Q2 2023 529 plan rankings: Three-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 June 30, 2023 for Direct-sold 529 plans.

Three-year performance ranking (click here for one-year performance table, five-year performance table, and ten-year performance table):

RankStatePlanPerformance Score
1South DakotaCollegeAccess 529 (Direct-sold)23.15
2WisconsinEdvest 52925.33
3West VirginiaSMART529 WV Direct College Savings Plan28.46
4New MexicoThe Education Plan's College Savings Program28.91
5AlaskaT. Rowe Price College Savings Plan29.77
5AlaskaAlaska 52929.77
7GeorgiaPath2College 529 Plan30.99
8South CarolinaFuture Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold)32.71
9IndianaCollegeChoice 529 Direct Savings Plan32.83
10MarylandMaryland 529 -- Maryland Senator Edward J. Kasemeyer College Investment Plan33.87
11CaliforniaScholarShare 52933.99
12West VirginiaSMART529 Select35.90
13MinnesotaMinnesota College Savings Plan36.63
14OklahomaOklahoma 52937.89
15KentuckyKY Saves 52937.92
16MichiganMichigan Education Savings Program (MESP)38.30
17District of ColumbiaDC College Savings Plan39.25
18MontanaAchieve Montana40.27
19Utahmy52941.98
20KansasLearning Quest 529 Education Savings Program (Direct-sold)43.39
21IllinoisBright Start Direct-Sold College Savings Program44.40
22KansasSchwab 529 College Savings Plan44.70
23FloridaFlorida Prepaid44.85
24NebraskaNebraska Education Savings Trust -- Direct College Savings Plan48.79
25NevadaUSAA 529 Education Savings Plan48.84
26DelawareDE529 Education Savings Plan49.73
27New HampshireUNIQUE College Investing Plan49.75
28MassachusettsU.Fund College Investing Plan49.84
29ArizonaAZ529, Arizona's Education Savings Plan49.86
30NebraskaBloomwell 529 Education Savings Plan49.94
31MaineNextGen 529 -- Client Direct Series52.11
32VirginiaInvest52952.19
33NevadaThe Vanguard 529 College Savings Plan52.97
34OhioOhio's 529 Plan, CollegeAdvantage54.36
35VermontVermont Higher Education Investment Plan56.41
36IdahoIdaho College Savings Program (IDeal)58.05
37AlabamaCollegeCounts 529 Fund58.62
38New JerseyNJBEST 529 College Savings Plan58.99
39PennsylvaniaPennsylvania 529 Investment Plan59.81
40New YorkNew York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan61.27
41ArkansasArkansas Brighter Future Direct Plan61.59
42OregonOregon College Savings Plan62.97
43Rhode IslandCollegeBound Saver (Direct-sold)64.73
44North DakotaCollege SAVE (Direct)67.07
45IowaCollege Savings Iowa67.25
46MissouriMOST - Missouri's 529 Education Plan (Direct-sold)68.81
47HawaiiHawaii's College Savings Program71.99
48WashingtonDreamAhead College Investment Plan72.35
49LouisianaSTART Saving Program73.41
50MississippiMississippi Affordable College Savings (MACS) Program73.67
51North CarolinaNC 529 Plan73.92
52ColoradoDirect Portfolio College Savings Plan74.69
53TennesseeTNStars College Savings 529 Program78.10
-ArizonaAZ529, Arizona's Education Savings Plan - Bank PlanN/A
-ConnecticutConnecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET)N/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.