← Profile

🎓 College Savings Calculator

Project your college savings account balance year by year and see how it stacks up against your college cost target - free and unlimited, no sign-in required.

Planning tool only - not financial advice. This projection assumes a flat monthly contribution and a flat average annual return compounded every month for the entire time horizon. Real markets don't return the same amount every year, contributions often change over time, and this ignores tuition inflation, financial aid, scholarships, and 529-specific tax treatment. Use it to get a feel for how compound growth adds up toward your goal, not as a guarantee of what you'll actually have.

Your numbers

Current college savings ($)

Monthly contribution ($)

Years until enrollment

Expected annual return (%) A diversified 529 portfolio has historically averaged roughly 5-7%/year before inflation - this is just a planning input, not a promise.

Estimated total college cost ($) Your best estimate of total cost at enrollment (tuition, room & board, etc.).

Projected balance

Balance at enrollment$0

Your contributions$0

Investment growth$0

Years until enrollment0

Year-by-year projection

Year	Starting balance	Contributions	Growth	Ending balance

The compounding this runs

Month by month, twelve months a year: the balance grows first, then the contribution lands at month end. Nothing is rounded until a year's row is printed.

r = annual return / 100 / 12          n = years × 12

each month:  balance = balance × (1 + r) + contribution

equivalently: FV = savings × (1+r)^n + contribution × ((1+r)^n - 1) / r

With the placeholders — $5,000 saved, $250 a month, 15 years, 6%, an $80,000 target — r is 0.005 and n is 180, so (1.005)^180 = 2.454094. The balance is 5,000 × 2.454094 + 250 × 290.8187 = $84,975.15. You put in $45,000, growth is $34,975.15, and the surplus against the target is $4,975.15.

Reading the target line

Your cost target should be the total bill in the dollars you expect to pay at enrollment, not today's sticker price — nothing here inflates it for you. Under target, the panel gives the flat monthly amount that would land exactly on it; at zero years left it says so instead, because no monthly figure can close a gap with no months in it.

Return accepts -50 to 100. Negative is allowed on purpose, for stress-testing.
The rate is divided by twelve rather than converted, so 6% entered compounds to about 6.17% a year.

One flat return every month for fifteen years is the fiction that makes this readable. Real markets do not, and the order of the good and bad years matters most right before enrollment, when the balance is largest. Financial aid, scholarships and 529 tax treatment are all outside it too.

Frequently asked questions

How much should I save monthly for a $80,000 college bill?

Enter the target and the projection tells you. From $5,000 at 6% over 15 years it takes $232.89 a month; the $250 in the example overshoots by roughly $5,000.

What return should I assume for a 529?

A diversified 529 portfolio has historically averaged around 5-7% a year before inflation. Enter the low end if you want a projection you are unlikely to fall short of.

Does this account for tuition inflation?

No. The cost target is treated as a fixed dollar figure, so if you type today's tuition the projection will flatter you. Inflate it yourself before entering it.