College Cost Calculator
$
$
10 yrs
5.00%
$
$
Total Cost$315,933.28
Savings at College Start$50,969.84
Shortfall$264,963.44
The price of a degree keeps climbing, so the bill your child faces years from now is far higher than today’s sticker. This planner inflates each year of tuition plus room and board to its future cost, totals the years your student will be enrolled, and grows your current savings and monthly contributions at an assumed 6% return. Comparing the two reveals whether you are on track or facing a funding shortfall.
Formula
Total = Σ (T + R)(1 + g)^(y₀+k); Fund = FV of savings at 6%; Shortfall = Total − Fund
- T + R
- Current annual tuition plus room and board
- g
- Annual cost-inflation rate as a decimal
- y₀ + k
- Years from now for college year k (k = 0 … years in college − 1)
- Fund
- Current savings plus monthly contributions grown at 6% to the start of college
How it works
- Enter today’s annual tuition and room-and-board figures, the years until college starts, the number of years in college, and the annual cost-inflation rate.
- Each college year is inflated forward by the inflation rate to the point it will actually be paid, and those inflated yearly costs are summed into a total projected cost.
- Your current savings and monthly contributions are grown to the start of college at a fixed 6% annual return (compounded monthly); subtracting that projected fund from the total cost gives the shortfall.
Worked example
Tuition $15,000 and room/board $12,000 today, 10 years until college, 4 years enrolled, 5% cost inflation, $20,000 saved plus $300/month.
- Annual cost today: 15,000 + 12,000 = $27,000, inflated 5% for years 10 through 13.
- Summing those four inflated years gives a total projected cost ≈ $189,559.97.
- Savings of $20,000 plus $300/month grown at 6% for 10 years ≈ $85,551.74.
- Shortfall: 189,559.97 − 85,551.74 = $104,008.23.
Projected four-year cost ≈ $189,559.97 against a $85,551.74 fund, leaving a shortfall of about $104,008.23.
Frequently asked questions
- What investment return does the calculator assume on savings?
- It grows your current savings and monthly contributions at a fixed 6% annual return, compounded monthly, up to the year college begins. The return is not adjustable, so treat the projected fund as one reasonable scenario.
- Why is the projected cost so much higher than today’s tuition?
- Each college year is inflated forward to the year it will actually be paid, and college costs have historically risen faster than general inflation. Compounding that growth across both the wait and the enrolled years multiplies the total well above today’s sticker price.
- Does this include financial aid, scholarships, or loans?
- No. The total reflects gross tuition and room-and-board only. Grants, scholarships, and student loans would reduce or defer what you pay out of savings and are not factored into the shortfall.
- How can I close a projected shortfall?
- You can raise your monthly contribution, start saving earlier so returns compound longer, or plan to cover part of the cost with aid, scholarships, or loans. Re-running the numbers with a higher contribution shows how quickly the gap narrows.