You have a goal of wanting to provide some assurance to your family that they will be taken care of financially if anything unfortunate happens to you.  After graduation you will be hounded by insurance agents interested in selling you "whole life" or "universal life" insurance.  

Assume (realistically) that there is a plan which you pay $750 per month for 20 years, and then you have your $250,000 life insurance policy "paid up" for life (you never have to pay any more premiums, but you are guaranteed a $250,000 payout whenever you die)

You would make your first payment the day you sign up, and them at the end of each month for a total of 240 payments.

You want to compare the value of that plan to buying term insurance which costs you $225 per month for a $250,000 policy with the rate guaranteed for 20 years  (in other words you would pay the $225 monthly premium for 20 years, then drop the policy and your coverage would end).?

The relevant comparison is to look at investing the difference (between the $750 and the $225) and see how long it would take you to accumulate the $250,000 in an account so you could "self-insure".  ?

Assume you can earn 8.0% (annual) on the invested difference (but remember you are investing and compounding monthly).   How long will it take you to accumulate $250,000?      

How much will you have accumulated at the end of 20 years?   Solve the problem using the "Brute Force Method for finding Future Values" in a spreadsheet?