Most students are finishing up their school years in May and June, and either moving on to university studies or getting ready to find a job after their post-secondary education. If you’re a friend or relative of a graduating senior and are looking for a gift to help them go on to the next phase of their lives, don’t forget that vocabulary skills will help in any field. We’ve found some books and other resources that should be useful to any graduate.

100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know
(American Heritage Dictionaries/Editors)

A good overview of advanced vocabulary that younger students may not have encountered in their classwork in secondary school, but will undoubtedly need in college, this book will give students a head start on the word knowledge they need to do well in classes.

Vocabulary for the College Bound Student
(Harold Levine)

Instead of presenting words in an alphabetical list, this book groups them by theme and topic to make them easier to remember. Although this is not specifically designed for SAT study, the vocabulary words are among those that are frequently found on SAT exams, making this a good book for students at any level.

One Year of Words
(Dorothy Rubin)

College students – especially freshman – are usually very busy, and finding time to study vocabulary might seem like too much trouble to fit in to the day. However, using this week-by-week study guide, the seemingly overwhelming task of vocabulary building can be broken down into manageable chunks. Each week gives the student ten new words to learn, with three exercises to take at the end of each word list, and an answer key for help.

Essential GRE Vocabulary Flashcards
(Princeton Review/Editors)

For college graduates going for advanced degrees, the GRE is a major hurdle to get over in the application process for graduate school. These flashcards are easy to use and take along for impromptu study so that vocabulary improvement can happen anywhere at any time. There are 500 cards in the set, each with definitions, synonyms, parts of speech, and context examples.

Check out more suggestions for vocabulary resources here.