Can we afford this college?
Your child has college choices. See how different college costs, scholarships, and how much you choose to pay could affect your retirement, savings, and other financial goals.
Create your initial financial profile in as little as 3–5 minutes.
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Example: In-state vs. out-of-state college
Same retirement age. A very different college funding gap.
Compare this household’s in-state and out-of-state college assumptions.
Scenario AIn-state college
Scenario BOut-of-state · $50,000/year
- Projected retirement age
- 6363
- College funding
- 85%45%
The college funding gap grows while the retirement projection stays unchanged.
Change the college cost. See how much of your goal is projected to be covered.
Illustrative projections for a sample household. Your results will depend on your circumstances and assumptions.
Your child has college choices. What do they mean for your financial future?
- Maybe your child wants to attend a school that costs more than you planned.
- Maybe another school offers a scholarship that makes it significantly less expensive.
- Or maybe you're deciding how much of the cost you should cover.
Could you still retire when you planned? How much accessible savings would you have? Would your other financial goals remain on track?
The difference in college costs is easy to calculate. The impact on your financial future isn't.
A separate illustration: compare what parents pay.
These illustrative costs compare parental contributions, not the retirement or college funding projections in the video above.
College A
- Annual college cost
- $40,000
- Percentage parents pay
- 100%
- Annual parent contribution
- $40,000
- Four-year parent contribution
- $160,000
College B
- Annual college cost
- $75,000
- Percentage parents pay
- 75%
- Annual parent contribution
- $56,250
- Four-year parent contribution
- $225,000
College C
- Annual college cost
- $25,000
- Percentage parents pay
- 100%
- Annual parent contribution
- $25,000
- Four-year parent contribution
- $100,000
$125,000
difference between the most and least expensive options.
What could that difference mean for your retirement, accessible savings, and your other financial goals?
Illustrative costs in today's dollars, before college inflation.
One college decision. Every financial goal.
Retirement
Could paying for a more expensive college change when you can retire?
Accessible savings
How much money could you have available for unexpected expenses or life changes?
Other financial goals
Could your college decision affect other priorities, like buying a home, renovating, or taking a family vacation?
How much you pay
What changes if you cover 50%, 75%, or 100% of your child's college expenses?
A more expensive college doesn't necessarily mean sacrificing your other goals.
A $100,000 difference in college costs might change your retirement plans. Or it might barely change anything.
A scholarship could create more financial flexibility. Or you might discover that you can comfortably contribute more than you originally planned.
The point isn't to choose the cheapest option. It's to understand what each choice means for your family's financial future.
Wouldn't you want to know before deciding?
Build your financial picture once. Explore every college decision.
- 1
Build your financial picture
Enter your financial information in approximately 3–5 minutes.
- 2
Explore your options
Adjust the expected annual college cost and the percentage of expenses you plan to cover.
- 3
See the impact
See how each choice could affect retirement, accessible savings, and other financial goals.
Once your financial picture is established, you can explore different college costs and other financial decisions whenever you want.
Explore other decisions
The same financial picture works for your next question, from a new home to a change in income.
Explore all financial decisions
We built the financial decision tool we couldn’t find.
Wealth Coach combines highly customizable financial scenarios with approximately 250,000 interconnected formulas to help you understand how one decision could affect your other financial goals.
Explore your options anytime, directly from your phone.
Your child has college choices. Make yours with confidence.
See how different college costs and how much you choose to pay could affect your family's financial future.
Wealth Coach provides illustrative projections. Not financial advice.