529 College Savings Calculator

Most 529 calculators show you a single number — the projected balance — and stop. That number means nothing on its own. This calculator puts it against the other side of the equation: what college is actually projected to cost by the year your child enrolls, given that college costs have historically inflated faster than general prices. The gap between those two numbers, not the balance alone, is what you need to plan around.

Worked example, matching this calculator's defaults — a newborn, $5,000 starting balance, $300/month contribution, 6% expected return, $25,000/year college cost in today's dollars, 5% college-cost inflation, 4 years enrolled:

• Projected 529 balance at 18: $130,889.79 ($69,800 contributed, $61,089.79 of tax-free growth)
• Projected total cost for 4 years, each inflated to its own year: $259,320.74 (first year alone: $60,165.48)
• Percent of cost covered: 50.5%
• Projected shortfall: $128,430.95
• Monthly contribution needed to fully close the gap: $631.56 — more than double the default contribution

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The savings side compounds monthly:

The cost side compounds each enrollment year separately from today's cost, because a freshman-year bill and a senior-year bill are years apart and each inflates on its own:

The College Board's Trends in College Pricing reports 2025–26 averages of roughly $11,950 for in-state public tuition and fees, $31,880 out-of-state public, and $45,000 private nonprofit — use whichever is closest to your realistic scenario as the "today's cost" input, since the gap between public and private inflates the same way.

Why Age-Based Portfolios Shift the Return Assumption

Most 529 plans default new accounts into an age-based track that starts aggressive and shifts toward bonds as college nears — the 6% default here is a common blended assumption across that glide path, not a single fixed rate you should expect every year.

The calculator also computes the monthly contribution that would fully fund the projected cost — solving the compounding formula in reverse. If that number is a lot higher than what you're currently contributing, three levers move it: contributing more now (the biggest single-year impact is early, since it has the longest runway to compound), accepting a lower coverage target and planning to fill the rest with income, scholarships, or student contributions later, or choosing a less expensive school path.

Over 30 states offer a state income tax deduction or credit for 529 contributions — this calculator has an optional field for that rate, since it's a real, immediate saving on top of the account's federal tax-free growth. Check your own state's specific rules; some restrict the deduction to contributions to that state's own plan.

Growth in a 529 is federal-tax-free when spent on qualified education expenses (tuition, fees, required books and supplies, and eligible room and board). Non-qualified withdrawals owe ordinary income tax plus a 10% penalty on the earnings portion — though that penalty is waived in specific circumstances, such as the beneficiary receiving a scholarship.

Grandparents and other relatives funding an account in a lump sum should check the annual gift tax exclusion first — a single large contribution can exceed the yearly per-recipient limit. Our gift tax calculator covers the special 5-year "superfunding" election that lets a lump-sum 529 contribution count as five years of exclusions at once.