Child Education Planning Calculator

Enter what the course costs today, your child's age and the age at admission. The calculator projects the cost forward at education inflation and works out the monthly SIP, or the one-time lumpsum, that would cover it, after counting what you have already saved.

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A course costing ₹20,00,000 today could cost about ₹69,04,542 when your child turns 18, at 10% education inflation. At an assumed 12% return you need a monthly SIP of ₹18,367 for 13 years, or ₹15,82,343 invested once today.

Total cost of the course today

₹

Full fees plus hostel and living costs, in rupees. For study abroad, convert today's cost to rupees.

Child's current age

yrs

Age at admission

yrs

Around 18 for an undergraduate course, 21 to 22 for a postgraduate one.

Education inflation (per year)

An assumption. Fees have often risen faster than general prices, which is why the default is 10%.

Expected return (per year)

An assumption, not a promise. Shift to safer options as admission nears.

Savings already set aside for this

₹

For example a Sukanya Samriddhi, PPF or mutual fund balance earmarked for education.

Required monthly SIP

₹18,367

for 13 years

Cost at admission

₹69,04,542

₹20,00,000 today

Or a lumpsum today

₹15,82,343

one-time, on top of savings

Savings at admission

₹0

grown at 12%

SIP path to the admission year

Year 13Put in ₹28.65 LGrowth ₹40.39 LEducation fund ₹69.05 L

Year by year

Year by year
Year	Child's age	Put in to date	Education fund
1	6	₹2,20,404	₹2,35,269
2	7	₹4,40,808	₹5,00,376
3	8	₹6,61,212	₹7,99,105
4	9	₹8,81,616	₹11,35,720
5	10	₹11,02,020	₹15,15,027
6	11	₹13,22,424	₹19,42,439
7	12	₹15,42,828	₹24,24,058
8	13	₹17,63,232	₹29,66,758
9	14	₹19,83,636	₹35,78,287
10	15	₹22,04,040	₹42,67,372
11	16	₹24,24,444	₹50,43,850
12	17	₹26,44,848	₹59,18,806
13	18	₹28,65,252	₹69,04,727

Saved scenarios stay in this browser only. No sign-up.

Required monthly SIP

₹18,367

Cost ₹69,04,542

What it is:: A goal calculator for funding a child's higher education.
What it calculates:: The course cost at the admission year, the monthly SIP needed to cover it and the one-time lumpsum equivalent.

Key Assumptions

Education costs rise at a constant rate every year; the 10% default is an assumption, not an official figure.
The whole cost is needed in the admission year, rather than spread across the years of the course.
SIP instalments are invested at the start of each month at the annual return divided by 12.
No tax, expense ratio or currency movement is modelled.

How does the Child Education Calculator work?

The years available are simply the age at admission minus your child's age today. The course cost is grown at the education inflation rate you enter for that many years, compounded once a year.

The default education inflation is 10%, an assumption chosen because fees for professional courses have often risen faster than general prices. It is not an official figure; change it to suit the course and the institution you have in mind.

Savings already set aside for education, such as a Sukanya Samriddhi or PPF balance or a mutual fund, are grown at the expected return and subtracted from the future cost. The SIP covers the rest.

The SIP is solved with the same start-of-month convention as our SIP calculator, so it reaches the future cost exactly, and is rounded up to the next rupee. The lumpsum figure is the gap discounted back to today at the expected return.

For study abroad, enter today's cost converted into rupees. A weaker rupee would push the cost higher still, which this calculator does not model separately; a higher education inflation figure is one way to allow for it.

Child Education Calculator formula

Future cost = C x (1 + e)^t; SIP = (Future cost - S x (1 + r)^t) / ([((1 + i)^n - 1) / i] x (1 + i))

C: = cost of the course today
e: = education inflation per year, as a decimal
t: = years to admission = age at admission - child's age
S: = savings already set aside
r: = expected annual return, as a decimal
i: = monthly return = annual return / 12 / 100
n: = number of monthly instalments = t x 12

The lumpsum alternative is (Future cost - S x (1 + r)^t) / (1 + r)^t.

Child Education Calculator: worked example

A course costing ₹20,00,000 today, child aged 5, admission at 18

Years to admission: 13
Education inflation assumed: 10%
Expected return assumed: 12%
Cost at admission: ₹69,04,542
₹1,00,000 saved, grown: ₹4,36,349
Required monthly SIP: ₹17,206
Or a one-time lumpsum today: ₹14,82,343

Child Education Calculator: frequently asked questions

Why is the default education inflation 10%?

Because fees for engineering, medicine, management and study abroad have often risen faster than general consumer prices. The 10% is an assumption to plan with, not a published statistic. If the course you are planning for has risen more slowly, lower it; if you want a margin of safety, raise it.

What should I include in the cost of the course?

Everything you would pay if your child started today: tuition for the whole course, hostel or rent, food, books, travel and, for study abroad, visa and insurance. Using only the first year's tuition is the most common way to underestimate the goal.

Should I keep investing in equity until admission?

Many planners suggest moving the money gradually into safer options in the last few years, so a market fall just before admission does not leave a gap. That lowers the return on the final years, so it helps to plan with a slightly lower expected return than you would use for a 20-year goal.

Can Sukanya Samriddhi or PPF be part of this plan?

Yes. Enter their current balance as savings already set aside. Sukanya Samriddhi allows a partial withdrawal for a daughter's higher education once she turns 18, and PPF has a 15-year lock-in with partial withdrawals allowed earlier under conditions, so check that the timing lines up with the admission year.

What if I cannot afford the SIP shown?

You have three levers: start with what you can and raise it every year (see the goal SIP calculator's step-up option), plan for an education loan to cover part of the cost, or revisit the course and country. Showing the full figure early is what gives you time to use them.

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Reviewed by Pradipta Ray, MBA (Finance) · Updated 21 October 2026