Enter information about college expenses (Lifetime Planner)

Enter information about your expected college expenses, including tuition, fees, room and board, and other related costs. Click Next to proceed through each step of the process.

College expenses

Specify the expenses you plan to pay for. Typical college expenses include:

• Tuition and fees (including lab fees, technology fees, etc.)

• Room and board (on-campus or off-campus housing, meal plans)

• Books and supplies (textbooks, notebooks, software)

• Transportation (car expenses, public transit, flights)

• Personal expenses (clothing, laundry, personal care items)

• Health insurance (if required by the college)

• Extracurricular activities (clubs, sports, cultural events)

• Special fees (study abroad programs, special courses)

Additional cost factors

These estimates assume the student is enrolled for approximately 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours. If a child will attend more than one college (such as a community college or post-graduate school) with separate funding, enter a separate expense for each college. This may apply if the child plans to become a doctor, attorney, or pursue another profession requiring multiple years of schooling at different colleges.

Total costs

Estimate how these college costs will be paid, including financial aid, loans, student contributions, and cash gifts received to fund this expense.

If you only know how much you can contribute for one year, average the amount over the total time the child will be in college.

For example: If you have $10,000 in savings to contribute and your child will attend college for four years, enter $2,500 as an annual amount, even if the child will use the $10,000 in the first year.

For help estimating financial aid, see Finance your child's college education.

College cost inflation rate

Enter the rate at which you expect college costs to grow. The Lifetime Planner uses the general inflation rate plus 2% as the default college inflation rate because college inflation rates are traditionally higher than general inflation rates. This rate is independent of the rate you set in the Estimated Inflation dialog.

Choose accounts

Click to specify the account or accounts you want to use to pay for college expenses not covered by financial aid.

• If you want to fund college expenses from any available funds, select General expenses. You can also enter amounts you have already saved for college expenses.

• If you choose a specific account, you can view the status of your college plan in the Event Status snapshot under the Planning tab. If you choose General expenses, the Event Status snapshot won't display your college plan status.

• The Monthly Savings Target snapshot under the Planning tab shows the amount you need to save per month to fund college expenses.

Important considerations

• The Retirement and College Planners use January 1 as the start date for the college year. This conservative estimate assumes spending for the year begins on this date. Even if the student starts college later, all calculations are based on a January 1 start date.

• If you exclude dependents in the Retirement Planner, they won't be visible in the College Planner. Be sure to use the College Planner before removing any dependents from the Retirement Planner.

Currency tips

The Lifetime Planner supports only U.S. currency. If you use non-U.S. currency accounts, their balances will be converted to U.S. dollars for planning. All currency amounts you enter in the Lifetime Planner should be in U.S. dollars. If you have a multicurrency file and are not using U.S. dollars as your home currency, ensure U.S. dollars are included in your currency list with a current exchange rate.