Assuming you put the money in at the beginning of the year, and the final month needed for the college is not taken out until the END of the 14th year, then you'd need to save 385.48 a month or 4,625.75 a year.

I got there using a very simple Excel spreadsheet. In column A, I listed numbers 1 through 14 for each year. In column B, I had the annual contribution amount plus the prior year end amount. For the first row, there is no prior year. Then, in column C, I multiplied columns B by 1.079 to arrive at the final balance at EOY. Then, I just played with the contribution amount variable for a half dozen tries or so until row 14 (year 14) row was equal to 120,000 (4 years at 30,000).

I'm sure you're in school and have a formula... and that you should be able to arrive at the number without doing a half dozen samples. But, when you've been out of school for many decades, and you know how to use tools, you don't need those formulas (or I could look it up - but think you already know them so didn't).

I am having problems understanding this question.

If you wanted to save for your child's education and predict tuition to be $30,000 a year and project him or her to begin college 14 years from today and finish in 4 years. In addition, you want to stop saving money on the day she or him begin college (14 years). In addition, you believe you can earn 7.9% annually on your deposits. How much would you have to save every year in order pay for 4 years of college tuition?