How Much Should I Save for College Per Month?

When our oldest was born, a relative handed us a card with $50 in it and said "start a college fund." We laughed it off. Eighteen years felt like forever. Then suddenly she was in middle school, college brochures started appearing in the mail, and I remember sitting at the kitchen table genuinely panicking about how unprepared we were.

If you're in that boat — or smarter than us and starting early — the question is always the same: how much should I actually be saving each month?

The honest answer is: it depends on a few things. But there's a real number for your situation, and it's worth finding it.

How Much Does College Actually Cost?

Before you can figure out how much to save, you need a rough target. The average cost of a four-year public university (in-state) is currently around $110,000 total — that's tuition, room, board, and fees. For a private university you're looking at $240,000 or more.

Before you faint — that's the sticker price. Most families don't pay that. Financial aid, scholarships, grants, and work-study programs reduce the actual cost significantly. The question is how much you want to cover from savings so your child doesn't graduate carrying a mountain of debt.

Many financial planners use a rough rule: aim to cover about one-third of estimated costs from savings, one-third from income during college years, and let the remaining third be covered by financial aid or loans. That's a starting point, not a gospel.

For most families saving toward a public university, a reasonable savings target is somewhere between $80,000 and $150,000 per child over 18 years.

The Math Behind the Monthly Number

Let's work backward from a target. Say you want to save $100,000 for one child who has 15 years until college. At a 6% average annual return (a reasonable long-term assumption for a 529 plan invested in index funds), you'd need to save roughly $340 per month starting today.

Start that same savings plan with only 10 years to go? You'd need about $615 per month to hit the same target.

Wait until 5 years out? You're looking at over $1,400 per month.

Time is the biggest variable. Every year you delay roughly doubles the monthly contribution you need to hit the same goal. This is why "start early" isn't just platitude — it's math.

What If You Have Multiple Kids?

This is where most college savings calculators fall completely short. They're built for one child. You plug in a target, a timeline, a return rate, and out pops a monthly number.

But what if you have two kids starting college two years apart? Or three kids, each with different timelines? How do you split a shared 529 fairly? What happens during the years when two of them are in school simultaneously — because that's when your accounts take a serious hit from two directions at once.

The monthly savings number for a family with multiple children isn't just "number for kid one plus number for kid two." The accounts interact. The overlap years matter. Whether you use a shared 529 or individual accounts changes the math significantly.

That's exactly what the Fair College Funding Calculator was built to solve. It runs the simulation for all your children simultaneously, accounts for overlap years, and tells you how much each child can receive annually from your savings — split fairly.

Account Type Matters Too

Where you save affects how much you effectively need to save each month. A 529 plan grows tax-free and withdrawals for qualified education expenses are also tax-free. That tax advantage is worth real money over 15-18 years — the equivalent of getting a better return on your investment without any additional risk.

A taxable brokerage account, by contrast, grows with capital gains taxes owed when you sell. It's more flexible (you can use it for anything) but less efficient for education savings.

A high-yield savings account is safe but the return rate is low enough that inflation quietly erodes its purchasing power over a decade and a half.

Most families are best served by leading with a 529, potentially supplementing with a brokerage account for flexibility, and keeping savings accounts for shorter-term needs or emergency buffers.

What If You're Starting Late?

First, don't panic. Starting at age 10 or even 13 is still far better than not starting at all. The math just changes.

If you're behind, a few things help:

• Increase your monthly contribution above what the calculator suggests as a baseline and treat it as a non-negotiable bill
• Look at whether grandparents or other family members might contribute to a 529 — this is often an underused option
• Revisit your target. Maybe full coverage isn't realistic, but covering 50% is. That's still $50,000 your child won't need to borrow.
• Remember that your income during college years is part of the equation too. Many families pay some costs directly from cash flow once kids are in school.

A starting-late plan that's realistic is infinitely better than an aspirational plan you can't stick to.

So What's My Number?

The only way to get your actual number — accounting for your specific children, timelines, account balances, and return assumptions — is to run the math for your situation.

The Fair College Funding Calculator does exactly that, in about two minutes, for free. Enter your children's college start years, add your accounts, and see your personalized monthly savings picture — including what happens during overlap years if you have more than one child.

Start there, then adjust. The goal isn't a perfect plan on day one. It's a plan you can actually follow.