Education Planning Calculator: Monthly SIP for Your Child's Future
This education planning calculator tells you exactly how much to invest every month to fund your child's higher education. Enter today's course cost, your child's age, and any savings you already have. It factors in education inflation and expected returns to show your future target cost, the required monthly SIP, and a year by year growth plan. Everything is calculated privately in your browser.
Key Takeaways
Quick Education Plans
Required Monthly Investment
Plan Summary
Yearly Projection
| Year | Child Age | Total Invested | Wealth Gained | Corpus Value |
|---|
Rising college fees have made education one of the biggest financial goals for Indian families, often second only to buying a home. This education planning calculator turns that worry into a plan. It tells you the future cost of the course you are targeting, how much your current savings will grow, and the exact monthly SIP you need to close the gap. Every number is calculated privately in your browser, with no sign-up and no data sharing.
What Is an Education Planning Calculator?
An education planning calculator estimates the future cost of your child’s higher education after inflation, then works out how much you need to invest every month to reach that amount by the time your child starts college.
It answers the one question most parents ask: how much should I invest per month for my child’s education? Instead of guessing, you enter a few inputs and get a clear monthly target, a future cost figure, and a year-by-year growth plan.
This tool is built for Indian parents planning for school milestones, undergraduate degrees, professional courses, and overseas study.
Why Education Planning Matters More Than Ever
Education fees in India have been rising faster than general inflation. Recent 2026 estimates put the typical cost of an engineering degree near 34 lakh, a private MBBS seat above 80 lakh, and a top-tier MBA between 25 and 30 lakh. A course that looks affordable today can cost several times more by the time your child is ready.
Two forces work against parents who delay. The first is education inflation, which keeps pushing the target higher. The second is lost compounding, because every year you wait shortens the runway your money has to grow. Starting early is the single biggest advantage you have, and this calculator shows exactly how much that head start is worth.
What This Calculator Helps You Calculate
The calculator does not just give a single number. It breaks your goal into parts you can act on.
Inflation-Adjusted Future Cost
It grows today’s course fee at your chosen education inflation rate to show what the same course will cost when your child reaches college age. This is your real target, not the sticker price you see today.
Existing Savings Growth
If you have already saved something, the calculator grows that amount at your expected return and subtracts it from the goal. This reduces your required SIP and rewards the money you have already set aside.
Required Monthly SIP
This is the headline result. It is the exact monthly systematic investment needed to bridge the gap between your future goal and your projected savings.
Total Invested and Wealth Gained
You see how much money you actually put in over the years and how much extra was created by compounding. This split makes the value of long-term investing visible.
Year-by-Year Projection
A full yearly table shows your total invested, wealth gained, corpus value, and your child’s age for every year until college. You can watch the plan build.
Quick Education Scenarios
One-tap presets for Engineering, Private Medical, MBA, and Study Abroad let you model common goals instantly without entering every figure yourself.
Advanced Options, CSV and Sharing
Under advanced options you can set your own education inflation and expected return. You can download the full plan as a CSV file, save a shareable image of your result, or generate a personalized plan link to send to your family.
How the Calculator Works
The logic runs in two clear steps.
Step One: Find the Future Cost
The calculator applies compound education inflation to today’s cost:
Future Cost = Present Cost × (1 + Inflation Rate) raised to the number of years left
So a course costing 15 lakh today, at 10 percent inflation over 14 years, grows to well over 50 lakh. This inflated figure becomes your target corpus.
Step Two: Solve for the Monthly SIP
It then grows your existing savings, finds the shortfall, and uses the standard SIP future value formula to work out the monthly investment needed:
Target = SIP × [ ((1 + r) raised to n, minus 1) ÷ r ] × (1 + r)
Here r is the monthly return rate and n is the total number of months. If you set the expected return to zero, the shortfall is simply divided evenly across the months.
Explanation of Every Input
Child’s Current Age
This sets your investment horizon. The younger your child, the longer your money compounds and the smaller your monthly SIP.
Age at College Start
Usually 18 for undergraduate courses and around 21 for postgraduate goals like an MBA. This marks the year your corpus must be ready.
Current Cost of Education
The full cost of your target course in today’s rupees, including tuition and, ideally, living expenses. A realistic estimate works better than an optimistic one.
Existing Savings
Any amount you have already set aside for this goal. The calculator grows it and reduces your required monthly investment.
Education Inflation Rate
The annual rate at which fees rise. A practical guide: use 6 to 8 percent for general planning, and 10 to 12 percent for private, professional, or overseas courses where fee hikes have historically been steeper.
Expected Investment Return
The annual return you expect from your investments. For long-term equity-oriented plans, 10 to 12 percent is a common assumption, though actual returns vary and are never guaranteed.
A Worked Example
Suppose your child is 4 today and will start college at 18, a 14-year horizon. The target course costs 15 lakh today. You assume 10 percent education inflation, 12 percent expected return, and you already have 2 lakh saved.
The calculator inflates 15 lakh over 14 years to your future target, grows the 2 lakh at 12 percent, subtracts that from the target to find the shortfall, and then solves for the monthly SIP. In seconds you get a precise figure to start with, plus a year-by-year table showing how the corpus builds.
How Much Should You Invest? A Quick Reference
The table below gives rough starting SIPs for common goals, assuming the child is a newborn with 18 years to invest, 10 percent education inflation, and 12 percent returns. Use the calculator for your own exact numbers.
| Goal | Approx. cost today | Rough monthly SIP to start |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering degree | 15 to 20 lakh | 4,000 to 6,000 |
| Private medical (MBBS) | 60 to 80 lakh | 16,000 to 22,000 |
| MBA (top tier) | 25 to 30 lakh | 7,000 to 9,000 |
| Study abroad | 75 lakh and above | 20,000 and above |
These are illustrative. Your real figure depends on your child’s current age, the exact course, and the rates you choose.
Should You Invest or Take an Education Loan?
For most families the smart answer is both. Building a corpus for at least half of the future cost through SIPs, then covering the rest with an education loan, keeps you flexible.
There is also a tax benefit. Under Section 80E of the Income Tax Act, the interest paid on an education loan is fully deductible with no upper limit for up to eight years. Investing early to reduce the loan size, while keeping the loan option open for any shortfall, is usually more efficient than relying on a loan alone.
Common Mistakes Parents Make
Using too low an inflation rate. Many calculators default to 5 or 6 percent, but private and professional fees have risen closer to 10 to 12 percent. Under-planning here creates a large shortfall.
Planning for a generic “higher education” figure instead of a specific course. Costs for engineering, medicine, and overseas study differ hugely.
Starting late. Delaying by even a few years can double the monthly amount required.
Ignoring currency risk for overseas goals. A falling rupee raises the real cost beyond fee inflation alone.
Forgetting to protect the goal. If the earning parent is not around, the plan should not collapse.
Expert Tips to Strengthen Your Plan
Start the moment the child is born, even with a small SIP, and use a step-up every year to raise it as your income grows.
Split the goal. A common approach is to keep the bulk in growth-oriented equity funds like ELSS or diversified SIPs for the long horizon, and a portion in a safer instrument such as Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana for a daughter.
Pair the goal with adequate term insurance so the corpus is secured even in your absence.
Review the plan once a year and adjust the SIP as fees and your income change.
Who Should Use This Calculator
Parents of newborns and young children wanting to start early, parents of pre-teens who need catch-up figures, families comparing a lump sum against a monthly SIP, and anyone estimating the true future cost of a course in India or abroad.
Key Takeaways
The real target is the inflation-adjusted future cost, not today’s fee. Use 10 to 12 percent inflation for private and professional courses. Starting early sharply lowers your monthly SIP. Existing savings reduce the amount you need to invest. A mix of an early SIP and a Section 80E education loan is often the most efficient route.
Last updated: July 2026. This calculator is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Market investments carry risk and returns are not guaranteed. Please consult a SEBI-registered investment adviser before making decisions. Cost figures are indicative and drawn from public 2026 education-cost reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the course cost today, education inflation, years left, and your expected return. Enter these into the calculator to get your exact monthly SIP. As a rough guide, a newborn targeting a 20 lakh engineering degree needs somewhere around 5,000 to 6,000 per month at 10 percent inflation and 12 percent returns.
The calculator compounds today’s cost at your chosen education inflation rate over the years left until college, using Future Cost = Present Cost × (1 + Inflation Rate) raised to the number of years.
Use 6 to 8 percent for general planning and 10 to 12 percent for private, professional, or overseas courses, where fee hikes have historically been steeper.
Yes. A SIP suits long-term goals like education because it spreads market risk over time and benefits from compounding over 15 to 18 years.
Investing early usually reduces or removes the need for a large loan. A common strategy is to build a corpus for part of the cost and use a Section 80E education loan for the rest, since the loan interest is tax deductible.
Yes. The calculator grows your current savings at your expected return and subtracts that from the goal, which lowers the monthly SIP you need.
For long-term equity-oriented investments, 10 to 12 percent is commonly assumed. Actual returns vary and are not guaranteed, so plan a little conservatively.
No. All calculations run privately in your browser. There is no sign-up and no data is sent to a server.