Child Education Goal Planner

Take today's total course fee and grow it at education inflation for the years until your child starts. A course costing ₹12 lakh today works out to roughly ₹50 lakh in 15 years at 10% education inflation. The calculator above does this for you — you only need today's price, which you can actually look up.

Education inflation is the rate at which tuition and hostel fees rise, and in India it has historically run at roughly 8–11% a year against a headline CPI nearer 6%. Fees are driven by faculty salaries, infrastructure and demand for a limited number of good seats, none of which track the general price basket. Planning a 15-year education goal at 6% will leave you materially short.

As early as you can, because the horizon is the strongest lever in the whole calculation. Funding the same goal from a child's 3rd birthday instead of their 10th means roughly twice as many compounding years, and the required monthly amount typically falls by more than half. Try it above by moving the child's age slider.

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is government-backed, currently pays around 8.2%, and is fully tax-free, but it locks money in and only allows a partial withdrawal at 18. An equity SIP has no guarantee and is taxed at 12.5% on long-term gains, but has historically returned more over 15-year horizons. Many parents use both — SSY for the certain floor, equity for the growth. Adjust the expected return above to compare the monthly amount each would need.

Far more than the current year's bill suggests, because every year's fee is larger than the last. A child starting at age 3 on a ₹1.5 lakh annual fee will cost around ₹47 lakh across the fifteen years to age 18 at 10% education inflation — against ₹22.5 lakh if fees never rose. The final year alone is close to ₹5.7 lakh. The School tab above totals your own numbers year by year.

Because the tuition line is usually only part of what leaves your account. Transport, books, uniform, activity and exam fees can add 20–40% on top, and they inflate at the same rate. Planning against tuition alone is the most common way parents end up short.

For a goal more than ten years away, an equity-heavy portfolio at around 12% is the common assumption. As the goal gets within about five years, most people shift towards debt and a 7–8% assumption is more honest, because a market fall right before the fees are due cannot be recovered from. It is safer to plan with a conservative return and be pleasantly surprised.