The college cost of today is ridiculous and getting worse every year. What would it cost for just one year if your child went to a Big Ten school today? I first wrote this article in 2012 when my oldest child was entering high school and my middle child was entering 7th grade. See the chart blow.
As a Certified Financial Planner I never dreamed the costs would be quite this high when my babies were college age. I did know that I needed to start saving as soon as my kids were born. I remember starting when my son was first born by putting away $50/month. I made it $100/month the following year and kept adding until I was putting $500/month away for him and my two daughters. Thank goodness I did that!
My three college age kids today:
Fast forward to 2019 and my son is a junior at DePaul ($40,000 tuition + room and board) my oldest daughter is attending U. of Minnesota ($30,000 tuition) and my youngest will be going to Colorado State ($30,000 tuition).
Add $10-15,000 for room and board and you would have to agree these costs are insane!
If I hadn’t started saving early and added to it automatically every month, I never would have been able to afford paying for their college.
The prices below are accurate if your child were going to school today. If your child is still 12 years away, the projected annual cost could double. If your child is 6 years away from entering college, add 50% to the annual cost.
Funny thing is I first wrote this article fourteen years ago, updated it by adding a column to the right to illustrate what it costs in 2012 for the same school and now did the same thing today. I have had to recalculate my personal college savings a few times to keep up with increased college inflation. I used the Illinois Bright Directions 529 Plan as my vehicle for saving.
The annual college costs are for these Big Ten Universities costs for 2004-05, 2012 and 2018/9. I rounded the all-in costs for 2018-9, but you get the idea. This is how the prices actually went up over the past six and fourteen years.
| All In Costs | 2004/5 | 2012/13 | 2018/9 |
| Illinois (in-state) | $7,944 | $23,250 | $28,500 |
| Indiana | $18,950 | $35,515 | $46,000 |
| Iowa | $16,048 | $31,945 | $40,000 |
| Michigan | $26,027 | $47,505 | $60,000 |
| Michigan State | $17,844 | $37,858 | $50,500 |
| Minnesota | $19,860 | $27,578 | $40,000 |
| Northwestern | $30,085 | $40,224 | $70,000 |
| Ohio State | $18,129 | $33,978 | $43,000 |
| Penn State | 20,784 | $34,646 | $47,000 |
| Purdue | $18,700 | $36,534 | $40,000 |
| Wisconsin | $19,892 | $26,318 | $47,000 |
Data Source: Peterson’s Undergraduate and Graduate Institution Databases, copyright 2018
Of course, I hope this inspires you to take a close look at your savings plan if you intend to help your kids pay for the cost of college.
You can’t start saving too soon. The time value of money needs your help by saving now and increasing what you save every year.
If you would like a complimentary college analysis for your child, I would be happy to provide you a snapshot of what your plan looks like and what you might need to save to make it work.
Please spread the word and socially share with others.
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scary, scary, scary, scary.