High school graduates can look forward to receiving more than their degrees this weekend.

Try cold, hard cash.

U.S. currency is by far the most popular graduation gift being presented this season, according to a survey conducted for the National Retail Federation.

Nearly 59 percent of respondents said they would be giving cash as a gift, the federation said, while 31 percent indicated they’d be wrapping up gift cards.

“We’ve had requests for nice, crisp bills,” said Brad Chindamo, president for Central National Bank in Lawrence, which also has seen an increase in sales of Visa gift cards at its branches in town. “When somebody asks for crisp bills, you know it’s for a gift.”

The survey of 8,353 people earlier this month determined that Americans would be spending about $4.5 billion this year on gifts for high school and college graduates. The typical giver will be spending $100, while parents and grandparents plan to drop an average of $110.

Graduates themselves can expect gifts to be worth an average of $51.05, which should be good news both for them and the businesses they’ll soon be visiting, said Tracy Mullin, federation president.

“For students heading off to college or moving out into the real world, cash and gift cards are the ideal graduation present,” Mullin said. “Retailers can expect to see a nice bump in sales later this summer as students redeem gift cards and make big purchases with graduation money.”

Many gift givers apparently won’t bother with a store-bought graduation card, either for a stand-alone offer of congratulations or to go along with a gift. The survey found that 36 percent of respondents planned to buy a graduation greeting card.

Electronics will be given by 11.5 percent of respondents, the survey said, while 9.1 percent intend to give apparel.

Graduation weekend also is Memorial Day weekend, and the federation queried its survey subjects about whether their holiday spending might be affected by an upswing in gasoline prices. The totals, in the telephone survey conducted May 2-9: 43 percent yes, 57 percent no.

The federation is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing more than 1.6 million U.S. retail locations, more than 24 million employees and sales last year of $4.7 trillion.