{
  "id": "college-savings",
  "version": "ba9f252a07b8",
  "status": "published",
  "name": "College Savings Calculator",
  "question": "How much college savings do I need?",
  "summary": "Works out how much to save each month for college: the share of rising college costs you want to cover, what you have saved, and a steady return, with the lump sum that would do it today.",
  "category": "finance",
  "subcategory": "investing",
  "url": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/college-savings-calculator",
  "markdown": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/college-savings-calculator.md",
  "kind": "schedule",
  "method": "Cost of college year j = cost × (1 + rise)^(years until college + j). Goal at college start = Σ share × cost_j ÷ (1 + r)^j. Monthly saving = (goal − saved × (1 + r)^years) × g ÷ ((1 + g)^(12 × years) − 1), with g = (1 + r)^(1/12) − 1.",
  "assumptions": [
    "Savings are added at the end of each month until college starts; each college year is paid at its start.",
    "The return and the rise in college costs stay the same every year; taxes and fees are not taken off."
  ],
  "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
      },
      "cost": {
        "title": "Yearly college cost today",
        "description": "What one year of college costs at today’s prices: tuition and fees, plus housing and books if you plan to pay them.",
        "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 college year.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "percent",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 15
      },
      "share": {
        "title": "Share of the cost to save for",
        "description": "How much of each college year’s cost the savings should pay; the rest comes from elsewhere.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "percent",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100
      },
      "saved": {
        "title": "Saved so far",
        "description": "What is already saved for college today.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000000
      },
      "rate": {
        "title": "Expected yearly return",
        "description": "The yearly return on the savings, the same every year until the last college year.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "percent",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 20
      }
    }
  },
  "outputs": {
    "monthly": {
      "label": "Save each month",
      "description": "The monthly saving, until college starts, that pays the chosen share of every college year.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "goal": {
      "label": "Needed when college starts",
      "description": "The savings needed on the day college starts, before the first year is paid.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "lump": {
      "label": "Or once, today",
      "description": "A single amount added today, on top of what is saved, that meets the goal with no monthly saving.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "totalCost": {
      "label": "College will cost",
      "description": "Every college year’s full cost added up, at the prices of the year it is due.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "covered": {
      "label": "Your savings pay",
      "description": "The chosen share of every college year’s cost, added up.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "deposits": {
      "label": "You put in",
      "description": "What is saved now plus every monthly saving.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "left": {
      "label": "Left after college",
      "description": "The balance after the last college year is paid.",
      "format": "money"
    }
  },
  "defaultAnswer": {
    "inputs": {
      "age": 5,
      "start": 18,
      "years": 4,
      "cost": 11950,
      "costgrowth": 3,
      "share": 100,
      "saved": 5000,
      "rate": 5
    },
    "outputs": {
      "monthly": 270.4312509044939,
      "goal": 68215.66066013588,
      "lump": 31176.22129644434,
      "totalCost": 73418.37766337444,
      "covered": 73418.37766337444,
      "deposits": 47187.27514110105,
      "left": 0
    },
    "text": "Save $270.43 a month to have $68,215.66 when college starts, enough for 100% of the cost."
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "given": {
        "age": 14,
        "start": 18,
        "years": 4,
        "cost": 10000,
        "costgrowth": 0,
        "share": 100,
        "saved": 12000,
        "rate": 0
      },
      "expect": {
        "goal": 40000,
        "monthly": 583.3333333333334,
        "lump": 28000,
        "deposits": 40000,
        "left": 0
      },
      "source": "hand calculation in content.mdx: (40,000 − 12,000) ÷ 48 = 583.33; IRS, 529 Plans: Questions and Answers (earnings grow free of federal tax when used for tuition, fees, books, room and board), https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/529-plans-questions-and-answers"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "age": 5,
        "start": 18,
        "years": 4,
        "cost": 11950,
        "costgrowth": 3,
        "share": 100,
        "saved": 5000,
        "rate": 5
      },
      "expect": {
        "goal": 68215.66066013588,
        "monthly": 270.4312509044939,
        "lump": 31176.22129644434,
        "totalCost": 73418.37766337444,
        "deposits": 47187.27514110105
      },
      "source": "College Board, Trends in College Pricing 2025 Highlights: 2025-26 average published tuition and fees $11,950 public four-year in-state (+$340), $31,880 out-of-state, $45,000 private nonprofit four-year, https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/college-pricing/highlights; formulas in content.mdx, checked month by month in Python",
      "tolerance": 1e-9
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "age": 0,
        "start": 18,
        "years": 4,
        "cost": 45000,
        "costgrowth": 3,
        "share": 50,
        "saved": 0,
        "rate": 6
      },
      "expect": {
        "goal": 146836.2559131446,
        "monthly": 385.4380679824234,
        "lump": 51443.17057182912,
        "totalCost": 320505.52143131633,
        "covered": 160252.76071565817
      },
      "source": "College Board, Trends in College Pricing 2025 Highlights: 2025-26 average published tuition and fees $11,950 public four-year in-state (+$340), $31,880 out-of-state, $45,000 private nonprofit four-year, https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/college-pricing/highlights; formulas in content.mdx, checked in Python"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "age": 10,
        "start": 18,
        "years": 4,
        "cost": 10000,
        "costgrowth": 0,
        "share": 100,
        "saved": 100000,
        "rate": 4
      },
      "expect": {
        "monthly": 0,
        "lump": 0,
        "goal": 37750.910332271276,
        "left": 115939.99625676918
      },
      "source": "IRS, 529 Plans: Questions and Answers (earnings grow free of federal tax when used for tuition, fees, books, room and board), https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/529-plans-questions-and-answers; formulas in content.mdx, checked month by month in Python",
      "tolerance": 1e-9
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    "College Board, Trends in College Pricing 2025 Highlights: average published tuition and fees in 2025-26 of $11,950 at public four-year in-state colleges (up $340), $31,880 out-of-state and $45,000 at private nonprofit four-year colleges. Retrieved 2026-10-02. https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/college-pricing/highlights",
    "IRS, 529 Plans: Questions and Answers: a 529 plan is a tax-advantaged education savings plan run by a state or educational institution; earnings are not taxed federally when used for qualified costs such as tuition, fees, books, room and board. Retrieved 2026-10-02. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/529-plans-questions-and-answers"
  ],
  "related": [
    "529",
    "savings",
    "compound-interest",
    "student-loan"
  ],
  "changelog": []
}