---
title: Here's the Gift College Students Say They Really Want for the Holidays
description: College students want money, electronics and tech gadgets, and gift cards for the holidays this year, according to a recent survey.
authors:
  - name: Kaitlin Mulhere
    role: Editor
    url: https://money.com/author/kaitlin-mulhere/
    bio: Kaitlin Mulhere is an editor at Money.com. Since joining in 2015, she’s written and edited about a variety of personal finance topics, including banks, credit, student debt, saving strategies and more.
    education: University of Florida
    at_money_since: 2015
    articles: 217
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      - Business
      - Career Advice
      - Credit
      - Credit Cards
      - Debt
      - Economy and Politics
      - Health and Wellness
      - Housing
      - Identity Theft
      - Insurance
      - Investing
      - Lifestyle
      - Loans
      - Mortgages
      - Personal Finance
      - Retirement
      - Shopping
      - Taxes
    social:
      - https://twitter.com/KMulhere
      - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlin-mulhere-64503048/
published: '2015-11-26T11:22:11.000Z'
modified: '2024-05-16T10:40:57.000Z'
section: Education
tags:
  - christmas gifts
  - College Students
  - holiday gifts
  - National Association of College Stores
word_count: 173
canonical: https://money.com/college-student-gift-money/
type: Article
source: structured-blocks
---

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![college student holding fan of cash](https://img.money.com/2015/11/151125_coll_giftstudentswant.jpg?crop=0px%2C29px%2C2100px%2C1181px&quality=85)

Surveys show that college students regularly stress about finances, so it should come as little surprise that the top item on their holiday wish-lists this year is cold, hard cash.

Seventy percent of respondents in a new survey by the National Association of College Stores ranked money as their most-desired gift, and it was nearly equally desired by male and female students.

For female students, the second most-wanted gift was clothing or shoes, while 69% of male students said they hoped for electronic devices and accessories. Gift cards also were a popular option, with 57% of female students and 45% of male students rating them among the top gifts they'd like to receive.

![](https://content.money.com/wp-content/themes/money2018/img/newsletter/money-homepage-newsletter-120.png)

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Conversely, if you expect to be getting a gift from a college student this year, here's a clue to what it might be: About a fifth of the roughly 2,500 students surveyed said they would do some holiday shopping at their campus bookstore, with 69% of them saying they'd buy a school branded T-shirt and 59% a school branded sweatshirt.

[![Best college education image](https://content.money.com/wp-content/themes/money2018/img/college-site-banner-02.png)](https://best-colleges.time.com/money/search-colleges/?xid=cm-mcpFindTheCollegeWidget)

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