Q4 2022 529 plan rankings: Five-year performance

Savingforcollege.comBy: Savingforcollege.com | 

Savingforcollege.com ranks the performance of direct-sold 529 plans. Direct-sold plans are those that consumers can enroll in without using a broker. We have prepared one-year, three-year, five-year and ten-year performance tables.

To prepare this ranking, we compared a subset of portfolios from each 529 savings plan. We selected portfolios based on their mix of stocks, bonds and money market funds, which allows for an apples-to-apples comparison in seven asset-allocation categories. The "performance score" determines the ranking.

This ranking could be a useful tool for you when selecting which direct 529 plan might be right for you.

Here are our 529 performance rankings as of December 31, 2022 for Direct-sold 529 plans.

Five-year performance ranking (click here for one-year performance table, three-year performance table, and ten-year performance table):

RankStatePlanPerformance Score
1West VirginiaSMART529 WV Direct College Savings Plan17.09
2District of ColumbiaDC College Savings Plan25.52
3WisconsinEdvest28.33
4South CarolinaFuture Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold)29.14
5NebraskaNebraska Education Savings Trust -- Direct College Savings Plan29.83
6KansasLearning Quest 529 Education Savings Program (Direct-sold)30.94
7AlaskaAlaska 52932.74
7AlaskaT. Rowe Price College Savings Plan32.74
9MarylandMaryland 529 -- Maryland Senator Edward J. Kasemeyer College Investment Plan34.09
10MichiganMichigan Education Savings Program (MESP)34.57
11NevadaThe Vanguard 529 College Savings Plan35.77
12Utahmy52937.25
13ArizonaAZ529, Arizona's Education Savings Plan39.18
14MassachusettsU.Fund College Investing Plan39.24
15New HampshireUNIQUE College Investing Plan39.30
16DelawareDE529 Education Savings Plan39.57
17IllinoisBright Start Direct-Sold College Savings Program40.25
18MinnesotaMinnesota College Savings Plan43.75
19OhioOhio's 529 Plan, CollegeAdvantage43.90
20VirginiaInvest52944.81
21MaineNextGen 529 -- Client Direct Series47.08
22AlabamaCollegeCounts 529 Fund47.25
23FloridaFlorida 529 Savings Plan48.97
24New YorkNew York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan50.29
25VermontVermont Higher Education Investment Plan53.40
26PennsylvaniaPennsylvania 529 Investment Plan55.37
27LouisianaSTART Saving Program56.33
28ColoradoDirect Portfolio College Savings Plan56.98
29South DakotaCollegeAccess 529 (Direct-sold)57.41
30OklahomaOklahoma 52958.00
31IowaCollege Savings Iowa58.57
32IdahoIdaho College Savings Program (IDeal)60.37
33Rhode IslandCollegeBound Saver (Direct-sold)60.63
34MissouriMOST - Missouri's 529 Education Plan (Direct-sold)63.00
35ArkansasArkansas Brighter Future Direct Plan63.47
36North DakotaCollege SAVE (Direct)65.68
37North CarolinaNC 529 Plan66.68
38HawaiiHawaii's College Savings Program66.82
39West VirginiaSMART529 Select68.32
40MississippiMississippi Affordable College Savings (MACS) Program76.71
41NevadaUSAA 529 Education Savings Plan83.44
-ArizonaAZ529, Arizona's Education Savings Plan - Bank PlanN/A
-CaliforniaScholarShare 529N/A
-ConnecticutConnecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET)N/A
-GeorgiaPath2College 529 PlanN/A
-IndianaCollegeChoice 529 Direct Savings PlanN/A
-KentuckyKY Saves 529N/A
-MontanaAchieve MontanaN/A
-NebraskaBloomwell 529 Education Savings PlanN/A
-New JerseyNJBEST 529 College Savings PlanN/A
-New MexicoThe Education Plan's College Savings ProgramN/A
-OregonOregon College Savings PlanN/A
-TennesseeTNStars College Savings 529 ProgramN/A
-TexasTexas College Savings PlanN/A
-WashingtonDreamAhead College Investment PlanN/A

NA = Not Applicable = Program does not have at least one portfolio with sufficiently-long performance in a minimum of four asset allocation categories under our ranking model.

The Savingforcollege.com plan composite rankings are derived using the plans' relevant portfolio performance in seven unique asset allocation categories. The asset-allocation categories used are: 100 percent equity, 80 percent equity, 60 percent equity, 40 percent equity, 20 percent equity, 100 percent fixed and 100 percent short term. The plan composite ranking is determined by the average of its percentile ranking in the seven categories.

The performance data underlying these rankings represent past performance and are not a guarantee of future performance. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data used. A plan portfolio's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares or units when redeemed may be worth more or less than their original cost. Investors should carefully consider plan investment goals, risks, charges and expenses by obtaining and reading the plan's official program description before investing. Investors should also consider whether their beneficiary's home state offers any tax or other benefits that are available for investments only in such state's 529 plan.

For a more in-depth explanation of our methodology, please read our white paper.

Brokers, please note: For internal use only and not for use with or to be shown to the investing public.

Disclaimer: Saving For College, LLC shall not be liable for any errors or omissions in this report. Users should rely on official program disclosures.

For broker-sold plan rankings, click here.