Strategies to save for your child’s college education

The cost of college in Ireland has been increasing year-on-year. When we started running our cost of education survey in 2017, the lifetime cost of college was €17,360 for students living at home. It was €27,872 for those in student accommodation, and €32,824 for those renting¹.

Fast forward to 2025 and the lifetime cost of education has risen to €24,580 for students living at home, €56,420 renting and €58,116 for those in student accommodation². 

In 2025, 81% of parents that we surveyed said they had a savings account. The average amount in savings is €9,455, up €2,135 from 2024. Over 1 in 3 (35%) of parents that are saving for their child’s future third level education, started saving when their child was born.

For parents saving for their child’s future college expenses, 21% have already saved between €5,000-€10,000 but 20% have saved less than €5,000.

Parents were asked if they feel prepared financially to support their child through college and do they think their savings are going to be enough? Fewer than 1 in 3 (28%) of parents with a savings plan think their savings will be enough for their child’s future college education.

As you can see from the figures above, for most parents there is a significant shortfall in the amount in savings compared with the actual cost of college. For example, if a parent has €5,000 saved, one year in college for a student living at home will be €6,145. That figure rises significantly depending on whether they are in student accommodation (€14,529 per annum) or renting (€14,105 per annum).

It’s also important to keep in mind that between now and the time that your child will potentially go to college, the total costs may increase due to inflation and/or general costs going up. For example, student accommodation cost €2,628 and rent cost €3,866 in 2017. To put that in context in terms of rising costs, in 2025 student accommodation cost €8,384 and rent cost €7,960.

Third level education is a significant milestone for families and while it is difficult to predict how much you will need to sustain your child studies, it’s encouraging to see more parents taking proactive steps to build up a savings plan.

Even setting aside a small amount on a regular basis can make a meaningful difference over time. A steady, long-term approach can give parents greater ability to support their children’s further education when the time comes. That is why we are giving you three simple strategies you can adopt to save for your child’s future college needs.  

1. Start a regular savings plan 

With the cost of education increasing year-on-year, it makes sense to plan ahead and build up your savings. Starting a regular savings plan is the simplest thing parents can do to plan for their child’s education.

If for example you save €100 per month for five years, by the end of the five years you will have saved €6,000. If you save €100 for 12 years, you will have saved €14,400 which is roughly enough to cover one year of college. Although this might be enough to have to cover a year of college, as we can see from the figures above, it might not be enough to fully cover all the college expenses. 

Starting to save early or for a longer period, helps increase the amount saved. So, for example, if you start to save €100 a month when your child is born until they turn 18 years of age, you could have saved €21,600. If you start saving later, then you may have to increase your monthly savings. 

Saving for your children’s education can seem daunting, but if you save and invest wisely it doesn’t have to be. Knowing how to save for their future is important, but you don’t have to be a financial wizard to do it. You might just need some advice on financial planning and review and adapt that plan to meet your families changing needs.

Saving into an investment fund 

With a Zurich Regular Savings plan you can gradually build up the funds necessary to support your children's education and future. Once you’ve worked out how much you want to save, you simply make regular monthly contributions.

These contributions are put into a fund. The amount invested depends on how much risk you are prepared to take. Everyone’s attitude to risk is different. Choosing your own investment strategy will involve deciding on the level of return you are looking for and balancing it against the level of risk you are comfortable with. If you are unsure, a financial advisor can help you make this decision. 

2. Saving the child benefit 

Regular savings can grow over quickly over a short period of time. Starting now and contributing to a Regular Savings  plan from Zurich can help fund your child’s future education.

The table below illustrates just how much regular savings can grow with a Zurich LifeSave Savings Plus plan. For example, if you saved the Government child benefit of €140 per month for five years (as of August 2025) in the Prisma 4 fund from when your child was born, by the time they started school you could have built up savings of €8,954 in time to fund this crucial stage in their education.

3. Saving a lump sum

A regular investor invests a monthly sum of money into an investment fund, whereas a lump sum investor makes a once-off payment into an investment fund. This is a common strategy used by families when they have a newborn or when they have enough funds to invest, they do so.  

An Investment Bond with Zurich is a single premium unit-linked bond, designed for people investing lump sums. To open up this investment bond, you'll need to have at least €5,000 to invest over a minimum of five years. This capital can be invested in a range of funds, with varying degrees of risk and potential return.

Choosing to invest your lump sum is a smart move. You can go a step further by making regular contributions to your investment, growing your fund even further.

Our investment growth calculator is a handy tool that will show you the potential returns on either regular or lump sum investments.

Calculating the costs

Parents can use our Cost of College Education Calculator to work out the estimated costs of sending your children to third level and to see how much you might need to save each month to meet these costs. Alternatively, they can try our Financial Health Check for more insights into your overall financial wellbeing.

Learn more about our regular savings Get financial advice

Sources:

¹Zurich Cost of Education Survey 2017 conducted by iReach Insights.

²Zurich Cost of Education Survey 2025 conducted by iReach Insights.

The information contained herein is based on Zurich Life’s understanding of current Revenue practice as at August 2025 and may change in the future.