Two to three years out · exploring
What college costs in your state
The state's grants, what each college costs and what your state's rules do for a family like yours. Sometimes the answer is nothing, and we say so.
Or look up one of 972 colleges →Three moments decide what college costs you. Start at yours.
What a year costs at each college, what you can afford, and how to pay for all four years for less. Award letters arrive in March of the year your student starts. Most of what sets your cost comes before that.
One to two years out · choosing
See what you can afford
Put in your income, your savings and the colleges on your list. We price each one for your family and work out the most you could pay for a year. Free.
See what you can afford
Award letter in hand · deciding
Get the plan
Which money pays each bill, semester by semester, and which loans to take, if any. We build it from your award letter.
$99, once. The estimate that comes first is free.
Start with a free estimateGet one email a month
Pick the year your student starts. We email what is coming up for that year, and what to do about it.
Two of the three are freeNo account neededThe free tools store nothing unless you ask us to email you
What you see when you check
Your income two years before college decides your aid.
Some aid has an income limit, and colleges check it against what you earned two years before the first bill. Many families are a few thousand dollars from a limit and do not know it. See which limits you are near, and whether you still have time to act.
See what you can afford — freeYou enter your state, your income and your schoolsAbout 2 minutes
An example family · the limits they are near
Starting fall 2028 · married, $118,000 income · New YorkThe Excelsior Scholarship pays SUNY tuition for families earning $125,000 or less. You earn $7,000 less than that. A raise, a bonus or a capital gain could put you over, and then it pays nothing. Your 2026 income decides the first year, so you have until Dec 31, 2026. Each later year is checked on its own income.
$7,000 underuntil Dec 31, 2026
Applies to: Binghamton University, Stony Brook University
The American Opportunity Tax Credit is worth up to $2,500 a year for four years. For joint filers it starts to shrink at $160,000 of income and is gone at $180,000. You earn $42,000 less than $160,000, so you should get all of it. You lose it if you pay 100% of that tuition from a 529.
$42,000 under
Applies to: every school on your list
You can still act means your income is within 8% of a limit and the tax year that counts has not ended. This family has one limit like that.Every limit comes from the state's or the university's own published policy.
The dates that matter
Six dates decide what you pay. The first comes two years before college.
Colleges work out your aid again every year. Each time, they use your income from two years earlier and your savings on the day you file the FAFSA. For a student starting in fall 2028, the first year of aid uses your 2026 income. That covers the spring of sophomore year and the fall of junior year.
Jan 1, 20262 years before
The tax year that counts begins.
From this day, what your household earns counts toward the first year of aid. This is the only time you can still change that number.
Dec 31, 20262 years before
The tax year that counts ends.
After this day your income for the first year of aid is fixed. Your savings are counted later, on the day you file the FAFSA.
Oct 1, 20271 year before
The FAFSA opens for 2028–29.
State and college deadlines follow between December and February. Many give aid first come, first served.
~Mar 15, 2028start year
Award letters arrive.
This is the first day you have the document a plan needs. The decision deadline is six weeks later.
May 1, 2028start year
The deadline to choose a college.
After this you are no longer comparing schools. What matters now is how you pay.
~Aug 1, 2028start year
The first bill is due.
Take the 529 money out in the same calendar year you pay the bill. Paying a December bill in January is a common and costly mistake.
Get an email each month.
Pick the start year. Each email says what is coming up for that start year, and what to do about it.
About one email a month from smarttuition.ai about paying for college. Each has what's coming up, what's changed, and one thing worth knowing given when your student graduates.
What it costs not to know
Four ways families lose money
without noticing.
These are not rare cases. They happen when a family pays each bill as it arrives, from whichever account is easiest.
Up to $10,000
The tax credit you did not claim
The American Opportunity Tax Credit pays up to $2,500 a year for four years. To get it, you must pay $4,000 of tuition each year from somewhere other than a 529. If you pay everything from the 529, you get nothing. Up to $1,000 a year comes as a refund even if you owe no tax, so lower-income families lose cash too.
$1,500–6,000
Interest that gets added to the loan
An unsubsidized loan charges interest while your student is in school. If you do not pay that interest each month, it is added to the loan when school ends. You then pay interest on the interest for as long as you have the loan.
$5,000–15,000
Taking Parent PLUS without comparing
Parent PLUS charges a 4.228% fee up front and 9.07% interest. Nonprofit state lenders often charge less for both. Over four years the difference runs from about $5,000 to $15,000 if you borrow $20,000 to $60,000 and could get a 7.5% loan instead. Since July 2026, Parent PLUS is also limited to $20,000 a year and $65,000 in total for each student.
$150–3,300
Missing your state's 529 tax deduction
Many states give a tax deduction for money you put into their 529 plan. Over four years it is worth about this much, depending on the state and how much cash you put through. The median is about $1,000. If you pay tuition from monthly cash, put it through the state's 529 first and you get the deduction, in the states where we have confirmed the rules. Pay the bill directly and you do not. The plan counts it only there.
When you have the award letter
Then the plan: what to pay from where, every semester.
We run the same calculations on your actual award letter. The plan compares the ways you could pay, picks the one that costs your family least, and shows you the others it compared.
Sample plan · UNC, $120K household income
Saves $9,900 compared with the standard approach
Year 1
$25,847
Year 2
$26,399
Year 3
$26,968
Year 4
$27,553
+ $9,900 in education tax creditsYou get this back at tax time. It is not a tuition payment.
529
Cash
Student loans
Parent loans
Four-year total you pay$96,867
01Free estimate
Start with a free estimate
Answer a few questions about your family and your school. It takes about two minutes. You see exactly how much the plan would save you, worked out from your own numbers.
No account·No email·No card
02$99 · one-time
Get the full plan
It shows what to pay from which account each semester, how to use the 529, which loans to take first, your tax and FAFSA dates, and your state's rules. It matches your award letter and shows the other orders it compared. Yours to keep.
Update it up to 5 times·Print it·Share it
Pricing
$99. One time.
No subscription.
Get your free estimate first. It uses the same calculations and your own numbers. If the saving is not clearly more than $99, do not buy.
The full plan
Everything listed here. Yours to keep.
$99
One payment · We do not keep your card
- A SmartTuition plan for every semester
- Built for your school and your state
- When to use the 529 and how to keep the tax credit
- Which loans to take first, and nonprofit lenders to compare
- Your tax and FAFSA dates
- The other orders it compared, with what each costs
- Update it up to 5 times
- Ask questions about your plan
- Print it and share it
- No account needed
Built on real data
Every number comes from
the original source, and we keep it current.
We update each source on a set schedule. Federal loan rates change in May, the FAFSA tables in June, and the IRS rules in November.
IRS
IRS Publication 970
Who can claim the education tax credits, what a 529 may pay for, and why the same dollar cannot count twice. Updated every year.
ED
FAFSA tables 2027-28
How the government works out your Student Aid Index, the number colleges use to measure what you can pay. It counts 5.64% of a parent's 529 and 20% of a student's savings.
API
College Scorecard
More than 6,000 colleges. The full yearly cost, and what families at each income level actually paid.
DB
Aid policies at 225 colleges
Colleges that cover at least 75% of what a family needs, which of them replace loans with grants, and their income limits.
STATE
Nonprofit lender directory
State-run and nonprofit lenders in 14 states. Their rates are often lower than Parent PLUS.
POLICY
2026-27 Parent PLUS rules
The new limits of $20,000 a year and $65,000 in total. The new repayment plan that replaces the older income-based plans. Who keeps the old rules, and for how long.
STATE
State 529 deduction rules
All 50 states and DC. How much you can deduct and whether you must use your own state's plan. For the states we have finished, when a state takes the deduction back.
FED
Federal loan rates and limits
The rate on each kind of federal loan, and how much a student can borrow each year and in total.
PROFILE
CSS Profile school list
The 152 colleges that ask for the CSS Profile as well as the FAFSA. They differ in how they treat a 529 owned by a grandparent.
Questions
Common questions.
I don't have an award letter yet — what can I do?
Two things, and both are free. First, read the guide for your state's university system. It works through hundreds of example families, so you can see how the rules treat a family like yours. Then see what you can afford. You will see how close your income is to each aid limit in your state, whether you still have time to act, and what each school on your list would cost you. You can also leave an email, and we will write about once a month.
Is this financial advice?
No. We apply public rules to the numbers you give us. The rules come from the IRS, the FAFSA and your school. Talk to an accountant before you make a large decision you cannot undo.
How is this different from ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is good for talking a question through. We do one thing, which is build your SmartTuition plan. Three differences matter for the numbers. First, our code does the arithmetic, so the plan reports figures we calculated and the AI does not invent them. Second, we check every plan for mistakes before you see it, such as totals that do not add up or a loan above the federal limit. Third, our rates and rules come from the sources listed above, and we update them on a set schedule.
What if my school isn't in your data?
We have cost data for more than 6,000 colleges. If yours is missing, type in the numbers from your award letter. The plan works the same way.
Can I update my plan if my situation changes?
Yes. Your $99 includes 5 updates. Use one when your income changes, a new award letter arrives, or your student picks a different school.
Do you store my data?
Yes. We store your paid plan under an ID, not your name, so you can update it and ask questions about it. We also keep the email address you pay with, to send you your plan and tell you if we find a mistake in it. We delete that address after 12 months.
How is this different from a college financial counselor?
A counselor charges $200 to $500 an hour and gets to know your family. We charge $99 and know the rules in detail. Many families use both.