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529 fee study

Savingforcollege.com's 529 Fee Study compares the lowest and highest 10-year expense totals for all direct-sold 529 savings plans. The data comes from 529 program official disclosure statements unless indicated otherwise with an asterisk (*).

Please click here for a further explanation of this fee study.

Savingforcollege.com's 529 Fee Study - as of Nov 1, 2009

10-Year Costs on $10,000 Investment View report sorted by highest cost or lowest cost
Direct-sold 529 Plan Name Lowest cost option 2nd lowest option 2nd highest option Highest cost option Annual account fee Comments
Alabama† Higher Education 529 505 567 1646 1757 $0  
Alaska T. Rowe Price CSP 1088 1147 1416 1439 $25 Not reflective of high-balance and auto-contribution accounts eligible for account fee waiver.
Alaska UA CSP 406 1088 1416 1439 $25/$0 Not reflective of high-balance and auto-contribution accounts eligible for account fee waiver. No fee on ACT option.
Arizona Fidelity ACSP 628 859 1336 1344 $0  
Arkansas GIFT 1123 1123 1123 1123 $20 Costs are $930 for Arkansas residents eligible for account fee waiver.
California ScholarShare CSP 628 876 1315 1320 $0  
Colorado Direct Portfolio 1122 1122 1122 1122 $20 Costs are $930 for Colorado and Wyoming residents eligible for account fee waiver.
Connecticut CHET 812 812 812 812 $0  
Delaware DCIP 628 875 1321 1326 $0  
District of Columbia† DC 529 778 948 2298 2309 $15  
Florida FCIP 955 955 955 955 $0 Figures do not include the one-time $50 application fee.
Georgia Path2College 617 715 861 933 $0  
Hawaii HCSP 1123 1123 1123 1123 $20  
Idaho IDEAL 1122 1122 1122 1122 $20 Costs are $930 for Idaho residents eligible for account fee waiver.
Illinois Bright Start 355 368 813 849 $10/$0 Account fee is on Vanguard options only.
Indiana CollegeChoice 640 676 1004 1357 $20 For Indiana residents and other accounts eligible for account fee waiver, costs range from $443 to $1166.
Iowa CSI 628 628 628 628 $0  
Kansas Learning Quest 319 344 1225 1282 $0  
Kansas Schwab 529 530 835 1578 1656 $0  
Kentucky KESP 691 812 993 1123 $0  
Louisiana† START* 0 16 295 307 $0 Zero-cost option is the fixed income fund managed by the State Treasurer.
Maine NextGen* 785 1145 1413 1414 $25 For Maine residents and other accounts eligible for account fee waiver, costs range from $543 to $1174.
Maryland CIP 1088 1218 1381 1416 $25 Not reflective of high-balance and auto-contribution accounts eligible for account fee waiver.
Massachusetts U.Fund 628 860 1305 1311 $0  
Michigan MESP 568 568 568 568 $0  
Minnesota MCSP 645 694 706 767 $0  
Mississippi MACS 1100 1123 1147 1171 $0  
Missouri MOST 774 1131 1669 1963 $0  
Montana† Pacific Life Funds 529 1375 2265 2384 2454 $0  
Nebraska NCSP 1005 1017 2072 2137 $20  
Nebraska TD Ameritrade 529 1301 1313 2353 2406 $20  
Nevada Upromise College Fund 944 944 944 944 $20 Not reflective of Nevada residents eligible for account fee waiver.
Nevada USAA 864 1009 1409 1479 $15 Figures do not include the $15 annual low-balance fee applicable to accounts under $5,000. Not reflective of Nevada residents eligible for account fee waiver.
Nevada Vanguard 529 555 604 798 822 $0 Figures do not include the $20 annual low-balance fee applicable to accounts under $3,000.
New Hampshire UNIQUE 628 873 1305 1308 $0  
New Jersey† NJBEST 1049 1178 1489 1500 $0  
New Mexico The Education Plan CSP 406 654 874 898 $0 Figures do not include the $25 annual low-balance fee applicable to non-resident accounts under $10,000.
New York 529 College Savings Direct* 614 614 614 614 $0  
North Carolina National CSP 377 393 738 1189 $0  
North Dakota College SAVE 1240 1240 1240 1240 $20 For North Dakota residents eligible for account fee waiver, costs are $1049.
Ohio CollegeAdvantage 243 293 883 1120 $0  
Oklahoma College Savings Plan 981 1029 1206 1217 $0  
Oregon OCSP* 464 477 946 994 $20/$0 Account fee is for Vanguard options only. For Oregon residents eligible for account fee waiver, lowest-cost options are $268 and $281.
Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan 871 871 871 930 $0  
Rhode Island† CollegeBoundfund 468 689 1420 1432 $0  
South Carolina† Future Scholar 431 505 726 738 $0  
South Dakota† CollegeAccess 529 555 567 798 810 $0  
Texas College Savings Plan 506 673 874 946 $0  
Utah UESP 436 468 592 605 $3 per $1,000, max $15 For Utah residents eligible for account fee waiver, costs range from $0 to $458 with the zero-cost option being the Public Treasurer Investment Fund.
Vermont VHEIP 666 666 969 1100 $0  
Virginia VEST 383 409 669 1288 $0 Figures do not include the one-time $25 application fee.
West Virginia SMART529 Select 1052 1076 1182 1194 $25 For WV residents and for high-balance and auto-contribution accounts eligible for account fee waiver, costs are lower.
West Virginia† SMART529 Direct 480 859 1213 1259 $0  
Wisconsin EdVest 774 774 1562 1596 $20 For WI residents and for high-balance and auto-contribution accounts eligible for account fee waiver, costs range from $579 to $1409.

† This direct-sold plan is open only to state residents.
* Amounts do not appear in official program description and are estimated by Savingforcollege.com.