A public in-state degree runs about $25,350 a year at today's published prices, and it'll cost more by the time your kid enrolls. The good news buried in the math: starting early does most of the work. Fully funding a 529 for in-state public costs $563 a month from birth, but $1,576 if you wait until age 12. Here's the framework, the numbers by age, and the rules that keep parents sane.
| Sector | Tuition & fees | Approx. all-in year |
|---|---|---|
| Public 4-year, in-state | $11,950 | ≈$25,350 |
| Public 4-year, out-of-state | ≈$32,700 | ≈$46,100 |
| Private nonprofit | ≈$45,000 | ≈$59,900 |
| Public 2-year, in-district | ≈$4,150 | — |
College Board's 2025-26 data puts in-state tuition and fees at $11,950, up 2.7% from the year before, with room and board adding roughly $13,400. Sticker prices run well ahead of what most families pay after grants: published prices are the worst case, and the average net price at publics is thousands lower.
Age, school type, current balance, and contribution in; projected cost, coverage, and the monthly number that closes the gap out.
529 College Savings Calculator →| Child's age when you start | In-state, full funding | One-third rule target |
|---|---|---|
| Newborn | $563/mo | ≈$190/mo |
| Age 4 | $711/mo | ≈$235/mo |
| Age 8 | $972/mo | ≈$325/mo |
| Age 12 | $1,576/mo | ≈$525/mo |
| Age 15 | $3,078/mo | ≈$1,025/mo |
Assumes 4% college cost inflation and 6% investment returns, starting from zero, covering the full four-year sticker. The one-third column applies the rule below. The pattern matters more than any single cell: every year you wait, the required contribution steps up, and after age 10 the curve gets steep.
Most planners now recommend splitting college costs three ways: one-third from savings, one-third from current income during the college years, and one-third from grants, scholarships, and reasonable loans. Families who try to pre-pay 100% often shortchange retirement, the one goal with no scholarship program. The rule also happens to be realistic: paying $9,000 a year out of earnings while a kid is in school is ordinary; paying $25,000 a year out of earnings usually isn't.
For a newborn targeting an in-state public, one-third funding means about $190 a month. That's the number that fits real budgets, and it's why the calculator shows you the coverage percentage rather than only the full-funding figure.
The scary "college costs rise 7% a year" statistic is decades stale. Reality check: in-state tuition rose 2.7% for 2025-26, and the ten-year average has run roughly 2% to 3% a year. So why do planners still model 4% to 5%? Because tuition spikes cluster in recessions, when state budgets get cut, exactly when your investments are also down. Assuming 4% is deliberately conservative; assuming 7% is paying for anxiety you probably don't need. Whatever you choose, the point of a projection is a target, not a prophecy; you'll re-run it every year.
Contributions grow federal-tax-free and come out tax-free for qualified education expenses. Over 18 years on a newborn's account, the tax-free compounding is worth tens of thousands compared with a brokerage account spinning off taxable gains. Add the state tax angle: more than 30 states plus D.C. deduct contributions or grant credits, worth, for example, about $495 a year to an Illinois couple contributing $10,000, or $1,000 straight back for an Indiana contributor. The full state-by-state table lives in the calculator.
The old knock on 529s, "what if they get a scholarship or skip college?", has mostly been legislated away. Today you can change the beneficiary to a sibling or nearly any family member, hold the account for graduate school, withdraw up to the scholarship amount with no penalty (earnings taxed, no 10% hit), pay up to $10,000 in student loans or K-12 tuition, and, since 2024, roll up to $35,000 lifetime into the beneficiary's Roth IRA. The money is far more flexible than its reputation.
A parent-owned 529 reduces aid eligibility by at most 5.64% of the account's value each year, and under the simplified FAFSA, qualified withdrawals no longer count as income at all. Translation: $20,000 in a 529 costs at most about $1,128 in aid eligibility, and usually less. Not saving to "qualify for more aid" trades a certain dollar for a maybe-dollar.
One widely-used benchmark: aim to have about 50% of the projected cost of a public in-state degree saved by age 18 if you're following a savings-heavy plan. By the halfway point (around age 9), roughly 25% to 30% saved keeps you on track. More practical for most families: a fixed monthly amount started early beats catch-up savings. Fully funding a public in-state 529 takes $563 a month from birth, $972 from age 8, and $1,576 from age 12.
A common planning split: one-third from savings, one-third from current income during the college years, and one-third from grants, scholarships, and reasonable student loans. It keeps families from over-saving at the expense of retirement, and it means your monthly 529 target is about one-third of the full-funding number.
You have options, and none involve losing the money to penalties by default. You can change the beneficiary to a sibling or another family member, keep the account for graduate school, withdraw up to a scholarship amount penalty-free, use it for qualified K-12 tuition or up to $10,000 in student loans, or roll up to $35,000 lifetime into the beneficiary's Roth IRA under SECURE 2.0.
Retirement first. Your child can borrow for school; you cannot borrow for retirement. Capture any employer 401(k) match before funding a 529, and treat college savings as the next priority after that. The one-third rule exists precisely so parents don't raid their future to fully pre-pay a degree.