College Savings Calculator
Project future tuition costs and the monthly savings to cover them.
Your numbers
How this calculator works
College costs rise faster than general inflation, historically around 5% a year, which means a $25,000 annual price tag today becomes roughly $40,000 a year in a decade, or over $160,000 for four years. This college savings calculator puts that sticker shock into a plan: enter today's annual cost, years until enrollment, your assumed cost inflation, current savings and monthly contributions, and it projects the four-year bill, your savings growth, the shortfall if any, and the monthly amount needed to fully fund it.
Two levers matter most: starting early and using a 529 plan. A 529 offers tax-free growth for education expenses plus possible state tax deductions, and its investment options are built for this exact timeline. If the monthly number feels impossible, remember you do not have to cover 100%: many families target a fraction (one-third to one-half) and combine savings with cash flow during college years, scholarships and reasonable student borrowing. The shortfall figure is honest either way, it tells you the gap so you can plan around it instead of discovering it at admissions time.