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2012 plan performance rankings Q1
Each quarter Savingforcollege.com analyzes the investment performance figures for thousands of 529 portfolios and ranks the 529 savings plans from best to worst for one-year investment performance, three-year investment performance and five-year investment performance.
The top-performing 529 plans
In producing our rankings, we compared the reported investment performance of a subset of portfolios from each 529 savings plan. The lower the "percentile," the better the ranking. For more details on our methodology.
Here are our 529 performance rankings as of March 31, 2012.
We ranked plans that consumers can enroll in directly (see below), as well as those sold through brokers).
One-year performance ranking
| Rank | State | Plan | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan | 23.61 |
| 2 | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan | 25.08 |
| 3 | Utah | Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) Trust | 26.11 |
| 4 | Michigan | Michigan Education Savings Program | 27.14 |
| 5 | Illinois | Bright Start College Savings Program -- Direct-sold Plan | 29.10 |
| 6 | Iowa | College Savings Iowa | 30.22 |
| 7 | Vermont | Vermont Higher Education Investment Plan | 31.46 |
| 8 | New Mexico | The Education Plan's College Savings Program (Direct-sold) | 31.49 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma College Savings Plan | 32.38 |
| 10 | Georgia | Path2College 529 Plan | 32.86 |
See the full list of one-year direct-sold rankings.
Three-year performance ranking
| Rank | State | Plan | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska | T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan | 19.99 |
| 2 | Alaska | University of Alaska College Savings Plan | 22.58 |
| 3 | Maryland | College Savings Plans of Maryland -- College Investment Plan | 24.30 |
| 4 | Maine | NextGen College Investing Plan -- Client Direct Series | 28.25 |
| 5 | Virginia | Virginia Education Savings Trust (VEST) | 40.69 |
| 6 | Michigan | Michigan Education Savings Program | 42.29 |
| 7 | New York | New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan | 42.47 |
| 8 | District of Columbia | DC 529 College Savings Program (Direct-sold) | 43.21 |
| 9 | Utah | Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) Trust | 44.07 |
| 10 | Rhode Island | CollegeBoundfund (Direct-sold, Alternative RI) | 45.26 |
See the full list of three-year direct-sold rankings.
Five-year performance ranking
| Rank | State | Plan | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah | Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) Trust | 29.67 |
| 2 | Kansas | Schwab 529 College Savings Plan | 31.82 |
| 3 | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan | 32.05 |
| 4 | New York | New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan | 32.08 |
| 5 | Wisconsin | EdVest (Direct-sold) | 34.82 |
| 6 | Ohio | Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 Savings Plan | 34.95 |
| 7 | Nevada | The Vanguard 529 Savings Plan | 36.42 |
| 8 | Alaska | University of Alaska College Savings Plan | 37.36 |
| 9 | Michigan | Michigan Education Savings Program | 37.57 |
| 10 | Iowa | College Savings Iowa | 38.98 |
See the full list of five-year direct-sold rankings.
For broker-sold plan rankings.
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