College Cost Calculator

College tuition has historically risen faster than general consumer prices — roughly 5% a year over recent decades versus the 2%–3% typical of overall inflation. Using a college-specific rate avoids badly underestimating the future bill. You can lower the assumption if you expect costs to moderate.

A 529 is a tax-advantaged savings plan for education. Investments grow tax-free, and withdrawals are tax-free when used for qualified education expenses such as tuition, fees, books, and room and board. Many states also offer a tax deduction or credit for contributions. Because the growth is tax-free, a 529 is one of the most efficient ways to fund the projected cost this tool shows.

For each year of attendance the tool inflates today's annual cost forward to the year it will actually be paid, then sums those years. So if college starts in 10 years, the first year is inflated 10 years, the second 11 years, and so on. This captures the fact that later years of college cost more than earlier ones.

The tool grows your current savings to the year college starts, subtracts that from the projected total cost to find the shortfall, then solves for the level monthly deposit that — earning your expected return — would accumulate to the shortfall by the start of college. It is a planning approximation that ignores the timing of withdrawals once college begins.

Treat it as a planning estimate, not a guarantee. Real costs, financial aid, scholarships, investment returns, and inflation all vary widely and are impossible to predict precisely. Use it to set a savings target and revisit it yearly, but do not treat the numbers as exact.

Simply type your numbers and read the result, which refreshes the instant you change something. There is nothing to submit and nothing to wait for.

Yes to both. It is free with no sign-up, and once the page has loaded it keeps working even with no internet.

Nowhere — every calculation runs on your own device. Nothing you enter is uploaded, logged, or stored.