College savings calculator

How much should I save for college each month?

It depends on your child’s age, the school and the rates you pick. Here is a made-up example. A baby is born today and will go to a public four-year college in your state. At 4% price growth and a made-up 3% return, paying it all takes about $787 a month. Paying half takes $394.

To get your own number, use the calculator above in five steps.

1. Enter your child’s age and the age when school starts.
2. Pick a kind of school, or type one school’s yearly price.
3. Set how fast prices rise and the share you plan to pay.
4. Enter what you have saved and what you add each month.
5. Enter a yearly return to test, then read the monthly amount.

The next table runs the same example for children of other ages today. Each plan starts now, with nothing saved.

The kind of school changes the answer too. These rows are for a newborn.

What does a set deposit pay for? Each cell shows the balance at age 18, then the share of the price it pays.

Every number here uses one made-up return of 3%. It is an example, not a forecast. Type 3 in the return box to see these numbers in the calculator.

Real accounts go up and down, and they can lose money. To see how stocks, bonds and cash did in the past, use the investment page.

Compare past stock, bond and cash returns in the investment calculator →

How much does college cost per year?

In 2023-24, a year at a public four-year college cost $24,286 for in-state students living on campus. That covers tuition, fees, books, room and board. A private nonprofit college cost $57,879. The numbers come from NCES. It is the federal office for school data.

The fourth row is our own sum of the three rows above it. NCES does not print that sum. Room and board is 54% of it at a public four-year college.

Going out of state costs more. In 2022-23, out-of-state students at public four-year colleges paid $18,547 more a year. Their price was 1.83 times the in-state price.

These are sticker prices, the full price before any aid. The net price is what a family pays after grants and scholarships. Each college has its own net price calculator. The federal Net Price Calculator Center links to them. The College Scorecard shows facts for each school.

The “other costs” row holds things like travel and laundry. A 529 plan mostly cannot pay for those.

How much will college cost in 18 years?

No one knows. It depends on how fast prices rise. At 4% a year, a price doubles in about 18 years. Our price is from 2023-24, so it grows for 21 years. The $24,286 public college year becomes about $55,342 in 2044-45. Four years then cost about $235,008.

The table runs the newborn example at other growth rates. The return stays at 3%.

Why 21 years of growth and not 18? The newest NCES price is 3 school years old. So the calculator first grows it to this year. Then it grows it to the year school starts. A price you type yourself is taken as this year’s price.

At 4% a year, the exact time for a price to double is 17.7 years.

Find how long a price takes to double with the rule of 72 calculator →

How fast do college prices rise?

It has slowed. From 2013-14 to 2023-24, the price of a public four-year college rose 2.5% a year. That was a bit slower than prices in general. Over 20 years it rose 4.0% a year, and over 30 years 4.4%. This is NCES data.

Each cell shows the yearly rise up to the newest school year. The number in brackets is the rise after inflation, which is the rise in prices in general. The first four rows count tuition, fees, room and board. These are past rises, not a forecast.

The long view is steeper. Over 60 years, from 1963-64, the public four-year price rose 5.5% a year. After inflation that was 1.5% a year.

The calculator starts at 4.0%, the 20-year public rate. Past growth does not tell us future growth, so test more than one rate.

Do you have two prices and the years between them? One yearly rate links them.

Turn two prices into a yearly growth rate with the CAGR calculator →

How does the college savings calculator work?

It does three things. First it grows today’s price to each college year. Next it finds what must be in the account on day one. That counts growth while your child is in school. Then it finds the monthly deposit that reaches that amount by then, at the rate you enter.

Step one is the price formula in the section above. Step two adds up the bills.

Step three needs a monthly rate, then two more formulas.

Here is the newborn example, worked through.

1. Grow the price: $24,286 × 1.04²¹ = $55,342 for the first school year.
2. Add the four bills, each cut back for its wait: $224,613 is needed on day one.
3. Find the monthly rate: 1.03 to the power 1/12, minus 1, is 0.247%.
4. Find what $1 a month grows to in 18 years: $285.52.
5. Divide: $224,613 ÷ 285.52 is about $786.68, shown as $787 a month.

Money left in the account keeps growing while your child is in school. Counting that lowers the amount. Saving the full four-year price by day one would take $824 a month. That is 4.6% more.

In Excel or Google Sheets, one cell does the same job: =-PMT(1.03^(1/12)-1, 12*18, 0, 224613, 1). It returns 786.68. Swap in your own rate, years and day-one amount. Put what you have saved in place of the 0, with a minus sign.

Two extra switches change the math. One raises your deposit by a set percent each year. The other keeps deposits going until the last school bill.

The calculator leaves these things out:

• Plan fees, which lower what you keep
• Taxes on money used for other things
• State tax breaks, which differ by state
• Returns that change from year to year
• Grants and scholarships
• Price gaps between one school and the next

See how compound interest builds a balance over time →

Work out what a set monthly deposit grows to with the future value calculator →

How much should I have saved for college by age?

There is no single right number. One way to check is to compare with a steady plan that began at birth. At our example rates, that plan holds about $41,861 when the child is 5. It holds $74,293 at 10 and $99,069 at 15. The school is a public four-year college.

The calculator runs this check for you. It shows if your savings are ahead of that steady plan or behind it.

Here is a made-up example. A 7-year-old with $30,000 saved needs $828 a month from now. With nothing saved, the same child needs $1,093.

We do not show an average 529 balance by age. We found no government source for it.

What if I start saving for college late?

You can still save, but a late start takes more each month. In our example, a plan for a 5-year-old takes 1.23 times the monthly amount for a newborn. For a 10-year-old it is 1.8 times, and for a 13-year-old 2.6 times. Less of the money comes from growth.

Those rows compare children of different ages today. Waiting with one child costs more, because prices rise while you wait. Say the newborn’s family starts 5 years from now. The amount is then about $1,180 a month.

There are four ways to lower the monthly amount.

• Pay a smaller share. Half of the price takes $394 a month, not $787.
• Keep saving during college. For a 14-year-old, that takes $1,517 a month, not $2,543.
• Raise your deposit 3% each year. You start at $620 a month, not $787.
• Add one deposit now. With $10,000 saved today, the newborn plan takes $728 a month.

Find room for a monthly deposit with the budget calculator →

Work out how much cash to keep for surprise bills with the emergency fund calculator →

What is a 529 plan and how does it work?

A 529 plan is an account made for school costs. It is named after section 529 of the tax code, and states and schools run the plans. You put in money that was already taxed. It can grow tax-free, and you owe no federal tax when it pays for approved school costs.

There are two kinds, the SEC’s investor site says. One kind is an education savings plan, where you pick investments such as funds. Like any investment, the value can go down. The other kind is a prepaid tuition plan. You buy future tuition at today’s prices, most often at public colleges in one state.

The IRS calls a 529 plan a qualified tuition program. You cannot deduct your deposits on your federal tax return. Many states give a state tax break, and the rules differ by state.

Plans charge fees, and fees lower what you keep. Many plans offer age-based mixes. They shift to lower-risk holdings as school gets close. The SEC’s site says you can change your investment choice twice a year.

To open one, go to a state plan or to a broker that sells one. Read the plan’s offering document first. It lists the fees and the risks. We do not name or rank plans. For your own taxes, ask a tax professional.

What can a 529 plan pay for?

A 529 can pay for tuition, fees, books, supplies and computers at a college. It can pay for room and board when the student is enrolled at least half-time. It can also pay K-12 costs. The IRS limit is $20,000 a year per student from 2026. Before 2026 it was $10,000.

For K-12, 13 school years at the 2026 limit of $20,000 is $260,000 at most.

Here is a made-up example. A school costs $18,000 a year today, and the child starts in 3 years. With 3% yearly growth, the first bill is $19,669. The second is $20,259, which is over the $20,000 limit.

How much can I put in a 529 plan in 2026 and 2027?

There is no yearly federal cap. But a deposit counts as a gift to the child. In 2026 the IRS lets each giver give $19,000 per child with no gift tax return. In 2027 that rises to $20,000. A special rule lets one giver put in five years at once.

Putting in five years at once is often called superfunding. The giver files IRS Form 709, the gift tax return, to choose it. The IRS form guide for 2025 gifts prints $95,000. The yearly amount is the same in 2026, so we use that number. For 2027 we multiply $20,000 by five.

The IRS has one more limit. Total deposits cannot be more than the child’s school costs need. Each state plan also sets its own cap, so read the plan’s documents.

A monthly deposit of up to $1,583 stays under one giver’s 2026 amount.

Here is a made-up example. One giver puts in $95,000 at birth and adds nothing more. At a made-up 3% return it grows to $161,731 by age 18. That pays for 70% of the example price. Paying for all of it with one deposit takes $131,937. That is more than one giver’s five-year amount, and less than two givers’.

What happens to a 529 if my child does not go to college?

The money is still yours to direct. You can keep it for later school or name a new family member. You can also move some to the child’s Roth IRA. If you take it out for other things, only the earnings are taxed. The IRS also adds a 10% extra tax on those earnings.

The IRS lists five rules for moving money to a Roth IRA. These are the rules for 2026.

1. The limit is $35,000 in the child’s lifetime.
2. Each year’s amount counts toward the IRA limit. That limit is $7,500 for 2026 and for 2027. It is the child’s pay from work, if that is less.
3. The 529 must be more than 15 years old.
4. Money added in the last 5 years cannot move.
5. The money goes straight from the plan to the child’s own Roth IRA.

This takes time. At $7,500 a year, moving $35,000 takes 5 years. A plan opened at birth passes 15 years when the child is 15.

What does the tax look like? Say you take out $10,000 for other things. Only the earnings part is taxed. The table adds income tax and the 10% extra tax. The tax rates are examples, not yours.

Take the middle row at a 22% tax rate. Income tax is $4,000 × 22% = $880. The extra tax is $4,000 × 10% = $400. The total is $1,280.

A scholarship changes this. You can take out up to the scholarship amount with no 10% extra tax. Income tax on the earnings still applies.

A Roth IRA is a retirement account. The retirement page covers that side of the plan.

Check your own plan with the retirement calculator →

529 plan vs Roth IRA, savings account and other choices

Each account has its own rules, and none fits every family. A 529 grows tax-free for school costs. A Coverdell account does too, but its IRS limit is $2,000 a year. A Roth IRA is built for retirement. A savings account is simple, but its interest is taxed each year.

The FAFSA is the federal form for student aid. On the 2026–27 form, a 529 held for your other children is left out. A 529 the student does not own, such as a grandparent’s, is left off the student’s assets. Still, the SEC’s investor site says a 529 will generally affect need-based aid.

This table states rules only. Its dollar limits are IRS limits for 2026. It does not say which account to pick.

See what a savings account earns on money you need soon →

Match a CD to a tuition due date with the CD calculator →

Line up Treasury bills with each tuition due date in the T-bill calculator →

Add a 529 to what you own in the net worth calculator →