Preparing for college is a major financial responsibility. Parents and prospective students may have difficulty figuring exactly how much money they should be investing to prepare for higher education. This free Microsoft Excel Cost of College Calculator will help to take the guess work out of saving for college.
About the Cost of College Calculator
The Cost of College Calculator template is available for free download on this web page. The template is customizable allowing the user to adjust the data as circumstance change and will automatically adjust the annual saving rate. The template is user-friendly and allows for up to four separate calculations.
How to Use the Cost of College Calculator Template
- First, enter the name, year of birth, the age that the student will be attending college and how many years they will attending college for each student you are saving for in separate columns.
- Next, enter the projected inflation rate between the time you will start saving for college and the projected graduation. You may conduct an internet search of average inflation rates or use a standard of 2%. The Cost of College Calculator will automatically enter in the compounding rate for the annual saving amount.
- The next field is the Estimated Annual Cost of College. You may find an average cost for college through a web search or at specific university websites. The next two fields will automatically calculate for inflation and other expenses.
- Enter the Estimated After-Taxes Rate of Return on your savings and investment for your college fund. This will vary depending on the way you are saving for the student’s college fund.
- Finally, enter the current amount that you plan on putting towards the college fund.
- Once this information is entered you will have the total amount you should save each year for the prospective student’s college fund. You can go back through the fields and adjust the information at any time to keep the projections up to date.
Preparing for college is a lifelong responsibility. This Microsoft Excel template can help simplify the process by providing a quick, easy to use and customizable resource to simplify process.
Download: Cost of College Calculator
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