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Q4 2025 529 Performance Rankings: One-Year

Each quarter Saving For College analyzes the investment returns for thousands of 529 portfolios and ranks the 529 savings plans based on the overall investment performance. This table shows how we ranked all direct-sold 529 plans for one-year performance. Direct-sold plans are ones that consumers can enroll in without using a broker or financial advisor. Click here for three-year performance table, five-year performance table, and ten-year performance table.

The Saving For College enrollment-based performance rankings analyze the returns of all age-based or year-of-enrollment portfolios offered by 529 plans. The methodology calculates a hypothetical average annual return for each portfolio across a glidepath from age 0 to 19+ and then ranks the plans from highest to lowest returns. Please view our methodology for more details.

This ranking could be a useful tool when comparing and selecting a 529 plan.

Rankings use data as of December 31, 2025.

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Rank	Plan	State	Average return
1	Victory Capital 529 Education Savings Plan	Nevada	16.32%
2	Mississippi Affordable College Savings (MACS) Program	Mississippi	16.18%
3	NJBEST 529 College Savings Plan	New Jersey	16.09% Enroll Now 99,755 clicked
4	SMART529 Select	West Virginia	16.07%
5	my529	Utah	16.07% Enroll Now 105,106 clicked
6	DE529 Education Savings Plan	Delaware	16.02%
7	UNIQUE College Investing Plan	New Hampshire	16.02%
8	TNStars College Savings 529 Program	Tennessee	16.01% Enroll Now 16,288 clicked
9	U.Fund College Investing Plan	Massachusetts	16.01%
10	AZ529, Arizona's Education Savings Plan	Arizona	16.01%
11	Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET)	Connecticut	16.01%
12	Embark	Oregon	15.93%
13	ISave 529	Iowa	15.73% Enroll Now 68,565 clicked
14	START Saving Program	Louisiana	15.67%
15	Alaska 529	Alaska	15.57% Enroll Now 83,940 clicked
15	T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan	Alaska	15.57% Enroll Now 193,976 clicked
17	Maryland College Investment Plan	Maryland	15.51% Enroll Now 24,134 clicked
18	SMART529 WV Direct College Savings Plan	West Virginia	15.46% Enroll Now 16,041 clicked
19	NextGen 529 -- Client Direct Series	Maine	15.33%
20	New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan	New York	15.22% Enroll Now 372,037 clicked
21	The Education Plan	New Mexico	15.11% Enroll Now 37,560 clicked
22	Bloomwell 529 Education Savings Plan	Nebraska	15.08%
23	CollegeAccess 529 (Direct-sold)	South Dakota	14.96% Enroll Now 25,483 clicked
24	CollegeCounts 529 Fund	Alabama	14.95% Enroll Now 82,668 clicked
25	NextGen 529 -- Client Connect Series	Maine	14.94%
26	The Vanguard 529 College Savings Plan	Nevada	14.88% Enroll Now 90,765 clicked
27	Texas College Savings Plan	Texas	14.78% Enroll Now 61,469 clicked
28	Ohio's 529 Plan, CollegeAdvantage	Ohio	14.78%
29	Nebraska Education Savings Trust -- Direct College Savings Plan	Nebraska	14.76%
30	Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan	Pennsylvania	14.76%
31	Achieve Montana	Montana	14.73%
32	MOST - Missouri's 529 Education Plan (Direct-sold)	Missouri	14.65% Enroll Now 80,570 clicked
33	Florida Investment 529 Plan	Florida	14.61% Enroll Now 64,821 clicked
34	Arkansas Brighter Future Direct Plan	Arkansas	14.58%
35	Idaho College Savings Program (IDeal)	Idaho	14.57%
36	Direct Portfolio College Savings Plan	Colorado	14.56%
37	KY Saves 529	Kentucky	14.24% Enroll Now 32,387 clicked
38	Invest529	Virginia	14.10% Enroll Now 169,211 clicked
39	CollegeBound Saver (Direct-sold)	Rhode Island	13.99% Enroll Now 30,517 clicked
40	Edvest 529	Wisconsin	13.91%
41	Bright Start Direct-Sold College Savings Program	Illinois	13.86% Enroll Now 85,906 clicked
42	ScholarShare 529	California	13.85%
43	NC 529 Plan	North Carolina	13.75% Enroll Now 107,754 clicked
44	Michigan Education Savings Program (MESP)	Michigan	13.73% Enroll Now 45,085 clicked
45	Oklahoma 529	Oklahoma	13.64% Enroll Now 2,157 clicked
46	Hawaii's College Savings Program	Hawaii	13.47%
47	Path2College 529 Plan	Georgia	13.42% Enroll Now 60,063 clicked
48	DC College Savings Plan	District of Columbia	13.41% Enroll Now 37,450 clicked
49	Indiana529 Direct Savings Plan	Indiana	13.20% Enroll Now 86,332 clicked
50	Minnesota College Savings Plan	Minnesota	12.67% Enroll Now 26,011 clicked
51	Learning Quest 529 Education Savings Program (Direct-sold)	Kansas	12.50%
52	Schwab 529 College Savings Plan	Kansas	12.49%
53	Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold)	South Carolina	11.81% Enroll Now 124,898 clicked
-	College SAVE (Direct)	North Dakota	N/A Enroll Now 34,248 clicked
-	VT 529	Vermont	N/A
-	WA529 Invest	Washington	N/A

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More information

NA = Not Applicable = Program does not have at least three portfolios covering at least 10 age bands with sufficiently long performance to be included in our ranking model.

The Saving For College enrollment-based rankings compare historical investment returns of only the age-based and year-of-enrollment portfolios offered by each 529 plan.

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.

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Saving For College is an unbiased, independent resource for parents and financial professionals, providing them with information and tools to understand the benefits of 529 college savings plans and how to meet the challenge of increasing college costs.