The 25 most popular 529 plans

March 13, 2018

529 plans are one of the most popular ways to save for college. You deposit after-tax money into the account, and your earnings grow tax-free and won’t be taxed when you withdraw to pay for qualified expenses. This includes tuition and fees, books, supplies, computers and related equipment, and some room and board at any eligible college or university. And, starting in 2018, you can also withdraw up to $10,000 per year tax-free for elementary and high school tuition. Your state may also offer an additional tax credit or deduction for your 529 plan contributions.

But with close to 100 different plans to choose from, finding the best 529 plan for your child can be challenging. To help you with your decision, we’ve put together this list of 25 of the most popular direct-sold plans on Savingforcollege.com. Our ranking methodology considered views of the plan’s detail page on our site, and traffic from our site to the plan’s website in 2017.

Most popular 529 plans

529 savings plans from New York and California were the most popular among our readers. New York’s 529 College Savings Program, managed by Ascensus and the Scholarshare 529 College Savings Plan, managed by TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc., are top-rated plans that boast strong historical performance and offer a variety of age-based and static investment portfolios. New York’s 529 plan offers options from Vanguard, and the Scholarshare plan features options from TIAA-CREF, T. Rowe Price, DFA and PIMCO. New York residents can also claim a state tax deduction for contributions to the New York College Savings Program – up to $5,000 per year for individuals and up to $10,000 per year for married couples filing jointly.

Plans from smaller states also made the list, including those from Utah, Nevada, Maine and Alaska. These plans have all been featured in our top ten performance lists for the one-, three-, five- and / or 10-year periods, and offer investment options from nationally recognized asset managers, including Vanguard, T. Rowe Price and BlackRock. Utah residents are also eligible for a state tax deduction for contributions to a my529 plan.

Remember, even if your state offers a tax benefit for residents, you may want to shop around for better investment performance or lower fees. Fees and expenses can eat away at your savings, leaving you with less money when it’s time to pay for college. Most 529 plans are available to residents of any state, but a few, like South Carolina’s Future Scholar, have residency requirements. Start by checking out what your plan has to offer, then compare features with a few other similar plans to make sure you select the best option for family’s needs.

Plan name	State	Expense Ratio	5-Cap Rating*	Performance Ranking	How to Enroll
1. New York’s 529 College Savings Program — Direct Plan	New York	0.15%
2. The ScholarShare College Savings Plan	California	0.00% – 0.57%
3. my529	Utah	0.00%-0.60%
4. Bright Start College Savings Program — Direct-sold Plan	Illinois	0.10% – 0.83%
5. Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 Savings Plan	Ohio	0.00% – 0.55
6. The Vanguard 529 College Savings Pan	Nevada	0.16% – 0.44%
7. Maryland 529 College Investment Plan	Maryland	0.40% – 0.74%
8. TNStars	Tennessee	0.00% – 0.35%
9.inVEST 529	Virginia	0.10% – 0.76%
10. Texas College Savings Plan	Texas	0.59% – 0.98%
11.Path2College 529 Plan	Georgia	0.00% – 0.33%
12. U.Fund College Investing Plan	Massachusetts	0.11% – 1.20%
13. Michigan Education Savings Program	Michigan	0.12% – 0.24%. None for the Principal Plus Interest Option.
14. NextGen College Investing Plan — Client Direct Series	Maine	0.00% – 0.63%
15. Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan	Pennsylvania	0.33% – 0.46%
16. Florida 529 Savings Plan	Florida	0.39% – 0.75% management fee (None for Money Market option)
17. T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan	Alaska	0.35% – 0.74%
18. Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold)	South Carolina	0.00% – 0.25%	Only available to SC residents
19. USAA 529 College Savings Plan	Nevada	0.51% to 1.14%
20. CollegeChoice 529 Direct Savings Plan	Indiana	0.18% – 0.82%
21. MOST – Missouri’s 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold)	Missouri	0.23% – 0.57%
22. College Savings Iowa	Iowa	0.20%
23. Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET)	Connecticut	0.00%-1.07%
24. Edvest	Wisconsin	0.08% – 0.41%
25. Oregon College Savings Plan	Oregon	0.00% – 0.70%