529 College Savings Calculator
Project how much your 529 college savings plan will grow given monthly contributions, investment return and years until enrollment.
Written by Rahman · Last reviewed
Quick answer
Putting $300 a month into a 529 for 18 years at 7% projects to roughly $129,970, of which $64,800 is your own contributions. Set against tuition of $35,000 a year today rising at 5%, the first year alone costs about $84,232 by then and the four-year bill lands near $363,000, so that plan covers about a third of it. Growth is tax-free and qualified withdrawals are untaxed; the risk on the other side is over-funding, because non-qualified withdrawals face income tax plus a 10% penalty on the earnings portion.
The four-year cost inflates each year of study separately — first year $84,232, rising to $97,509 by the fourth. Tuition is only part of the bill; room, board and fees are not included here.
Results are estimates for general guidance and are not financial, tax or legal advice. Except where a calculator names a currency, figures carry no currency of their own: put in pounds and you get pounds back, put in rupees and you get rupees. Figures depend on the assumptions you enter and on rates that change over time. Check current rates and speak to a qualified adviser before acting on them.
About the 529 College Savings Calculator
A 529 plan is a US tax-advantaged savings account designed specifically for education expenses. Contributions grow tax-free and withdrawals for qualified education costs (tuition, fees, room and board, books, and K-12 education costs up to $20,000/year from 2026) are also tax-free. Many states also offer an income tax deduction for contributions.
College costs have risen roughly 4–6% per year above general inflation, meaning a four-year degree costing $35,000/year today may cost $55,000–$80,000/year in 18 years. Starting early dramatically reduces the monthly contribution needed to close that gap.
FV = current_balance × (1 + r)^n + monthly × [((1 + r/12)^(12n) − 1) / (r/12)] × (1 + r/12)
r = annual return, n = years. Four-year cost is estimated from current annual tuition grown at your inflation rate.
Qualified withdrawals, and what happens otherwise
Growth inside a 529 is untaxed provided withdrawals go to qualified education expenses. The definition is broader than tuition: fees, books, required equipment, and room and board for students enrolled at least half-time all qualify, but it is a definition, and spending outside it has consequences.
A non-qualified withdrawal is taxed as income on the earnings portion, plus a 10% penalty on those earnings. Contributions come back untaxed, since they were made with after-tax money. The penalty is waived in specific cases including a scholarship, disability or the death of the beneficiary.
- Beneficiaries can be changed to another qualifying family member without tax consequence, which is the usual answer to over-funding.
- SECURE 2.0 permits limited rollovers of long-held 529 balances into a Roth IRA for the beneficiary, subject to lifetime and annual caps and a minimum account age.
- Timing matters: withdrawals should fall in the same calendar year as the expenses they pay for.
State treatment and the effect on financial aid
529 plans are administered by states, and the tax treatment varies with them. Many states offer a deduction or credit for contributions, some only for contributions to their own plan, and a handful offer nothing. The federal treatment is identical everywhere; the state layer is where plans genuinely differ.
On financial aid, a 529 owned by a parent is assessed as a parental asset, which is treated far more lightly than a student's own asset in aid formulas. Ownership therefore affects the aid calculation more than the balance does.
- You are not restricted to your own state's plan. Where the home state offers no deduction, plan fees and investment choice matter more than geography.
- Grandparent-owned accounts have historically been treated differently in aid calculations, and the rules here have changed in recent years, so check current FAFSA treatment before assuming.
- Age-based portfolios shift automatically toward bonds as the student approaches enrolment. Confirm the glide path matches when the money is actually needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to unused 529 funds?
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From 2024, up to $35,000 in leftover 529 funds can be rolled into a Roth IRA for the beneficiary (subject to annual Roth contribution limits and a 15-year holding rule). You can also change the beneficiary to another family member without penalty.
Does a 529 affect financial aid?
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A parent-owned 529 is counted as a parental asset and reduces federal aid eligibility by at most 5.64% of its value, a relatively small impact. Student-owned assets have a higher impact (up to 20%).
Can I use a 529 for private K-12?
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Yes. From 2026, up to $20,000 per year per beneficiary can be withdrawn tax-free for elementary and secondary school costs, up from $10,000. Since July 2025 the K-12 rule also covers more than tuition: curriculum and books, online materials, outside tutoring by a qualified tutor, standardized and admissions test fees, dual-enrollment fees, and educational therapies for students with disabilities. Some states do not conform to the federal rule for state tax purposes, so check your state's treatment.
What is a good investment return assumption?
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Age-based 529 portfolios are common: aggressive (stocks) early on, shifting toward bonds as college approaches. 6–8% real for the early years, tapering to 3–5% nearer to enrollment, with 6–7% as a reasonable long-run blended assumption.
Sources
- IRS Publication 970, chapter 7 — Qualified Tuition Program (QTP) — The IRS chapter on 529s, which opens by confirming the naming ("QTPs are also called 529 plans") and backs the tax treatment described above. Earnings are tax-free where distributions go to qualified expenses; a taxable distribution carries "a 10% additional tax on the amount included in income", with the exceptions listed there; room and board qualifies for a QTP even though it does not for some other education benefits; the designated beneficiary "can be changed without transferring accounts"; and for distributions after 2023 limited amounts can be rolled from long-held QTPs into a Roth IRA. It also confirms K-12 as a qualified use, defining an eligible school as one providing "kindergarten through grade 12", but this edition does not state the $10,000 annual cap mentioned above, so that figure is not evidenced by this source.
- 26 U.S. Code § 529 — Qualified tuition programs (Cornell LII) — The statute as amended by Pub. L. 119-21 (July 4, 2025). Backs the K-12 answer above: §529(c)(7) lists the elementary and secondary expenses that now qualify beyond tuition, and §529(e)(3)(A) caps them at $20,000 per beneficiary per taxable year. The effective-date notes show the wider list applies to distributions after July 4, 2025 and the $20,000 cap to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.