College Savings Calculator

College Savings - College saving for your children's education requires a long-term plan. And, like saving for retirement, the earlier you start your college saving plan the better. Use this calculator to help develop or fine-tune your college savings plan. Click the "View Report" button for a detailed look at the results. Use this calculator together with the CD Calculator to determine your best savings strategy.

This Financial Calculator requires SUN's Java™ Plug-in. If you see this message you will need to download SUN's Java™ Plug-in. This can be done automatically by clicking the yellow bar at the top of your browser and choosing “Install ActiveX Control”.
    You can also get SUN's Java™ Plug-in here: Get the Java™ Plug-in!

    For more information about this Plug-in please visit: SUN's Java™ Plug-in
    For more information these financial calculators please visit: Financial Calculators from KJE Computer Solutions, LLC

College Savings - Definitions

Age of children The current age of your children. This college savings calculator is based on your children beginning their college education at age 18. The difference between their current age and 18 is the number of years you have to save for college.
Annual tuition The current estimated cost of one year of college tuition and books. This amount should be per child and be specific to the college or school they may be interested in attending. The average published costs of college, for the 2007-08 school year, including tuition, room and board, books, supplies, transportation and other personal expenses, as reported by the College Board:


U.S. Undergraduate College Costs for 2007-08 School Year Source: College Board's 2007 Trends in College Pricing, www.collegeboard.com

Type of college

Tuition and fees

Room & Board

Total college cost

Change from 2003-04

Public 4-Year (in-state college tuition)

$6,185

$7,404

$13,589

5.9%

Public 4-Year (out-of-state college tuition)

$16,640

$7,404

$24,044

5.4%

Private 4-Year

$23,712

$8,595

$32,307

5.9%

For the purposes of this calculator all expenses are assumed to be due at the end of the year.



College Room and board - The current estimated cost of one-year room and board at a college. Like tuition and books, this amount should be per child and specific to the college or school they may be interested in attending. For the purposes of this calculator, all expenses are assumed to be due at the end of the year.
Education cost inflation = This is the percentage that you expect educational costs to increase per year. Data provided by The College Board's "Trends in College Pricing 2007" put tuition, room and board increases at approximately 6.4% per year, for the last ten years.
Current amount - The total amount you currently have saved for your child's (or children's) college education -- college savings.
Monthly college savings contributions - The dollar amount you plan to save per month toward your child's (or children's) college education -- monthly college savings. All amounts are assumed to be added to your account at the beginning of the month.
Rate of return - This is the annually compounded rate of return you expect from your investments and college savings. This will also be the rate used if you end up with a negative balance, and need to borrow money to meet your goal. The actual rate of return is largely dependent on the type of investments you select. From January 1970 to December 2007, the average compounded rate of return for the S&P 500, including reinvestment of dividends, was approximately 11.4% per year (source: www.standardandpoors.com). During this period, the highest 12-month return was 61%, and the lowest was -39%. Savings accounts at a bank may pay as little as 1% or less.

It is important to remember that future rates of return can't be predicted with certainty and that investments that pay higher rates of return are generally subject to higher risk and volatility. The actual rate of return on investments can vary widely over time, especially for long-term investments. This includes the potential loss of principal on your investment. It is not possible to invest directly in an index and the compounded rate of return noted above does not reflect sales charges and other fees that funds and/or investment companies may charge.

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