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2013 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, five-year investment performance and ten-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, 2013.
We ranked plans that consumers can enroll in directly (see below), as well as those sold through brokers and fee-based financial planners).
One-year performance ranking
| Rank | State | Plan | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Dakota | CollegeAccess 529 (Direct-sold) | 15.04 |
| 2 | California | The ScholarShare College Savings Plan | 29.05 |
| 3 | Michigan | Michigan Education Savings Program | 32.04 |
| 4 | New York | New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan | 35.20 |
| 5 | District of Columbia | DC 529 College Savings Program (Direct-sold) | 35.38 |
| 6 | Virginia | Virginia529 inVEST | 38.19 |
| 7 | Ohio | Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 Savings Plan | 39.36 |
| 8 | West Virginia | SMART529 Select | 40.12 |
| 9 | Alaska | University of Alaska College Savings Plan | 41.12 |
| 10 | Utah | Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) Trust | 42.27 |
See the full list of one-year direct-sold rankings.
Three-year performance ranking
| Rank | State | Plan | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan | 27.44 |
| 2 | Michigan | Michigan Education Savings Program | 29.83 |
| 3 | Alaska | University of Alaska College Savings Plan | 30.64 |
| 4 | Alaska | T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan | 31.24 |
| 5 | South Dakota | CollegeAccess 529 (Direct-sold) | 32.63 |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan | 33.08 |
| 7 | Utah | Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) Trust | 34.27 |
| 8 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma College Savings Plan | 36.35 |
| 9 | Minnesota | Minnesota College Savings Plan | 37.47 |
| 10 | South Carolina | Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold) | 37.61 |
See the full list of three-year direct-sold rankings.
Five-year performance ranking
| Rank | State | Plan | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nevada | USAA 529 College Savings Plan | 13.68 |
| 2 | Utah | Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) Trust | 25.72 |
| 3 | New York | New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan | 29.07 |
| 4 | Florida | Florida 529 Savings Plan | 29.70 |
| 5 | Kansas | Schwab 529 College Savings Plan | 30.62 |
| 6 | Alaska | University of Alaska College Savings Plan | 32.39 |
| 7 | Alaska | T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan | 33.65 |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan | 33.99 |
| 9 | Maryland | College Savings Plans of Maryland -- College Investment Plan | 35.73 |
| 10 | Michigan | Michigan Education Savings Program | 36.40 |
See the full list of five-year direct-sold rankings.
Ten-year performance ranking
| Rank | State | Plan | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska | T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan | 19.01 |
| 2 | Alaska | University of Alaska College Savings Plan | 26.34 |
| 3 | Maryland | College Savings Plans of Maryland -- College Investment Plan | 31.64 |
| 4 | Virginia | Virginia529 inVEST | 33.60 |
| 5 | Louisiana | START Saving Program | 38.48 |
| 6 | South Carolina | Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold) | 41.42 |
| 7 | West Virginia | SMART529 WV Direct | 43.43 |
| 8 | Iowa | College Savings Iowa | 43.97 |
| 9 | Nevada | USAA 529 College Savings Plan | 45.31 |
| 10 | Nevada | The Vanguard 529 Savings Plan | 50.36 |
See the full list of ten-year direct-sold rankings.
For broker-sold plan rankings and fee-based financial planners.
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