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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 May 1, 2009

10-Year Costs on $10,000 Investment View report sorted by highest cost or state
Direct-sold 529 Plan Name Lowest cost options 2nd lowest options 2nd highest options Highest cost options Annual account fee Comments
Louisiana† START* 0 19 145 320 $0 Louisiana residency required. Option 2 is a no-cost fixed income fund managed by the State Treasurer.
Utah† UESP 0 320 436 448 $0 Fee waived for Utah residents. Option 1 is no-cost Public Treasurer's Investment Fund.
Ohio CollegeAdvantage 243 293 835 883 $0 Not including Putnam Stable Value available only to OH residents.
Oregon† OCSP 268 281 946 994 $0 Fee waived for Oregon residents.
Kansas Learning Quest 319 344 1225 1282 $0  
Illinois Bright Start 355 368 789 849 $10/$0 Fee on Vanguard options only.
North Carolina National CSP 377 462 1410 1531 $0  
Virginia VEST 383 409 657 669 $0 Does not include one-time $25 application fee.
Alaska UA CSP 406 1088 1381 1416 $25/$0 Fee waivable under certain conditions. No fee on ACT option.
New Mexico The Education Plan's CSP 406 654 874 898 $0 Does not include the $25 annual fee on NM nonresidents with balances under $10,000.
South Carolina† Future Scholar 431 505 726 738 $0 South Carolina residency required for direct-sold plan.
Utah UESP 436 468 583 595 Up to $15 Fee for nonresidents is $3 per $1,000.
Oregon OCSP* 464 477 946 994 $20/$0 Fee for nonresidents - Vanguard options only.
Rhode Island† CollegeBoundfund 468 689 1420 1432 $0 Rhode Island residency required for direct-sold plan.
West Virginia† SMART529 Direct 493 918 1213 1259 $0 West Virginia residency required for direct-sold plan.
Alabama† Higher Education 529 505 567 1646 1757 $0 Alabama residency required for direct-sold plan.
Maine† NextGen 543 904 1173 1174 $0 Fee waived for Maine residents.
South Dakota† CollegeAccess 529 555 567 798 810 $0 South Dakota residency required for direct-sold plan.
Michigan MESP 568 568 568 568 $0  
Wisconsin† EdVest 579 579 1375 1409 $0 Fee waived for Wisconsin residents. Figures include state fees that are currently being waived.
Georgia Path2College 617 715 861 933 $0  
Arizona Fidelity ACSP 628 873 1320 1324 $0  
California ScholarShare CSP 628 876 1315 1320 $0  
Delaware DCIP 628 875 1321 1326 $0  
Massachusetts U.Fund 628 860 1305 1311 $0  
Nevada Vanguard 529 628 677 871 894 $0 Does not include the $20 annual fee for balances under $3,000.
New Hampshire UNIQUE 628 873 1305 1308 $0  
Indiana† CollegeChoice 640 653 810 1166 $0 Fee waived for Indiana residents.
Iowa CSI 653 653 653 653 $0  
Texas College Savings Plan 673 703 874 946 $0  
New York's 529 College Savings Direct 689 689 689 689 $0  
Kentucky KESP 727 873 993 1123 $0  
Minnesota MCSP 752 812 812 812 $0  
Missouri MOST 774 1131 1669 1963 $0  
Wisconsin EdVest 774 774 1562 1596 $20 Fee for nonresidents. Figures include state fees that are currently being waived.
District of Columbia† DC 529 778 1033 2309 2362 $15 District of Columbia residency required for direct-sold plan.
Maine NextGen* 785 1145 1413 1414 $25 Fee for nonresidents, waivable under certain conditions.
West Virginia† SMART529 Select* 809 846 940 952 $0 Fee waived for West Virginia residents.
Kansas Schwab 529 811 1096 1556 1634 $0  
Nevada† Upromise College Fund* 811 811 811 811 $0 Fee waived for Nevada residents.
Connecticut CHET 812 812 812 812 $0  
Indiana CollegeChoice 835 847 1004 1357 $20 Fee for nonresidents, waivable under certain conditions.
Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan 871 871 871 930 $0  
Arkansas† GIFT 930 930 930 930 $0 Fee waived for Arkansas residents.
Colorado† Direct Portfolio 930 930 930 930 $0 Fee waived for Colorado and Wyoming residents.
Idaho† IDEAL 930 930 930 930 $0 Fee waived for Idaho residents.
Florida FCIP 955 955 955 955 $0 Does not include one-time $50 application fee.
Nevada USAA 960 1080 1316 1199 $15 Does not include the $15 annual fee for balances under $5,000.
Oklahoma College Savings Plan 981 1029 1206 1217 $0  
Vermont VHEIP 993 993 993 993 $0  
Nevada Upromise College Fund 1004 1004 1004 1004 $20 Fee for nonresidents.
Nebraska NCSP 1005 1017 2072 2137 $20  
New Jersey† NJBEST 1049 1178 1398 1466 $0 New Jersey residency required for direct-sold plan.
North Dakota† College SAVE 1049 1049 1049 1049 $0 Fee waived for North Dakota residents.
West Virginia SMART529 Select 1052 1088 1182 1194 $25 Fee for nonresidents, waivable under certain conditions.
Alaska T. Rowe Price CSP 1088 1147 1381 1416 $25 Fee waivable under certain conditions.
Maryland CIP 1088 1218 1381 1416 $25 Fee waivable under certain conditions.
Mississippi MACS 1100 1123 1147 1171 $0  
Colorado Direct Portfolio 1122 1122 1122 1122 $20 Fee for nonresidents.
Idaho IDEAL 1122 1122 1122 1122 $20 Fee for nonresidents.
Arkansas GIFT 1123 1123 1123 1123 $20 Fee for nonresidents.
Hawaii HCSP 1123 1123 1123 1123 $20  
North Dakota College SAVE 1240 1240 1240 1240 $20 Fee for nonresidents.
Nebraska TD Ameritrade 529 1301 1313 2342 2406 $20  
Montana† Pacific Life Funds 529 2297 2321 2373 2444 $0 Montana residency required for direct-sold plan.

† Applicable only to state residents.
* Amounts do not appear in official program description and are estimated by Savingforcollege.com.