with her to and from class and even tucks it in her backpack to stay hydrated during flights home! Well Told’s custom etched items are absolutely stunning and functional. The triple-wall vacuum insulated stainless steel keeps drinks hot for 12 hours or cold for 24. It’s a distinctive gift a college student will use every day they’re in school and well after they graduate.

A gift bag of items unique to your city or state also makes a wonderful gift for college bound high school grads to remember home. My daughter got a Maryland themed gift bag featuring a tumbler, playing cards, stickers, and a keychain featuring our distinctive state flag and our state’s obsession with crabs from a wonderful neighbor. All of the items were useful, meaningful, and easy to pack.

Personalized Luggage

Years ago we purchased our kids L.L. Bean Extra-Large Rolling Adventure Duffels and had them embroidered with their names. Our daughter travels back and forth with hers with each trip home and our son’s will also be heading to college with him. A duffel is advantageous over luggage because it doesn’t take up as much room as a suitcase does in a small dorm room. It can be tucked in the corner of a closet or under a dorm room bed. Plus the quality and durability of an L.L. Bean duffle can’t be beat since it will last beyond their college years.

Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Another fantastic gift is a portable Bluetooth speaker. My son loves big sound so the newly redesigned Treblab HD-Max Speaker is his pick for sharing music with friends. It provides incredible surround sound for 20 hours on a single charge and has lots of other fantastic features like RGB lights, a carrying strap, and built in powerbank to keep your phone charged while streaming favorite playlists. My daughter prefers a smaller speaker and loves the  JBL Portable Bluetooth Speaker ($49.95) that was a going away gift from a dear friend before she left for college. She likes that despite the JBL speaker’s super compact size, it plays for 10 hours on a charge and features a metal carabiner that can be easily clipped to a backpack for streaming music from a phone when studying outside. It’s also highly durable thanks rugged rubber housing and being completely waterproof.

Organizational Supplies

 

A dorm room is only so big so organizational supplies are a practical and helpful gift for any college student. Small bins for desk drawers help corral items while plastic stacking tubs maximize closet space. A set of storage drawers was a must-have for my daughter for much needed extra storage space under her lofted bed. Over the door shoe organizers help free up valuable floor space and can also be used to corral snacks.  

Squirrel Bedside Perch is what every college student needs to keep their most important things within reach. In most rooms the available furniture, configuration of the space, or desire to loft beds for more space doesn’t allow for a bedside table which is where Squirrel comes in. Squirrel is a handy bedside caddy that features five different compartments designed to hold it all. It features two built-in charging ports for USB-C and USB-A devices to keep electronics fully charged and always in reach and comes in black, blue, gray, or red. Despite its compact size, it can hold a 32 oz. water bottle, remote, phone, tablet, and more. Best of all no tools are required for installation. 

Backpack Style Laundry Bag

A laundry bag may not seem like the most exciting gift for college bound high school grads but it’s one of those practical gifts that always gets used. My daughter got a backpack style laundry bag and loves the large size. It’s easy to carry thanks to the straps and it doesn’t take up a lot of room in her dorm room like a laundry basket. A mesh pocket on the outside is great for carrying laundry pods, detergent bottles, or dryer sheets to the laundry room. Even though most students have digital swipe laundry, if you’re giving this gift in person, include a roll of quarters. My daughter’s swipe system was broken at the start of the school year that left students scrounging for quarters!

Gift Cards

Cash is helpful but gift cards as gifts for college bound high school grads are also most welcome! As an East Coaster heading west for college, the In ‘n Out Burger gift card sent by my daughter’s aunt and uncle was a perfect graduation gift. It was creative, thoughtful, and something she definitely enjoyed using after late night study sessions when a craving for a burger and shake hit!

Here are some other gift card ideas that make wonderful gifts for college bound high school grads:

• Campus bookstore– The campus bookstore has it all! From required course materials, college apparel and swag, Post-It Notes, charging cables, to snacks. It’s a convenient place for any college student to shop quickly and conveniently.
• Food delivery– Dining hall food is much improved over what it used to be but sometimes cravings go beyond what is being served. There’s also a need to fuel up after late night study sessions, sports practices, or games. You can always count on a college student to appreciate and use a GrubHub, Uber Eats, or DoorDash gift card.
• Target– So much of what we bought our daughter for her dorm room came from Target. It’s also one of the most frequent places she and her friends visit to stock up on things they need. A Target gift card will always get used by a college student! Tip: Target offers a 1 time student discount of 15% off a single purchase for Target Circle members verified as students. My daughter registered for this last summer and coordinated with her roommate to use the discount on a mini fridge and other things she wanted to ship directly to school. The discount is off the total purchase of eligible items (most are eligible!) so can be a great way to save money but is only offered once per year. College students need to re-verify each year and qualify to get it again. This post has more information about the Target Student Discount.
• Safe rides home– Uber and Lyft gift cards help ensure your new college student always has a ride and can get back to campus safely. 

Congratulations to your graduate! Enjoy celebrating them and their accomplishments!

Affiliate links are included in this post. Samples were received to facilitate this post but no compensation was received and all opinions are my own.