Save each year's school fee over the 12 months before it falls due: ₹15,000 a month for a ₹1,80,000 fee, rising every year with the fee. At an assumed 10% yearly rise, 14 years of school from LKG to Class 12 add up to about ₹50 lakh, and the monthly set-aside reaches about ₹51,780 by the last year. A table further down repeats it for ₹1 lakh and ₹3 lakh fees at ₹25 lakh to ₹40 lakh salaries.
How fast do school fees rise?
The official average is modest; private-school fees often rise much faster. In September 2026 the consumer price index put inflation at 4.81% for early childhood and primary education and 4.33% for secondary education, all-India averages that include government and low-fee schools.
A 2024 Hyderabad report found some schools raising fees by 10% to 30% in an academic year, and Telangana's 2017 fee committee recommended capping yearly rises at 10%; no cap was in force in 2025. Levels vary too: a June 2025 report on Hyderabad fee schedules gave tuition of about ₹70,000 and ₹1.6 lakh a year at two private schools, transport and other charges of ₹50,000 or more on top, and about ₹3.6 lakh and up at an international school.
This post assumes school fees inflation of 10% a year, borrowing the figure the goal-based investing guide uses for higher-education fees as of October 2026. It is a planning assumption, not a forecast. Your own school's fee history is a better guide: a fee that rose from ₹1,50,000 to ₹1,80,000 over two years rose about 9.5% a year.
What do 14 years of school fees add up to?
Faisal earns ₹32 lakh CTC in Hyderabad, about ₹1,90,900 a month in hand under the new regime for FY 2026-27 with PF on full wages, on the structure in CTC vs in-hand salary. His daughter starts LKG in June 2027 at ₹1,80,000 a year, tuition, transport and books included.
Each fee is the last plus 10%: ₹1,80,000, then ₹1,98,000.
| School year (selected) | Class | Fee for the year | Set aside a month the year before |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LKG | ₹1,80,000 | ₹15,000 |
| 4 | Class 2 | ₹2,39,600 | ₹19,970 |
| 7 | Class 5 | ₹3,18,900 | ₹26,570 |
| 10 | Class 8 | ₹4,24,400 | ₹35,370 |
| 14 | Class 12 | ₹6,21,400 | ₹51,780 |
| All 14 years | ₹50,35,500 |
The total is about ₹50 lakh, twice the ₹25.2 lakh that 14 years at today's fee would cost. With eight months to the first fee, Faisal needs ₹22,500 a month to have ₹1,80,000 ready by June 2027; from then on each fee gets twelve months.
How much a month at your fee and salary?
The same sum at three starting fees, with year one's monthly set-aside as a share of take-home pay (₹1,56,700, ₹1,90,900 and ₹2,29,100 at ₹25 lakh, ₹32 lakh and ₹40 lakh CTC).
| Fee in year 1 | A month, year 1 | A month, year 14 | 14-year total | Share at ₹25 lakh | At ₹32 lakh | At ₹40 lakh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹1,00,000 | ₹8,330 | ₹28,770 | ₹28.0 lakh | 5.3% | 4.4% | 3.6% |
| ₹1,80,000 | ₹15,000 | ₹51,780 | ₹50.4 lakh | 9.6% | 7.9% | 6.5% |
| ₹3,00,000 | ₹25,000 | ₹86,310 | ₹83.9 lakh | 16.0% | 13.1% | 10.9% |
If fees rise faster than your pay, the share grows each year, and the fee counts among the essential expenses your emergency fund covers.
Where should the school fee money sit?
A sinking fund is money set aside every month for a known bill. The next fee is always less than a year away, which puts it in the guide's under-one-year row: a liquid fund (about 5% to 6% before tax, varying by fund, at the 5.50% repo rate of October 2026); a recurring deposit or a sweep FD does the same job at a bank. Gains on debt fund units bought since 1 April 2023 are taxed at your slab rate, so in the 30% slab the return is small; the fund's job is to keep the money apart, not to grow it.
Fees from Class 6 onward are seven years or more away, so money set aside early for them, from a bonus for example, could sit mostly in equity under the guide's horizon rule, and move down its mix table as each fee nears: a blend of equity and debt once it is under seven years away, all debt within three.
Why keep school fees separate from the college goal?
For education planning, school fees and a degree are two goals with different shapes. School fees are a yearly bill paid from income. A degree is one large sum about 15 years away; the guide sizes one costing ₹20 lakh today at about ₹18,300 a month in a mostly equity mix at an assumed 11%.
Paying school fees out of the degree fund leaves the child education goal for the degree short, with fewer years to rebuild it. Until June 2027 Faisal's two goals take ₹22,500 plus ₹18,300, or ₹40,800 a month, about 21% of his take-home pay. In the first school year he saves year two's ₹1,98,000 fee at ₹16,500 a month, so the two take ₹34,800, about 18%. Couples who split shared costs in proportion to pay can count the school fee among them.
Dhi looks at your whole picture, cash flow, net worth, protection and goals, and maps the investments you hold to goals such as your child's degree. Dhi answers questions from your own numbers, such as what next year's school fee does to your monthly budget, and nudges when a goal needs attention.
Frequently asked questions
This is general information for salaried individuals in India, not personalised financial advice.
