YOUR INPUTS · YEAR-BY-YEAR ARITHMETIC

Four-year college cost calculator.

Plan 1–6 study years using one currency and explicit assumptions. Four years is the starting form choice, not a degree duration inferred from historical awards. Replace every amount with evidence for your actual program and applicant category.

Your starting-year estimates

Budget currency

Use one currency for all entries; enter whole units for JPY and KRW. Changing the currency label does not convert values.

Tuition and required fees (annual)Books and supplies (annual)Housing (monthly)Meals (monthly)Local transport (monthly)Health insurance (annual)Travel (annual)Other costs (annual)Starting-year grants and scholarships for this scenario

Study-period assumptions

Study yearsMonths of living expenses each yearAnnual education and other annual expenses: yearly change (%)Monthly living expenses: yearly change (%)

Both changes start at 0%. Enter a scenario between -20% and 20%; this tool does not forecast prices.

Grant assumption

Verify the actual covered period and renewal conditions before relying on later-year funding.

Your multi-year scenario

Enter your first-year expenses and assumptions to inspect the year-by-year calculation. No institution prices or funding amounts are supplied.

How the calculation works

Annual expenses combine tuition and required fees, books, insurance, travel and other annual costs. Living expenses combine monthly housing, meals and local transport, multiplied by your selected number of months.

For year 2, each cost group uses its starting amount multiplied by one plus that group’s yearly change percentage. The same factor compounds again in each later year. Displayed annual and living groups round to the selected currency’s supported unit before being added; totals equal the displayed year rows.

The grant amount stays fixed. The starting assumption applies it only in year 1; repeating it in every year is a scenario you choose. Amounts above a row’s expenses are not moved to a different year. Loans and work income are separate financing questions and do not reduce the underlying costs in this calculation.

Verify the period and the program

Use current institution charges for your actual qualification, campus, cycle and applicant category. Historical undergraduate tuition does not establish graduate program fees or your international-student bill. Nine months of living expenses and twelve months describe different budgets.

Keep change percentages in your scenario notes. A 0% setting holds the starting amounts constant; it is not a forecast. Program duration, credit transfer, additional study and grant renewal need current evidence before they become a plan.

Read the worked four-year example → · Build a single-year budget → · Understand the full cost breakdown → · Federal Student Aid: evaluating aid offers →