{
  "id": "529",
  "version": "00eb038684db",
  "status": "published",
  "name": "529 Calculator",
  "question": "Will my 529 plan cover college?",
  "summary": "Projects a 529 college savings plan until college starts and how much of the rising cost of college it covers, with the monthly saving that would cover it all.",
  "category": "finance",
  "subcategory": "investing",
  "url": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/529-calculator",
  "markdown": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/529-calculator.md",
  "kind": "schedule",
  "method": "Each month the balance grows at (1 + R)^(1/12) − 1 and your saving is added until college starts; at the start of each college year, its cost, today’s cost × (1 + cost growth)^(years from now), is paid from the plan.",
  "assumptions": [
    "The return and the rise in college costs stay the same every year.",
    "The presets are average published tuition and fees for 2025-26 (College Board); housing, food, and books are not included. Pick your own cost to add them.",
    "Saving stops when college starts. Each year’s cost is paid at the start of that college year.",
    "Financial aid, scholarships, taxes, and plan fees are not included. Withdrawals for qualified education expenses are tax-free.",
    "This is an estimate for planning, not financial advice."
  ],
  "inputs": {
    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "age": {
        "title": "Child’s age now",
        "description": "The child’s age today, in whole years.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 24
      },
      "start": {
        "title": "College starts at age",
        "description": "The child’s age when college starts.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 25
      },
      "years": {
        "title": "Years of college",
        "description": "How many years of college to pay for.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 8
      },
      "college": {
        "title": "Type of college",
        "description": "A type of college with its average tuition and fees for 2025-26 (College Board), or your own yearly cost.",
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "public-2-year",
          "public-in-state",
          "public-out-of-state",
          "private",
          "custom"
        ]
      },
      "cost": {
        "title": "Yearly cost today",
        "description": "What one year of college costs today: tuition, fees, and any housing, food, and books you plan to pay.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 10000000
      },
      "costgrowth": {
        "title": "College costs rise each year by",
        "description": "The yearly rise in the cost of college, from today until the last year of college.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "percent",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 15
      },
      "saved": {
        "title": "Saved so far",
        "description": "What is in the 529 plan today.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000000
      },
      "monthly": {
        "title": "You add each month",
        "description": "The amount added at the end of each month until college starts.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 10000000
      },
      "rate": {
        "title": "Expected yearly return",
        "description": "The yearly return of the plan’s investments. It stays the same every year.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "percent",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 20
      }
    }
  },
  "outputs": {
    "atStart": {
      "label": "You’ll have when college starts",
      "description": "The balance on the day college starts, before the first year is paid.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "totalCost": {
      "label": "College will cost",
      "description": "Every college year’s cost added up, at the prices of the year it is due.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "covered": {
      "label": "Share of the cost your plan covers",
      "description": "What the plan pays ÷ what college costs.",
      "format": "percent"
    },
    "shortfall": {
      "label": "Left to pay from elsewhere",
      "description": "The part of the cost the plan cannot pay.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "needed": {
      "label": "Monthly saving to cover it all",
      "description": "The monthly amount, until college starts, that would pay every college year in full.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "left": {
      "label": "Left after college",
      "description": "The balance after the last year of college.",
      "format": "money"
    }
  },
  "defaultAnswer": {
    "inputs": {
      "age": 5,
      "start": 18,
      "years": 4,
      "college": "public-in-state",
      "cost": 30000,
      "costgrowth": 3,
      "saved": 10000,
      "monthly": 250,
      "rate": 6
    },
    "outputs": {
      "atStart": 79517.08388554279,
      "totalCost": 73418.37766337444,
      "covered": 100,
      "shortfall": 0,
      "needed": 197.3886349306788,
      "left": 15459.48312942501
    },
    "text": "Saving $250.00 a month from $10,000.00, you’ll have $79,517.08 when college starts, covering 100% of the $73,418.38 it will cost."
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "given": {
        "age": 14,
        "start": 18,
        "years": 4,
        "college": "custom",
        "cost": 10000,
        "costgrowth": 0,
        "saved": 12000,
        "monthly": 500,
        "rate": 0
      },
      "expect": {
        "atStart": 36000,
        "totalCost": 40000,
        "covered": 90,
        "shortfall": 4000,
        "needed": 583.3333333333334,
        "left": 0
      },
      "source": "hand calculation in content.mdx: 12,000 + 48 × 500 = 36,000; (40,000 − 12,000) ÷ 48"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "age": 17,
        "start": 18,
        "years": 4,
        "college": "private",
        "costgrowth": 0,
        "saved": 0,
        "monthly": 0,
        "rate": 0
      },
      "expect": {
        "totalCost": 180000,
        "covered": 0,
        "shortfall": 180000,
        "needed": 15000
      },
      "source": "College Board 2025-26 average private nonprofit four-year tuition and fees, $45,000; 4 × 45,000; 180,000 ÷ 12"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "age": 5,
        "start": 18,
        "years": 4,
        "college": "public-in-state",
        "costgrowth": 3,
        "saved": 10000,
        "monthly": 250,
        "rate": 6
      },
      "expect": {
        "atStart": 79517.08388554289,
        "totalCost": 73418.37766337444,
        "covered": 100,
        "needed": 197.38863493067876,
        "left": 15459.483129425198
      },
      "source": "College Board 2025-26 public four-year in-state $11,950; month by month in content.mdx, checked in Python"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    "U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Investor.gov: An Introduction to 529 Plans (Investor Bulletin). https://www.investor.gov/additional-resources/general-resources/publications-research/info-sheets/introduction-529-plans",
    "Internal Revenue Service, Topic no. 313, Qualified tuition programs (QTPs). https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc313",
    "Internal Revenue Service, Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education, chapter 7. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p970",
    "College Board, Trends in College Pricing 2025, Highlights: average published tuition and fees, 2025-26. https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/college-pricing/highlights"
  ],
  "related": [
    "savings",
    "investment"
  ],
  "changelog": []
}