10 A+ Graduation Gift Ideas for Her

Graduation is a huge milestone. Leaving college behind, your favorite grad is about to go out and face the real world for the very first time. Thinking about all of the possibilities that lay before her can be exciting… and terrifying! But luckily, she still has a support network like you to back her up, no matter what grown up life throws her way.

Looking for a graduation gift that’s a little more modern than a copy of Oh, The Places You’ll Go? Then look no further. All of the ideas on this list are available in the GiftYa catalog, which means you can text or email them right to her inbox. 

With thousands of local and National Brands to choose from, you’re sure to find a GiftYa that makes the grad in your life smile. But you don’t have to figure it yourself – here are our top picks for graduation gift ideas for her!

1 - Barnes & Noble

Reading Becomes Fun Again in Post-Grad Life

Buy a Barnes & Noble gift card

It doesn’t matter how much of a bookworm you are – there’s something about having to read hundreds of pages of required reading a week that makes reading for pleasure lose its appeal. Engineers, Communications, Biology, Graphic Design… it’s a pretty universal experience. College reading really bogs you down.

That’s why the recent grad in your life would probably appreciate a gift card to Barnes & Noble. For the first time in four years, they’ll have the time to pick up the latest #BookTok romantasy or start diving into must-read books for their 20s. 

Plus, with her first Grown Up Job out of school, she’ll have the extra spending cash to invest in a signed or special edition of her favorite book, or maybe even a Nook eReader so she never has to be without a casual read again.

Want to add a physical book to the bargain? Consider getting her a self-knowledge or career-planning workbook as well.

Grab a digital Barnes & Noble gift card

2 - Target

Time to Swap Those Dorm Room Basics for Something More Sophisticated

Text a Target gift card

Dorm room decor is fun – the bright plastic cups, coordinating with your roommates – but when she moves into her first adult apartment, those ratty college basic towels might look a little out of place. That’s why a gift card that will help her upgrade makes an excellent option. 

Target is a practical gift choice for a grad, but it’s also pretty fun. Where else can she stock up on trail mix, Switch games, and new furniture all in one place? She’ll have a blast reinventing her living space to match the new phase in her life. 

Text a digital Target gift card 

3 - A Rideshare Gift Card

Make Sure She Has A Safe Ride Home if She Needs One

Grab an Uber gift card or a Lyft gift card

College might be over, but the adventure is just beginning for the grad in your life. Sure, she’ll work hard as she steps out into the real world, but she’ll also play hard too. Rideshares are helpful for both sides of that coin.

Since she may or may not have had her own vehicle on campus, it might take a while for her to save up for her own set of wheels. In that case, an Uber or Lyft is a welcome break from public transit every now and then. And when she’s out with her friends, they’ll always have a safe option to get home with a designated driver just a few taps away.

Get yourself a digital Uber gift card or a digital Lyft gift card 

4 - A Gift Card for Business or School Supplies

She’ll Need Office Supplies for… Her New Office!

Snag a Staples gift card or an Office Depot/OfficeMax gift card 

Just because the graduation caps have been tossed and the dorm rooms cleared out doesn’t mean she’s done with school supplies. As your graduate starts out in the professional world, she’ll still need all of the staples (pun intended!) – pens and pencils, notebooks, binders. She’ll probably even need a professional bag or backpack to tote her belongings back and forth in style.

So just like every summer for almost two decades, she’ll be headed to Staples or Office Depot/Office Max to stock up. 

Not only can she get everything she needs to be successful at work, she’ll also find plenty of helpful additions to her home office. Desks, ergonomic chairs, a new computer monitor, dry erase boards, and even a printer of her own. That’s the real mark of adulthood, is it not?

Snag a digital Staples gift card or digital Office Depot/OfficeMax gift card 

5 - A Meal Delivery Gift Card

For When She Inevitably Has a Long Day at Work

Get an Uber Eats gift card or a DoorDash gift card 

Whether she lands her dream job right out of the gate or takes a position that will give her the experience she needs to get there, not every day at work will be an easy one. There will be days where everything goes wrong – the meeting goes south, her office best friend isn’t there to vent, she hits every red light on the way home. And at the end of a bad day, sometimes making a nutritious home-cooked meal just sounds like too much.

Rather than letter her just eat sleep for dinner, grab her a delivery gift card to use in case of emergency. Sometimes Panera’s creamy white cheddar mac or a juicy cheeseburger from your favorite spot is the only thing that can salvage the day. Don’t worry – there’s always tomorrow.

Get a digital UberEats gift card or a digital DorDash gift card 

6 - Apple

Upgrade Your Grad’s Electronics Now That School Is Out

Text an Apple gift card 

Settling the Apple vs. Android debate once and for all, a Bloomberg study found that 79% of Gen Zers aged 18-24 prefer a Mac. They’re sleek, they’re cool, and they’ve got a great user interface. All of the devices sync together seamlessly – your watch to your phone, your pencil to your tablet, your airpods to your computer. That elegance and simplicity can be a real time saver in the adult world. 

That’s why letting her enjoy the “newphoria” with the latest iPhone, Macbook, or even virtual reality goggles (coming soon) is a great graduation gift idea. It’s the 21st century equivalent of having a notes bonfire after your last day of high school – wiping the docs, and starting fresh with a new device.

Text a digital Apple gift card 

7 - Amazon

Get Practically Anything They Want Delivered to Their Door

Buy an Amazon gift card

Whether or not you’re a fan of Amazon, it’s hard to deny that they’re a ubiquitous presence in the modern world. And now that your graduate can’t cash in on the Prime Student account any longer, she’ll probably appreciate having a little help footing the bill. 

A Prime membership gets her anything they need delivered to her doorstep (from kitchen essentials for her new apartment to a new laptop bag when the strap on her old one breaks on the way to work). Plus, she’ll have access to the whole Prime Video library, which has top-rated movies, award-winning tv shows, and Prime Originals like the billion dollar Lord of the Rings show The Rings of Power.

Buy an Amazon gift card

8 - A Gift Card to A Streaming Service

Time to Get Into Streaming… Or Get Cable?

Grab an Apple TV gift card, a Hulu gift card, or a Paramount+ gift card 

Let’s face it – the only way that streaming is cheaper than cable is when everyone in your family or friend group (or both) pools their accounts. But when the biggest names in the biz start cracking down on password sharing… What's a girl to do?

Whether she lost her spot on her dorm roommate or (ex) college boyfriend’s account, it doesn’t matter – she can get one of her own! Treat her to a streaming service she doesn’t have yet, or help cover the cost of one she does have when you grab one of the gift cards below.

Get a digital Apple TV gift card, a digital Hulu gift card, or a digital Paramount+ gift card

9 - Pep Boys

Put Some Pep In Her Step and Some Oil in Her Engine

Buy a Pep Boys gift card

Up through college, if your grad needed anything done on her car, someone else probably picked up the tab. Unfortunately once she lands a job of her own, more of that responsibility will fall on her shoulders. Whether she knows her way around under the hood or doesn’t even know how to check a dipstick (please make sure she knows how to check the dipstick), eventually she’ll be in need of some parts or repairs.

A gift card to Pep Boys might not be the most fun graduation gift, but she’ll certainly be happy to have it when it comes time for car inspection or she needs some new winter tires to make it to work on time. Pep Boys has thousands of technicians and hundreds of locations across the country, so no matter where she is or goes, she’ll be covered.

Pep Boys has been serving its community since 1921 – so who better to help?

Buy a Pep Boys gift card

10 - Visa

Create a Custom Graduation Gift That’s As Good As Cash

Build your very own Visa gift card

You don’t have to be crafty to make a personalized graduation gift! With Gift Card Granny’s Build a Card feature, you can easily customize a gift just for her. Add a childhood picture to make it a real tear-jerker, or a recent photo of you together. You can also choose from expert designed options so you know it’ll turn out great. Add her name and a message, and presto!

Most custom cards print the same day and mail out the next morning, so she’ll have your personalized present in no time.

But why bother with a Visa gift card at all? Accepted anywhere Visa credit cards are accepted, she can use it to purchase practically anything she wants, whether it’s a new pair of sensible shoes, a gym membership, or dinner out.

Build your very own Visa gift card

That’s it for our guide to A+ graduation gifts for her.

We’ve covered everything from practical gifts that will keep her roadworthy to gifts she can use for fun. One of these gifts is sure to make the grade, but if for some reason they don’t quite fit the bill, check out the full GiftYa catalog. With thousands of local and national brands to choose from, you’re sure to find something she’ll love – whether it’s the pizza place down the road or the athleisure company that’s sweeping the nation.

Happy shopping, and from all of us here at GiftYa… congrats, grad!