daughter is graduating college next weekend out of state. Should I be
sending out announcements to relatives.

Dear graduate123-ga 

Congratulations to your daughter (and to you too!).  

I checked out a number of etiquette sites and find that none of them
say you must send out announcements, but all implied that it is a nice
gesture.

They are mostly addressed to the graduate, and here is what they say:

"Often times, graduates have precious few invitations to the actual
graduation ceremony and use announcements to spread the news to
friends and family. Announcements carry no obligation to send a gift,
...."

Emily Post Institute
http://www.emilypost.com/etiquette/special/graduation.htm

"It is also important to send [an announcement] to friends and family
who are too far away to join in the fun, to share the good news of
your accomplishment."

Parenting of Adolescents
http://parentingteens.about.com/cs/graduation/a/gradannounce.htm

"Graduation Announcements are sent to friends and family to share the
good news of your accomplishment. ...

"Remember, an announcement is not necessarily an invitation to the
ceremony. ... Even family and friends who will not be able to attend
will appreciate a memento of this important milestone in your life, so
be sure to include them on your list. "

University of Southern Indiana
http://www.usi.edu/book/graduation1.asp

"Graduation announcements, while not originally viewed as a request
for gifts, unfortunately have become associated in recent years with
forced gift-giving. Graduation announcements should not be distributed
to people other than close friends and family members, unless the
notation "No gifts please" has been added. (A rough rule to follow
would be this: Send announcements only to those people who already
know that your son or daughter is graduating.)"

Party411
http://www.party411.com/graduation-etiquette.html


The last point may be worth considering.  If you think that your
announcements will be viewed as "trolling for gifts," you may well
wish to add "No gifts please" on  some of  the announcements.

To sum up the above information:  it is a nice gesture to send out
announcements, especially since your daughter is graduating out of
state.  Your friends and relatives will be pleased to get them.

Google search strategy
Search terms: etiquette graduation
://www.google.com/search?q=etiquette+graduation&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

Best of luck,

alanna-ga

Why, what did you do?

I can understand that you may be proud of her achievement, but if I
received such an announcement, I would feel that it was suggesting
that I should respond in some manner, perhaps with a gift, especially
if I didn't know the family well enough to be already aware of her
upcoming graduation.

Of course! She's accomplishing a wonderful thing and it makes sense to
me to announce it and celebrate it. Whatever obligations the relatives
feel is up to them. It doesn't sound like you're sending them out with
those kinds of "strings." It sounds like you're trying to be
considerate. I say absolutely send them out. You're *announcing*
something, not necessarily inviting them. Congratulations to your
daughter on a fine accomplishment!

Sincerely,
Boquinha-ga

The reason for my comment above was to point out that it is the
graduate that does the announcing, not the parents.