Future Annual Cost
$40,722.37
College Savings Calculator
Project future college costs and the savings needed to fund them.
Projected Shortfall
$60,949.79
Total Cost (all years)
$162,889.46
Projected Savings
$101,939.67
Years to Save
10
How to use the College Savings Calculator
The College Savings Calculator is free and runs entirely in your browser — no sign-up, and nothing you enter leaves your device. It opens pre-filled with a realistic example, so you can see how it works before replacing any figure with your own; the results update as you type. Press Calculate to refresh the result panel, or Reset to return to the example.
The inputs it asks for:
- Current Annual Cost — a dollar amount.
- Years Until Enrollment — a number.
- College Cost Inflation — a percentage (enter 6 for 6%).
- Years in School — a number.
- Current Savings — a dollar amount.
- Monthly Contribution — a dollar amount.
- Expected Return — a percentage (enter 6 for 6%).
Worked example
Using the example values — Current Annual Cost $25,000.00, Years Until Enrollment 10, College Cost Inflation 5%, Years in School 4, Current Savings $20,000.00, Monthly Contribution $400.00, and 1 more — the College Savings Calculator returns a Projected Shortfall of $60,949.79. It also reports Future Annual Cost ($40,722.37), Total Cost (all years) ($162,889.46), Projected Savings ($101,939.67).
Prefer your own numbers? Change any field above and this recomputes instantly.