# High school graduation money gift-how much? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 13, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911 "2013-06-13T16:28:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/1 "2013-06-13T16:28:49Z")
What is the going rate for monetary gifts for high school graduates? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/2 "2013-06-13T16:32:11Z")
Depends. How much is bus fare? ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/3 "2013-06-13T16:35:13Z")
My general rule is: friend/acquaintance $25-50 depending on how close we are relative $50-100 depending on how close we are Never had any complaints, not that anybody would even if they didn’t like the gift. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/4 "2013-06-13T16:36:04Z")
There’s no such thing as a “going rate” for graduation gifts. Give whatever you can afford. If you are Daddy Warbucks, then a couple of million is reasonable. If you’re living on foodstamps, $5 or $10 is generous. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/5 "2013-06-13T16:38:42Z")
When I graduated HS I didn’t get shit, so apparently the minimum is $0. That notwithstanding, I would agree with **Alice The Goon** and say $25-50 for non-relatives, $50-100 for relatives. If they’re going to college, a $50 gift certificate to Target should be sufficiently generous for anyone. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/6 "2013-06-13T16:50:53Z")
We typically give $100. But we only give graduation presents to close friends and family. ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/7 "2013-06-13T16:52:58Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > There’s no such thing as a “going rate” for graduation gifts. Give whatever you can afford. If you are Daddy Warbucks, then a couple of million is reasonable. If you’re living on foodstamps, $5 or $10 is generous. I understand what you are saying, but that is not the point of the poll. I’m trying to get an idea on what would be the amount SDMB members would think is appropriate in 2013. I graduated from high school 41 years ago, all of my friends kids are long past that stage, so I am out of touch with current trends in gifting. My neice and nephew are graduating, we see them once/twice per year at Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. Personally, I think $25.00 is OK, but I suspect that is on the low side. I’m much closer to food stamps than I am to Daddy Warbucks, but I don’t want to cause a family uproar. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/8 "2013-06-13T17:00:44Z")
You aren’t obligated to give anything. $25 is fine if that’s what you can afford. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/9 "2013-06-13T17:07:06Z")
If they’re going to college - bag full of quarters. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/10 "2013-06-13T17:21:19Z")
This is the first I’ve ever heard of high school graduation gifts that aren’t from the parents or grandparents. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/11 "2022-05-26T17:12:48Z")
Bumping this, because this is exactly what I want to know, and I think it’s better to bump that to start a new thread. If not, sorry about that. Husband’s nephew is graduating next week. $100 sound about right? We can afford it - could afford more, even. Not sure what he’s doing after graduation, but he’s more likely to go towards on-the-job training, or community college. He’s not an academic. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/12 "2022-05-27T09:34:25Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > My general rule is: friend/acquaintance $25-50 depending on how close we are > > relative $50-100 depending on how close we are > Never had any complaints, not that anybody would even if they didn’t like the gift. I thought these were appropriate amounts - generous, even - before I realized that the post was nine years old. Maybe I am out of touch as well. mmm ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/13 "2022-05-27T10:59:51Z")
I never gave anyone a graduation gift, high school or college. Not even my own daughter. It just never occurred to me. I’m sure we took her out to dinner to celebrate - I’m pretty sure that’s what my folks did for me, tho after 50 years, the memory has faded. Maybe I’m just an old grouch, but in a lot of cases, I think gifting is out of control. Are congrats and good wishes not enough? ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/14 "2022-05-27T11:42:39Z")
It depends on the family. Kids going off to college or work have a lot of expenses. In some families, that would be seen as the parent’s responsibility. In others, its more lile the whole family clubs together. My family is like yours. Almost no gifts, but my parents sure spent money on me as I transferred to college. It just wasn’t a “gift”, it was more “as a person in the household, you’re entitled to having certain things”. But in other families, things like clothes and luggage and all the stuff you need when you move out aare funded by graduation gifts. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/15 "2022-05-27T12:24:10Z")
Over the course of her high school years, our daughter got a car and from the time she was about 2, we had a prepaid college plan for her. We set her up in an apartment for college, including moving her stuff about 150 miles from home. We covered some of her living expenses, and in addition to the prepaid plan, she earned a full scholarship and she always held a job. (And graduated without needing any loans.) So, yeah, we didn’t even consider handing her an extra hundred bucks. And the day after she graduated college, she got married, and we paid for most of that. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/16 "2022-05-27T13:21:31Z")
That’s what I mean. I also always had a car, and will provide one for my son if it makes sense. But it was never a “gift”. In other families, it was a gift. I’m just suggesting that a family tradition of generous graduation gifts doesn’t imply they are more or less indulgent than amy other family. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-graduation-money-gift-how-much/660911/17 "2022-05-28T06:28:13Z")
We have 6 grands. Two are grade 12 grads and about to have a 3rd this June. The oldest of the 3 grade 12 grads now has a Bachelor of Science degree and will be working further into medicine. We gave $100 for each grade 12 grad and $1000 for the university degree.