2 guides
Student Loans & College
What education costs when you project it forward, and what repaying it costs when you stretch it out. Covers repayment term comparisons, the trade-offs of income-driven plans and private refinancing, and how much a newborn's degree implies saving each month.
June 24, 2026 · 8 min read
A $28,000 Degree Today Costs $290,439 for a Newborn
College costs have compounded faster than general inflation for decades. Running that forward eighteen years produces a number most parents have not seen, and it changes what a reasonable monthly contribution looks like.
February 19, 2026 · 8 min readStretching $45,000 of Student Debt From 10 Years to 25 Costs $30,008
The extended plan cuts the payment by $207 a month, which is exactly why it is popular. Here is the full comparison across four terms, plus the situations where the expensive option is still the right call.
Calculators for student loans & college
College Cost CalculatorProject the future cost of college and whether your savings plan will cover it.Savings CalculatorSee what your savings grow to with regular monthly deposits at a given interest rate.Investment CalculatorProject the growth of a starting balance plus regular monthly contributions at your expected annual return, with a year-by-year table.Student Loan CalculatorEstimate student-loan payments and see how extra payments shorten the term and cut interest.Loan CalculatorCalculate the monthly payment, total interest, and payoff schedule for any amortized loan personal, student, boat, or business.Repayment CalculatorFind how long it takes to repay a loan at a chosen monthly payment and the total interest.