Calculators › Investment & Retirement
Free calculatorLive resultsSteps and sourcesEmbed on your site, free

College Savings Calculator

Projects a 529 or other college fund from its balance and monthly contributions, inflates a College Board cost figure to a multi-year target at enrollment, and finds the monthly contribution that reaches it.

Projected balance at enrollment
111,786.55
529 College Savings Calculator
Of which: current balance grown
24,540.94
Of which: contributions plus their growth
87,245.61
Total contributed over the period
54,000.00
First-year cost at enrollment
64,425.98
Total cost of all college years
277,684.05
Savings target used
277,684.05
Shortfall at enrollment (0 if funded)
165,897.50
Share of the target funded
40.3 %
Monthly contribution needed to reach the target
870.45
Effective annual return implied by r/12
6.1678 %
Worked out from OpenStax, Principles of Finance 2e, 8.2 Annuities and 8.5 Equal Payments with a Financial Calculator and Excel and 4 other sources.
Monthly rate convention: r/12 (6% becomes 0.5% a month). Calculators using (1 + r)^(1/12) - 1 instead will show a smaller balance.
The target is the whole multi-year cost at the moment of enrollment; in practice the money is drawn over the college years and keeps growing, so this is conservative.

Your figures

Updates as you type
Formatting only. This does not change the calculation.
A level amount every month. Increasing contributions are not modelled.
Design choice: the monthly rate is r/12, the financial-calculator and Excel convention, so 6% compounds to 6.17% a year. Not a guaranteed return.
Rounded to whole months for the savings arithmetic; used as typed for the cost inflation.
Total budget: tuition and fees, housing and food, books, transportation and other expenses. Pick custom to enter your own annual figure.
Only used when the college type is set to custom.
Design choice, not a College Board figure: sticker prices rose 2.9% in 2025-26 and about 2.4% a year above CPI over 30 years for public in-state colleges, so roughly CPI + 2.4% is used.
Only used when the target is a fixed amount.

How this is worked out

8 steps
  1. Monthly rate i = 6% / 12 = 0.5%; n = 15 × 12 = 180 months; (1 + i)^n = 2.4540935622.
  2. Current balance grows to 10000 × 2.4540935622 = 24540.94.
  3. Contributions grow to 300 × [(1 + i)^n - 1]/i = 87245.61 (ordinary annuity, end of month).
  4. Projected balance = 24540.94 + 87245.61 = 111786.55.
  5. First-year cost at enrollment = 30990 × (1 + 5%)^15 = 64425.98.
  6. 4-year total, each year 5% dearer = 64425.98 × [(1 + g)^4 - 1]/g = 277684.05.
  7. Target used: 277684.05 (college cost); shortfall = max(0, target - projected) = 165897.5.
  8. Contribution needed = (target - balance × (1 + i)^n) × i / [(1 + i)^n - 1] = 870.45 a month.
Federal 529 rules for 2026 (information only)table
Gift tax: contributions up to $19,000 per donor per beneficiary in 2026 fall within the annual exclusion (Rev. Proc. 2025-32); a 5-year election lets a donor front-load 5 × $19,000 = $95,000 (IRC 529(c)(2)(B))., K-12: up to $20,000 a year per beneficiary of qualified elementary and secondary expenses for taxable years beginning after 31 Dec 2025 ($10,000 before), per IRC 529(e)(3)(A) as amended and IRS Topic 313., Roth IRA rollover: up to a $35,000 lifetime total per beneficiary from a 529 open at least 15 years, each year limited to the Roth contribution limit (IRC 529(c)(3)(E))., Earnings grow federally tax-free and qualified withdrawals are not federally taxed (IRS Topic 313). State tax deductions or credits vary by state and are not modelled.

Its 5 worked examples are re-run on every release, last on 15 September 2026. What changed

Sources and references

5 sources
OpenStax, Principles of Finance 2e, 8.2 Annuities and 8.5 Equal Payments with a Financial Calculator and Excel
2e · FV of an ordinary annuity PMT[(1+r)^N - 1]/r, END as the default timing, and the P/Y = 12 monthly convention.
College Board, Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2025 (Ma, Pender, Hu), Figure CP-1 average full-time undergraduate budgets 2025-26
2025
26 U.S.C. 529 - Qualified tuition programs (5-year election, K-12 $20,000 limit, Roth rollover $35,000)
IRS Tax Topic 313, Qualified tuition programs (QTPs)
reviewed 6 Feb 2026
IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, 2026 inflation adjustments ($19,000 annual gift exclusion)
2026

Keep this result

Save it, change one figure, then compare the two

The calculation stays free. Save this scenario, adjust one assumption, save that too, and put them side by side to see exactly what the change costs you. A free account keeps 5 scenarios and 2 comparisons; Personal makes both unlimited and adds exports and private links. Nothing is saved unless you press Save.

1 · Calculate2 · Save3 · Compare4 · Export5 · Share
Open workspace

What this calculator does

Projects a 529 or other college fund from its balance and monthly contributions, inflates a College Board cost figure to a multi-year target at enrollment, and finds the monthly contribution that reaches it.

How to use College Savings Calculator

Enter Current 529 balance, Monthly contribution, Annual return (nominal, compounded monthly), Years until enrollment, Contributions are made, College type (College Board 2025-26 average budget), Custom annual cost in today's dollars, Years of college to fund, College cost inflation, Savings target and Fixed savings target. The calculator checks the values, applies the stated method, and updates the result without saving your figures.

What the result means

The result includes Projected balance at enrollment, Of which: current balance grown, Of which: contributions plus their growth, Total contributed over the period, First-year cost at enrollment, Total cost of all college years, Savings target used, Shortfall at enrollment (0 if funded), Share of the target funded, Monthly contribution needed to reach the target, Effective annual return implied by r/12 and Federal 529 rules for 2026 (information only). Review the visible working and any warnings before using the answer for a decision.

Method and checks

The method cites OpenStax, Principles of Finance 2e, 8.2 Annuities and 8.5 Equal Payments with a Financial Calculator and Excel; College Board, Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2025 (Ma, Pender, Hu), Figure CP-1 average full-time undergraduate budgets 2025-26; 26 U.S.C. 529 - Qualified tuition programs (5-year election, K-12 $20,000 limit, Roth rollover $35,000), among others. Its 5 built-in worked examples are checked on every full test run. The initial answer and working are rendered on the server, so they remain readable without JavaScript.

Results are general information, not financial, tax, legal, medical or engineering advice. Check any decision that matters with a qualified professional.

Embed this calculator on your website

Copy this code into any page. The calculator appears with the figures currently entered, sizes itself to fit, and a small credit line links back here. Free, no account, no ads inside it, no tracking of your readers. Set your own figures and fixed fields; Personal removes the credit line, sets your colour and shows you which sites use it.

Preview

See something wrong? Report a problem with this calculator

Related calculators

Savings Bond Bonds CalculatorInvestment & RetirementInterest Savings CalculatorInvestment & RetirementHow Long Will Savings Last CalculatorInvestment & RetirementSavings Account Monthly Interest CalculatorInvestment & Retirement
View all related calculators4 more
SIP Investment CalculatorInvestment & RetirementAccumulated Interest CalculatorInvestment & RetirementComplex Interest CalculatorInvestment & RetirementInflation CalculatorInvestment & Retirement