Are you on track?
College savings calculator
Check to see if you're on track to meet your college savings goals.
Child's age
How old is your child?
It's never too early to think about college savings.
Annual cost of college
Today, what is the approximate one year cost of the school your child may attend? (an estimate is OK)
For 2023-2024 academic year, average total annual charges at a four-year private college were $56,190 and average total annual charges at four-year public universities were $24,030.*
Amount intended to cover
What percent of the cost do you expect to cover from savings?
Between financial aid scholarships, families on average pay approximately 50% of the cost of college out of pocket.*
View this chart to see how the typical family pays for college.
Current savings
How much do you have saved so far?
Include any savings in a 529 plan, savings accounts and other investments intended for college tuition.
Monthly savings
How much are you currently saving for college each month?
Get closer to your goalCongratulations!
You are currently saving $100/month. See how adding a little extra to your savings each month can get you closer to meeting your goal.
and exceeding your savings goal by 31%. Adjust your monthly savings below or change the parameters above to see the impact on your plan.
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Methodology
The analysis models a hypothetical investor's savings behavior in different market scenarios. The calculator combines the user's inputs with assumptions about the length of college payments as well as the growth of college costs. Contributions are assumed to increase each year at the rate of inflation. No tax calculations are included in this analysis.
The user-indicated current savings and contributions, along with future savings amounts input by the user are then projected based on Fidelity's assumed rates of return and volatility based on historical annual data from 1926 through the most recent year-end data available from Morningstar. Stocks (domestic and foreign), bonds, and short-term are represented by S&P 500®, U.S. Intermediate Term Government Bonds, and 30-day U.S. Treasury bill, respectively.
The calculator assumes indicated savings start immediately and continue until the hypothetical student is finished with school; savings and withdrawals are modeled to occur at the end of the year. The spending need uses today's cost per year estimate and grows it annually by 2.5%+ inflation until the expense is incurred over 4 years. General inflation is assumed to be 2.5% annually. The resulting savings level varies by market conditions but the calculator illustrates the potential to meet the spending goal at the 75% confidence level. This means the amount saved meets or exceeds the illustrated savings amount in 75% of the hypothetical market scenarios (with differing market conditions). Conversely, the amount saved may fail to reach the level illustrated in 25% of the market scenarios. The assumed asset allocation for the analysis uses three asset classes and a generic target date asset allocation appropriate for college savers.
Lastly, the underlying effective rates of return are assumed to be between 2.5% and 5.32%. As time horizons get closer to the start of college, the return assumptions are reduced to illustrate a generic target date rolldown strategy appropriate for a college savings investor.
College Savings Effective Rate of Return Table:
| Horizon |
Nominal Return |
| 22 |
5.32% |
| 21 |
5.33% |
| 20 |
5.19% |
| 19 |
5.23% |
| 18 |
5.17% |
| 17 |
5.08% |
| 16 |
4.97% |
| 15 |
4.94% |
| 14 |
4.81% |
| 13 |
4.75% |
| 12 |
4.73% |
| 11 |
4.56% |
| 10 |
4.48% |
| 9 |
4.34% |
| 8 |
4.33% |
| 7 |
4.16% |
| 6 |
4.00% |
| 5 |
3.99% |
| 4 |
3.85% |
| 3 |
3.63% |
| 2 |
3.31% |
| 1 |
2.52% |