A great gift for prospective college students, especially those under 5 years old who might not make full use of the toys or clothes, is GradSave. It's a creative twist on saving for college. Either parents create an account for their child and share it with friends and family or the gift giver can just present them with a college savings gift card. Everyone can monitor it over the years as the savings account grows in value, meaning less debt for the child when they start going to college. With it being so visible it increases the chances that family will give more money to it over the years.
The parents link the savings account to their child's 529 plan to redeem the money everyone had contributed to it. The money is not taxed and can be used to pay for classes, dorm fees, book expenses, computers, etc. Ugift is a similar service that's available to those with 529 plans that are managed by Upromise Investments.
