Q4 2023 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, 2023 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
1IndianaCollegeChoice 529 Direct Savings Plan23.00
2FloridaFlorida 529 Savings Plan29.50
3AlaskaT. Rowe Price College Savings Plan30.13
3AlaskaAlaska 52930.13
5West VirginiaSMART529 WV Direct College Savings Plan30.55
6MarylandMaryland 529 -- Maryland Senator Edward J. Kasemeyer College Investment Plan34.93
7New HampshireUNIQUE College Investing Plan35.76
8MassachusettsU.Fund College Investing Plan35.81
9South CarolinaFuture Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold)36.77
10District of ColumbiaDC College Savings Plan37.55
11KansasLearning Quest 529 Education Savings Program (Direct-sold)38.23
12WisconsinEdvest 52938.29
13ArizonaAZ529, Arizona's Education Savings Plan39.76
14DelawareDE529 Education Savings Plan39.77
15Utahmy52939.79
16IllinoisBright Start Direct-Sold College Savings Program40.10
17NebraskaNebraska Education Savings Trust -- Direct College Savings Plan40.88
18MichiganMichigan Education Savings Program (MESP)43.07
19NevadaThe Vanguard 529 College Savings Plan43.28
20OhioOhio's 529 Plan, CollegeAdvantage44.12
21South DakotaCollegeAccess 529 (Direct-sold)46.66
22KansasSchwab 529 College Savings Plan48.19
23VirginiaInvest52949.76
24AlabamaCollegeCounts 529 Fund50.32
25MaineNextGen 529 -- Client Direct Series50.38
26MinnesotaMinnesota College Savings Plan50.81
27OregonOregon College Savings Plan52.36
28New YorkNew York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan54.04
29PennsylvaniaPennsylvania 529 Investment Plan58.84
30OklahomaOklahoma 52959.36
31WashingtonDreamAhead College Investment Plan60.92
32IowaCollege Savings Iowa63.21
33ColoradoDirect Portfolio College Savings Plan64.44
34LouisianaSTART Saving Program65.57
35Rhode IslandCollegeBound Saver (Direct-sold)65.68
36VermontVermont Higher Education Investment Plan65.93
37MissouriMOST - Missouri's 529 Education Plan (Direct-sold)67.83
38IdahoIdaho College Savings Program (IDeal)70.42
39HawaiiHawaii's College Savings Program70.72
40North CarolinaNC 529 Plan72.50
41West VirginiaSMART529 Select72.94
42NevadaUSAA 529 Education Savings Plan74.94
43North DakotaCollege SAVE (Direct)78.17
44MississippiMississippi Affordable College Savings (MACS) Program86.76
-ArizonaAZ529, Arizona's Education Savings Plan - Bank PlanN/A
-ArkansasArkansas Brighter Future Direct PlanN/A
-CaliforniaScholarShare 529N/A
-ConnecticutConnecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET)N/A
-GeorgiaPath2College 529 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
-TennesseeTNStars College Savings 529 ProgramN/A
-TexasTexas College Savings 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.