We gave both of our kids the same undergrad graduation gift. Both took a portion of the Direct Loan as undergrads. We paid off the loans.
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We gave her a car. We knew she would have a long commute. (This daughter received a full ride at her school.)
Then, when we were looking for a used car, for the newly-licensed middle daughter, the eldest gave it to her sister. (Middle daughter is 5 years younger.)
Eldest then bought a new car with her own wages.
Middle daughter still uses it daily, got cash for grad gift.
Youngest asked for Dad’s 4Runner and we gave it to him. Too big for us, but son, and his friends, love that SUV.
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I’ll blame it on the fact that they graduated a while ago to admit that I have NO recollection what we got older s as his graduation gift! And I would bet if I asked him, he won’t remember either. My older s’s college graduation and younger s’s HS graduation were the exact same day (!!!) in different states, so we had to divide and conquer. Older s was moving to different state to start his job, so it’s possible/probable we bought some of the furniture for him. (ETA I just texted him and he thinks we also got him a college ring). We might have also given him some stock. Maybe. That’s a good “investment” (literally and figuratively).
When younger s graduated, there was still a nice amount in his college account since he was fortunate enough to have gotten some very nice scholarships. So the bigger gift was when he turned 21, not when he graduated, and he asked that we take our names off “his” account! There was a compromise (DH and DS stayed on the account together as it was in investments).
My kids don’t much care for “stuff”, but they are into electronics. So one might have actually wanted a new personal computer. Or a camera.
Photo albums are a wonderful memento (since memories fade quickly). But I’d still get something else as well. Maybe even a 1 year gym membership or other membership?
Good luck!
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That can be a very sweet gift, depending on when the pass was purchased (prices are lower until the fall), whether it was a locals pass, a multiday pass or a season pass. We love our military season pass. No blackout dates and the season pass is good at 42 Vail resorts and costs less than a day of skiing. If you qualify to buy him a military dependent pass, that’s a great graduation gift,OP (if she skis).
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Through his work. Last age was 22 b4 $300 price up.
Loves snow basin…more than Alta, deer valley, go figure.
He might fly up in a few months and get more use. Was like $950 through his work.
I think whatever any family does to celebrate their kids is fantastic. That you supported your kids through the ups and downs - and they all have them - is gift enough.
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We took a slightly different approach as a family. My wife and I both grew up with relatively modest financial resources but families that prioritized education. This background formed much of our belief system.
We committed early in our marriage to ensure that our kids would never have to worry about money when considering academic opportunities. This included private high schools, educational trips abroad and eventual college decisions. They were to worry about getting good grades, being good people and finding the most rewarding academic options and we would pay for it.
We were very lucky to have the financial flexibility to take this approach but in some ways I think this ambition motivated and drove some financial achievements. My parents approached school the same way and had far less but always found a way to make it work. I realize how lucky we are and fully appreciate the reality that not everyone can take this approach.
At graduation from college we gave our kids 3 things memorialized in a card. A fairly modest amount of cash for a post graduation trip of their choice, a commitment that we would pay for any further education and a promise that if they should ever need financial help we would always be there.
As a family we understood early on that the “graduation gift” we sought to offer was for them to be self sufficient upon graduation. Much more easily said than done and not without challenges but worked for us.
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She only had a short time between finishing up a full-year undergrad internship commitment, before getting ready to move away for Grad School – and I wanted to make sure there was a chance to wind down and recharge a bit. So we paid for a European vacation.
She’s very frugal, had built up some savings, basically never asks for anything, and had everything she needed/wanted – so this seemed the most meaningful.
(Her being her, she still tried to save me money, by subjecting herself to two connections on the way back, rather than just taking one of the many daily direct flights.)
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Those slopes you mentioned are not on the epic pass. Those are on the ikon pass.
The ikon pass is more expensive than the epic pass, but TBH that sounds very pricey.
Ikon. My bad. I get them confused. He’s on ikon. He gets 7 days snow basin and other places. He skied six there. Kept one in case goes back. . Has been solitude. Alta etc. Brighton. A couple places that are connected via trail.
He always corrects me. I think my daughters bf at U Denver is epic.
There is a cheaper version but had black out dates. If he was 23 it’s have cost $300 more.
He checked them all. He said it’s $50 less buying at work.
I’m sure he got the right one. They are all $150 to over $200 a day. So it’s the way to go.
It’s all good.
Sounds like our families had similar backgrounds and philosophies. Both growing up and then with our own kids, emphasis and value was placed on education. We were fortunate to be able to provide that for our kids. I Understand that it is not true for all families.
But, OP, to be honest, the best gift is assuring your kids that you have their back. My older s and DIL wrote that in their holiday card that they were so grateful for the family support during a challenging time this past year.
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He said ikon. Bcuz it gets all Utah except park city.
So back to topic of graduation gifts, a nice piece of jewelry is another idea. Necklace maybe?
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We took a short celebration trip with S15’s grandparents to New Orleans, right after the graduation. We also framed his GaTech diploma and threw him a party. We invited professional photographer to take photos of him, family and guests, many of new graduates among them. I still see some of the photos from that 2018 party on their LinkedIn pages. 
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Our D doesn’t graduate until next May (‘25) but he mentioned over Christmas that he is intrigued about some Amtrak pass that you can purchase (for like $500) that allows you to have 10 rides over 30 days (500 destinations to choose from) around the country.
https://www.amtrak.com/tickets/departure-rail-pass.html
He is excited to learn more about it; but it wouldn’t surprise me if this may be what we end up getting him (along with some money for hotels, etc.)
Will depend on if he has a job lined up after graduation and if so, when he has to start such job.
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D chose a holiday in Europe with a college friend (we paid for her flight and interrail pass and gave her some spending money). S didn’t have time for a long holiday, we bought him a fancy super automatic espresso coffee maker for his apartment.
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We actually will be getting S19 a new laptop as a grad gift this year because he’ll be continuing on to grad school in the fall and he’s had his current one since the end of high school.
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We didn’t give much for college graduation as they were coming to live at home and job hunt so committed to helping with those expenses. They lived for free and we helped with the cost of getting set up for the job. For oldest, that was an overseas plane ticket and for the youngest we bought a car that he then paid us back for (no interest loan).
We took a trip overseas with the youngest right after graduation that was partially a graduation gift, but really was mostly a trip I wanted to take.
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I certainly understand this rationale. I think a lot depends on the intent of the graduation gift. If it’s to help them in their next phase of life, a laptop certainly makes sense. But if it’s a desire to provide a long-lasting memento, then technology doesn’t suit it well.
When I graduated from college, I was gifted with a Palm Pilot, intended to help me in my next phase of life. Suffice it to say, it had a limited lifespan. As the parent who gifted it to me has since passed away, gifts that parent gave me are particularly treasured now, and hindsight being what it is, I would love to have a tangible graduation gift still around. Of course, the greatest college graduation gift was graduating debt-free and from a college that I loved. I don’t think that college graduation gifts are a necessity, but if they’re going to be given, I’m now a bigger fan of things that will have a long life.
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Maybe you could make a small fortune selling it to a museum! 