D.B.
Does she have a menorah at school? They make some small travel-type menorahs (some take Hanukkah candles, some take birthday candles), although the campus Hillel groups sometimes give them out too especially because Hanukkah often hits during exam stress.
When my son was away at school, I sent him and his roommate 8 little packets wrapped in blue tissue and numbered 1-8. Each packet contained a package of chocolate gelt (milk for my son, dark for his lactose-intolerant roommate) plus something else. My son always loved chocolate Maccabees and I haven't been able to find them locally. I just found them on line but then I read this article from The Forward so I'm a little dismayed at what's happened here! http://forward.com/the-assimilator/324637/the-war-on-hann... But maybe there's time for you to pursue it.
I also enclosed small packs of cookies. Some of the bakeries or supermarkets make sugar cookies with blue sprinkles in dreidel or Star of David shapes. It's a little dicey sending potato latkes through the mail (!) but you could do some other oil-fried foods like potato chips, even kale chips, or the traditional soufganiyot jelly donuts or jelly-filled "munchkins" if they will ship in a reasonable amount of time. You could make those for Night 1 so they aren't sitting around the room getting stale.
I think dreidels are a bit overdone for kids this age but if she would get a charge out of it, find a neat design at any Jewish gift store. Some people start collections to bring out every year, so you might start a trend. One of my son's favorites is an Israeli one with the different letter in the last position. Instead of the Hebrew letters "Nun-gimel-hay-shin" for "A great miracle happened there", the Israeli dreidels have "nun-gimel-hay-peh" for "A great miracle happened HERE." Most American and European kids don't have those. You could throw in a pack of M&Ms as dreidel game tokens - they may play with friends just for a good study break. They make blue and white M&Ms to sell in the Jewish gift shops, but our local "secular" candy shop sells them in batches of any weight (typical bulk candy style). You could do blue & white or throw in some yellow too. Those keep and could be given in the last few days even if shipped ahead of time.
Maybe a CD or downloaded iTune for some of the traditional music ("Maoz Tzur" or other traditional tune, or even the Peter/Paul/Mary "Light One Candle")?? That's pretty inspiring especially as we follow the news lately.
I doubt you'll find much at any synagogue in the area - it's not much of a synagogue holiday, as you know - it's a home holiday. It's just a tough time of year for a college student to steal away to a synagogue that has a Hanukkah dinner anyway - exams and papers due. But check with the Hillel or other Jewish student organization. One year my son's Hillel gave 15 minute chair massages for stressed out kids!
Maybe a Hanukkah decoration for the dorm door? Not every kid celebrates Christmas and sometimes their doors look a little dull when others are putting up Christmas decor.
What a nice daughter you have!
ETA: I read another response about looking into the Chabad organization. If there is one in the area, they will likely have a public menorah lighting and many other activities. However, be advised that this is an ultra-Orthodox sect of Judaism, with separations between men and women for certain things and strict modesty codes for women. There are bans on men hearing women's voices during singing, no shaking of hands, etc. They are traditionally extremely welcoming but they are not without controversy, so there should be an awareness of their views before jumping in to celebrate that may not be what these young college women expect.
