finance calculator

Tuition Savings Calculator

Project future college costs with inflation and find the monthly contribution needed to reach that goal by the time college starts.

Results

Total projected tuition cost: $140,415
Monthly contribution needed: $857

How to use this calculator

Enter the current annual tuition cost for the type of school you are targeting (for example, in-state public, out-of-state public, or private).
Enter how many years the student is expected to attend college (commonly 2 or 4, but you can use any number).
Enter how many years remain until the first year of college starts.
Set a tuition inflation rate that reflects how quickly you believe tuition will rise each year.
Choose a reasonable long-term investment return for your college savings (for example, a 5–7% annual return for a stock-heavy portfolio, or lower for conservative investments).
Review the projected total future tuition cost across all years of college.
Review the estimated monthly contribution necessary to reach that total by the time college begins.
Experiment with different combinations of inflation, return, and years until college to see how starting earlier or saving more aggressively changes your monthly target.

Inputs explained

Current annual tuition cost: Your best estimate of one year of college costs today, including tuition and mandatory fees. Use a realistic number for the type of school you expect (public vs private, in-state vs out-of-state).
Years in college: How many academic years you expect to pay tuition for. Four-year degrees usually use 4, but you can model 2-year programs, 5-year programs, or graduate school as needed.
Years until college starts: How long you have to save before the first tuition bill arrives. A newborn might have 18 years; a high school freshman might have 4. More years to save generally means a lower required monthly contribution.
Tuition inflation per year (%): The annual percentage increase you expect in tuition and fees. Historically, college costs have often risen faster than general inflation. Using a range like 3–6% is common; higher values make future costs more expensive.
Investment annual return (%): Your assumed average annual rate of return on the money you save for college. Stock-heavy portfolios may justify higher assumptions over long periods, while conservative or short-term investments should use lower rates.

How it works

We start with your current annual tuition estimate for one year of college.

We grow that annual cost forward using your tuition inflation rate for the number of years until college starts, so the first year of college reflects future, not today’s, prices.

We then project costs for each year in college, assuming tuition continues to grow at the same inflation rate during those college years.

Total projected tuition cost is the sum of all those future-year costs across every year of college.

Next, we treat your monthly savings as a regular contribution into an investment account that earns your assumed annual return, converted to a monthly rate.

We solve for the monthly contribution that, when invested over the years until college, grows to equal the projected total tuition cost (using a standard future value of an annuity formula).

The result is a single monthly savings number you can compare to your budget and adjust by changing assumptions such as returns, inflation, or starting earlier.

When to use it

Planning college savings for a newborn or young child and wanting to understand how much to set aside each month.
Comparing different school types (public vs private, in-state vs out-of-state) by running the calculator with different starting tuition levels.
Testing the impact of starting to save earlier vs later on the monthly savings required to reach the same college funding goal.
Stress-testing your college plan by adjusting tuition inflation higher or investment returns lower to see how sensitive your plan is to changes.
Exploring trade-offs between covering 100% of tuition vs a partial goal (for example, funding 50–75% of costs and expecting scholarships, work, or loans to cover the rest).

Tips & cautions

Err on the side of higher tuition inflation and lower investment returns if you want a conservative savings plan.
Revisit the calculator every year or two as your child gets closer to college and as tuition data or your investment performance changes.
If you expect scholarships, grants, or in-state discounts, you can reduce the starting tuition cost or treat them as a percentage reduction when interpreting results.
Consider coordinating this calculator with broader financial planning so you do not over-commit to college at the expense of retirement savings.
Use separate runs for different children if their ages or school expectations differ, so you can see savings needs for each child individually.
Assumes a constant tuition inflation rate and constant average investment return, which rarely match real-world variability.
Does not include taxes, account fees, or differences between account types (such as 529 plans vs taxable accounts).
Treats each year of college as having the same base cost, simply inflated over time; it does not model changing course loads, housing choices, or other living expenses.
Does not distinguish between multiple children or overlapping college years; those scenarios may need separate runs and additional planning.
All results are estimates and should be treated as planning guidelines, not guarantees of future college costs or investment performance.

Worked examples

Newborn with 18 years until college

Set current annual tuition cost to $20,000 for an in-state public university.
Set years in college to 4 and years until college starts to 18.
Set tuition inflation to 5% per year and investment return to 7% per year.
Review the total projected tuition cost (which may exceed $200,000 in future dollars) and note the required monthly contribution.
Interpretation: with 18 years to save and a growth-oriented portfolio, the monthly contribution is meaningful but manageable, especially if you start early.

High school freshman with 4 years until college

Set current annual tuition cost to $30,000 for a private college.
Set years in college to 4 and years until college starts to 4.
Use a 4% tuition inflation rate and a 5% investment return, reflecting a shorter saving window and a more moderate portfolio.
Observe that the total projected tuition cost is significantly higher than 4 × $30,000 because of inflation over eight years (four until college plus four in college).
Interpretation: with only four years to save, the required monthly contribution will be much higher, underscoring the cost of waiting.

Testing partial funding goals

Run the calculator with your best-guess tuition and assumptions to get a baseline projected cost and monthly contribution.
Decide you only plan to cover 75% of costs out of savings, with the remainder coming from scholarships, work, or loans.
Multiply the projected total tuition by 0.75 and rerun the calculator with that adjusted total in mind to see a lower monthly contribution target.
Interpretation: you can scale the monthly contribution target up or down based on how much of the total you want to fund directly.

Deep dive

Use this tuition savings calculator to project future college costs with tuition inflation and estimate the monthly savings needed to cover them.

Enter current annual tuition, years until college, years in college, and your investment assumptions to see total projected college cost and a monthly contribution target.

Ideal for parents and students who want a realistic, numbers-based view of how much to save for college, rather than relying on rough rules of thumb.

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This tuition savings calculator is an educational tool that simplifies many aspects of college planning, including tuition inflation, investment returns, taxes, and financial aid. All projections are estimates only and are not guarantees of future costs or performance. Consider speaking with a financial planner or education funding specialist before making major saving or investment decisions.