College Savings Calculator

Start with a planning month and the month college begins, then choose how many academic years to include. Current age can suggest an enrollment date, but you can replace that date directly. A price month identifies when the entered costs apply, which may differ from the planning month. Tuition and living costs grow independently from that date to each academic-year start. Savings then follow monthly events rather than a single ending-balance formula. Beginning-month contributions and scheduled gifts arrive before growth; end-month contributions arrive afterward. Annual upfront education bills are paid before that month’s growth, while monthly installments are paid at month-end. Contributions stop at enrollment unless you choose to continue them. The enrollment savings card includes money available at the first attendance-month boundary, including a same-date gift and a beginning-month contribution. Review the nominal monthly schedule when timing matters, especially for immediate enrollment, late gifts or a short accumulation period. A large final balance cannot repair a bill that was unpaid earlier.

The headline shows unpaid modeled costs across attendance and the proportion of needs the account can pay. That measure avoids comparing one enrollment balance directly with a sum of later, undiscounted bills. The nearby enrollment cost value discounts each net education payment at your selected investment rate and excludes gain tax; it is a reference at the same date as enrollment savings. Nominal mode reports dollars at their modeled dates. Today-dollar mode discounts each bill or tax at its own date using general inflation, rather than discounting the entire degree once. The annual chart follows that display basis, while reconciliation tables and CSV remain explicitly nominal. Inspect a calendar year to see deposits, aid, investment change, education paid and uncovered costs. Negative investment returns are allowed, but an empty account never becomes an invested loan. Separate unpaid needs remain visible even if later deposits leave money in the account. Review those dates before deciding how much additional funding is practical.

Choose whether the investment rate is nominal annual with monthly compounding or an effective annual rate. Both conventions are explicit because the same percentage produces different monthly growth. Neither predicts market performance, and the model does not simulate volatility, fees or an investment strategy. Taxable mode applies your entered gain-tax percentage only to positive net investment gains within each calendar year, settling in December and the final month; deposited principal is not taxed as growth. This is a simplified planning convention, not a tax-return calculation. The 529 setting assumes qualified withdrawals without establishing eligibility. Manual state benefits use the selected jurisdiction, year, contribution limit and percentage, and remain outside account funding. Confirm actual rules independently before using that estimate. Optional school lookup is initiated only by your request, labels the requested data year and requires selection before applying tuition. Manual costs remain available if lookup fails or the reported year does not fit your plan.

Separate percentage tuition scholarships from fixed awards and other funding, and enter how many years each lasts. A tuition-only award cannot cover room and board, while an award that exceeds eligible costs does not create cash. Use three editable comparisons for public, private, living-at-home or scholarship assumptions. These comparisons reuse your dates, investment assumptions and funding behavior, so inspect their assumptions rather than treating their labels as price claims. Review funding options shows a total monthly contribution or an additional planning-month deposit without changing inputs. Each available solution is checked against the full dated ledger before you apply one alternative. Immediate enrollment has no pre-enrollment monthly saving period. Ordinary edits do not publish a URL or save a browser record automatically. Remember is optional, and Delete removes this calculator’s saved records while retaining the current page. Share opens a disclosure preview and excludes freeform labels unless selected. CSV retains precise numerical ledgers; Print offers summary, annual or monthly detail for review.