A four-year B.Tech at IIT Bombay costs about ₹10 lakh in fees and hostel at 2026-27 rates, a B.E. at BITS Pilani about ₹29 lakh, and MBBS at a private deemed university such as KMC Manipal about ₹71 lakh before hostel. For a child born in 2026 who starts college in 2044, plan for about four times those amounts (8% a year education inflation), or 5.6 times if fees rise 10% a year.
This page shows where each fee comes from, projects it to your child's college year, and works out the monthly SIP that would fund it. The numbers are illustrative; put your own course and dates into the child education cost calculator.
What college costs today: 2026-27 fees
These are the full-course fees published by each institution for students admitted in 2026-27 (IIM Bangalore's figure is the latest its page shows). I have labelled what each figure includes, because "fees" means different things on different fee pages.
| Course | Type of institution | Full-course cost today | What it includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| B.Tech, IIT Bombay (4 years) | Public (IIT) | ₹10.4 lakh | Academic fees of ₹8.8 lakh (₹1,08,150 a semester plus one-time charges) and hostel fees (₹19,950 for the first semester, assumed for each of the eight). Mess (₹22,500 advance a semester) is extra. SC, ST and PwD students don't pay tuition. |
| B.E., BITS Pilani (4 years) | Private deemed university | ₹28.7 lakh | Tuition on BITS's published schedule (₹2,91,500 a semester in 2026-27, rising about 5% a year), admission fee and hostel fee at the 2026-27 rate. Mess is extra. |
| B.Tech CSE, MIT Manipal (4 years) | Private deemed university (MAHE) | ₹24.4 lakh | Tuition and other fees for the 2026-27 batch. Hostel is extra. |
| MBBS, KMC Manipal (5.5 years) | Private deemed university (MAHE) | ₹71.0 lakh | Tuition and other fees for the 2026-27 batch, general category. Hostel is extra. |
| MBA (PGP), IIM Bangalore (2 years) | Public (IIM) | ₹27.8 lakh | ₹26 lakh fees, which include hostel room rent, plus a ₹30,000 mess advance for each of six terms. |
A government medical seat is a different world: AIIMS New Delhi's MBBS information booklet lists tuition of ₹1,350 a year, though that booklet dates from 2009 and says fees are subject to revision. State government colleges set their own fees, which vary widely by state. I haven't put a single "government MBBS" figure in the table for that reason.
Studying abroad is left out on purpose. Those fees are set in dollars or pounds, so the rupee cost depends on the exchange rate as much as on fee inflation. If that is the plan, do the sum in the foreign currency and treat a weaker rupee as a separate risk.
How fast education costs rise: plan at 8%, test at 10%
India has no official index of college fees. The education component of the Consumer Price Index (school and college fees, books and stationery) rose from 100 in 2012 to 196.0 in December 2025, about 5% a year, and by 3.32% in the year to December 2025 (MoSPI). Private and professional courses often rise faster: BITS Pilani's own schedule raises tuition about 5% a year for students already enrolled, before any increase for new batches.
FinPlann plans with 8% a year and stress-tests at 10%. That is a planning assumption, not a statistic. At 8% costs double in about 9 years; at 10%, in about 7.3 years.
Over 18 years, 8% a year multiplies today's cost by 4.0 and 10% by 5.6. So if you save only for today's fees, you will have about a quarter of what you need at 8%, and under a fifth (18%) at 10%. So the target has to be the future cost, not today's.
What these courses will cost when a child born in 2026 starts
Illustrative projection. Undergraduate courses start in 2044 (18 years away) and the MBA in 2048 (22 years). For simplicity the full course cost is treated as due in the first year; in reality you pay over four or five years while the rest of the fund keeps growing.
| Course | Cost today | Starts | Cost then at 8% a year | Cost then at 10% a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B.Tech, IIT Bombay | ₹10.4 lakh | 2044 | ₹42 lakh | ₹58 lakh |
| B.E., BITS Pilani | ₹28.7 lakh | 2044 | ₹1.15 crore | ₹1.59 crore |
| B.Tech CSE, MIT Manipal | ₹24.4 lakh | 2044 | ₹98 lakh | ₹1.36 crore |
| MBBS, KMC Manipal | ₹71.0 lakh | 2044 | ₹2.8 crore | ₹3.9 crore |
| MBA, IIM Bangalore | ₹27.8 lakh | 2048 | ₹1.5 crore | ₹2.3 crore |
Most families won't know at birth whether the child will get an IIT seat or need a private college. A reasonable approach is to plan for the private-college figure and treat anything left over as a head start on the next goal.
The monthly SIP needed for each goal
Illustrative. These SIPs fund the 8% cost by 2044 for a newborn. They assume a 12% a year return (an assumption for a long-term equity SIP, not a promise), invested at the start of each month, and are shown before tax. The last two columns show a more cautious 10% return and a step-up SIP that rises 10% every year.
| Goal (cost in 2044 at 8%) | Flat SIP at 12% | Flat SIP at 10% | Step-up SIP at 12% (first-year amount, +10% a year) |
|---|---|---|---|
| IIT Bombay B.Tech (₹42 lakh) | ₹5,400 | ₹6,900 | ₹2,900 |
| BITS Pilani B.E. (₹1.15 crore) | ₹15,000 | ₹18,900 | ₹7,900 |
| KMC Manipal MBBS (₹2.8 crore) | ₹37,100 | ₹46,900 | ₹19,700 |
Two things move the number most. The first is when you start. For the BITS-type goal, the flat SIP at 12% is about ₹15,000 a month from birth, ₹19,300 if you start when the child is 4, and ₹26,600 if you start at 8. The second is inflation. If fees rise 10% instead of 8%, a fund built for the 8% figure covers only about 72% of the bill; funding the 10% case from birth takes about ₹20,800 a month.
A step-up SIP starts lower because it assumes your income, and your SIP, grow each year. The step-up SIP calculator lets you try other rates.
Where to keep the money
For a goal 15 years or more away, an equity SIP is the usual core, because it is the asset most likely to beat 8% fee inflation over that long a stretch. I'd move the fund out of equity gradually over the last three to five years, so that a market fall in year 17 can't take a large bite just before the fees are due. Gains on equity funds are taxed at 12.5% as long-term capital gains above ₹1.25 lakh a year, so stagger redemptions across tax years where you can.
If you have a daughter, the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana pays 8.2% a year for October–December 2026, tax-free, with deposits of up to ₹1.5 lakh a year. Deposits run for 15 years and the account matures 21 years from opening, though up to 50% can be withdrawn for education once she turns 18. Before you commit, check SSY maturity with the SSY calculator for your deposit and her age. It works well as the guaranteed part of an education fund; our Sukanya Samriddhi vs mutual funds comparison runs both on the same money.
Some parents prefer a dedicated children's fund for the lock-in. Whether that is worth its costs, compared with a plain SIP you label for the goal, is covered in children's fund vs separate SIP.
An education loan as the backstop
If the fund falls short, an education loan can cover the gap. Interest paid on a loan for higher education of yourself or a relative is deductible under section 129 of the Income-tax Act 2025 (formerly 80E), with no upper limit, for the tax year you start paying interest and the seven tax years after it. Like most deductions it is available only under the old tax regime. Planning to borrow part of the cost is reasonable; planning to borrow most of it pushes the risk onto your child.
What to do next
Look up the current fee page of the course you have in mind, add hostel and living costs, and enter that figure with your child's age into the child education cost calculator. It uses 8% inflation by default, nets off what you have already saved, and gives the monthly SIP. Run it again at 10% to see how much buffer you would need.
