Saving For College Made Easy

Or at Least Easier

The costs of sending a child or a grandchild to college are high and getting higher. Actual costs vary by school, but, as a guideline, the cost of today's tuition, room, board, books, transportation and incidentals will probably run:

• Private 4-year University - $30,000
• Public 4-year University for instate students - $14,000
• Public 4-year University for out-of-state students - $22,000

For the past several years, the rate of increase for the cost for a college education has been higher than inflation—5% to 8%. If we assume just a 5% annual cost increase, the cost of a child's first year of college will be:

Current Age	Years to College	First Year Costs At A Private University	First Year Costs At A Public University For An Instate Student	First Year Costs At A Public University For An Out-of-State Student
16	2	$33,075	$15,435	$24,255
12	6	$40,203	$18,761	$29,482
8	10	$48,867	$22,805	$35,836
4	14	$59,398	$27,719	$43,558
Just born	18	$72,199	$33,693	$52,946

Save Early and Often
These costs are considerable—even if you've already started saving or received scholarship money. And they only represent the first year. When you consider that most students will attend college for four years and maybe graduate school beyond that, the need to save more is obvious.

Here is a calculator so you can determine how much you should save monthly to completely fund four years of college for children of different ages. This assumes you save the entire amount before the student enters college.

Calculating College Costs and How Much to Save Years until college 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Current annual college cost $ (Currently $14,000 for public instate, $22,000 for public out-of-state and $30,000 for private) Estimated annual increase in college cost % Estimated earnings on accumulation % Estimated first year college cost $ Estimated four years' college cost $ Estimated monthly savings needed $ Interest is compounded monthly. This calculator is to be used for estimation purposes only. The financial institution is not responsible for its accuracy and the results are not guaranteed.

Start Your Automatic Savings Today
There's no easier way to save than with an automatic savings plan. Take advantage of Tower's free direct deposit service—and have all or a portion of your paychecks or other recurring checks deposited safely and on time. Once you've set up direct deposit, allocating direct deposits into a Tower Club account is the smart way to manage your savings.

To set up direct deposit allocation, login to Home Banking, go to Online Forms and submit the Direct Deposit Allocation Request form. If you're not a Home Banking user, sign up easily and securely today.

The information in this article is meant to be educational in nature and does not pertain specifically to any Tower product or service. Each person must consider his or her objectives, risk tolerances and level of comfort when making financial decisions. In many cases, seeking the advice of competent professional advisors can ensure the decisions you make will be best suited for your situation.