College Savings Calculator by Birth Year

What formula projects the savings?

The tool treats each monthly contribution as paid at the start of the month and compounds it at the annual return ÷ 12. The projected savings are the contribution × ((1 + r/12)^n − 1) ÷ (r/12) × (1 + r/12), where n is the number of months until the child turns 18. With a 0% return it just multiplies the contribution by the number of months.

Which year does the tool treat as the current year?

It uses a fixed 2026 as the current year, not the date on your device. Years to save are birth year + 18 − 2026, and birth years are limited to 1990–2030. For a child born in 2008 or earlier the years left are 0, the projected savings are zero and the tool shows a warning that no saving period remains.

How is the tuition projected forward?

The tuition you enter is multiplied by 1.04 for each year until university starts, using a fixed 4% education inflation rate that you cannot change. The total cost is that projected annual figure × the course length the tool assumes for the country: 4 years for the US, India and Canada, and 3 years for the UK and Australia. No further inflation is applied during the course.

When do contributions begin?

Today, not at birth. The tool counts the months from the current year until age 18, so a child born in 2020 has 12 years of contributions in the model, not 18. A parent who has already been saving since birth would need to add that balance separately, since the tool has no starting balance field.

How are zero contributions or zero returns handled?

They are taken literally. A monthly contribution of 0 gives zero projected savings, and a return of 0% gives savings equal to total contributions. In the 2024 birth-year example, 0% growth turns $300 a month into $57,600 over 192 months. A cleared box counts as 0, because the page turns an empty number box into 0, so it does not return to the defaults of $300 and 6%.

How does the Canadian grant calculation work?

For Canada the tool adds an education grant on top of your own savings. It takes 20% of your annual contributions, caps that at CA$500 a year, grows each year’s grant at the same return, and caps the running total of grants at CA$7,200. With CA$100 a month the yearly grant is CA$240, so the cap is never reached over 18 years. The grant appears in the projected savings but is not subtracted when the tool works out the monthly amount needed.

What does the Monthly contribution needed figure mean?

It is the level monthly amount that, compounded at your expected return from now until age 18, equals the projected total cost. For the default inputs it is $1,061. It ignores any Canadian grant and assumes the total cost stays at the inflation-projected figure.

Does the currency selection convert amounts?

No. The country only changes the currency symbol, the assumed course length, a reference figure and a static explanatory note. The tuition and contribution figures are used exactly as typed, so enter them in the local currency.