Q4 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 December 31, 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)22.33
2WisconsinEdvest 52927.60
3NevadaUSAA 529 Education Savings Plan28.66
4West VirginiaSMART529 WV Direct College Savings Plan28.75
5South CarolinaFuture Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold)29.43
6GeorgiaPath2College 529 Plan30.48
7KansasLearning Quest 529 Education Savings Program (Direct-sold)30.71
8Utahmy52930.86
9New MexicoThe Education Plan's College Savings Program33.01
10MinnesotaMinnesota College Savings Plan33.08
11West VirginiaSMART529 Select33.39
12MarylandMaryland 529 -- Maryland Senator Edward J. Kasemeyer College Investment Plan33.46
13District of ColumbiaDC College Savings Plan33.84
14AlaskaAlaska 52935.77
14AlaskaT. Rowe Price College Savings Plan35.77
16NebraskaBloomwell 529 Education Savings Plan36.01
17IllinoisBright Start Direct-Sold College Savings Program36.55
18MichiganMichigan Education Savings Program (MESP)38.07
19CaliforniaScholarShare 52938.31
20OklahomaOklahoma 52939.85
21KansasSchwab 529 College Savings Plan40.39
22FloridaFlorida 529 Savings Plan40.96
23MaineNextGen 529 -- Client Direct Series41.55
24KentuckyKY Saves 52941.80
25New JerseyNJBEST 529 College Savings Plan42.64
26IndianaCollegeChoice 529 Direct Savings Plan44.36
27AlabamaCollegeCounts 529 Fund44.53
28MontanaAchieve Montana44.69
29NebraskaNebraska Education Savings Trust -- Direct College Savings Plan47.27
30VirginiaInvest52952.10
31OhioOhio's 529 Plan, CollegeAdvantage54.92
32VermontVermont Higher Education Investment Plan54.95
33IdahoIdaho College Savings Program (IDeal)56.11
34New HampshireUNIQUE College Investing Plan56.74
35MassachusettsU.Fund College Investing Plan56.76
36NevadaThe Vanguard 529 College Savings Plan59.05
37PennsylvaniaPennsylvania 529 Investment Plan62.76
38New YorkNew York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan63.67
39OregonOregon College Savings Plan65.48
40DelawareDE529 Education Savings Plan66.11
41ArizonaAZ529, Arizona's Education Savings Plan66.16
42Rhode IslandCollegeBound Saver (Direct-sold)67.19
43HawaiiHawaii's College Savings Program68.19
44IowaCollege Savings Iowa68.93
45MissouriMOST - Missouri's 529 Education Plan (Direct-sold)69.51
46MississippiMississippi Affordable College Savings (MACS) Program69.64
47LouisianaSTART Saving Program73.02
48WashingtonDreamAhead College Investment Plan73.72
49North DakotaCollege SAVE (Direct)73.93
50ColoradoDirect Portfolio College Savings Plan74.57
51North CarolinaNC 529 Plan76.45
52TennesseeTNStars College Savings 529 Program76.74
-ArizonaAZ529, Arizona's Education Savings Plan - Bank PlanN/A
-ArkansasArkansas Brighter Future Direct 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.