Q3 2024 529 Performance Rankings: Three-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 three-year performance. Direct-sold plans are ones that consumers can enroll in without using a broker or financial advisor. Click here for one-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 September 30, 2024.

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Rank	Plan	State	Average return
1	SMART529 Select	West Virginia	5.55%
2	Bloomwell 529 Education Savings Plan	Nebraska	5.31%
3	SMART529 WV Direct College Savings Plan	West Virginia	5.21%
4	my529	Utah	5.20%Enroll Now
5	USAA 529 Education Savings Plan	Nevada	5.08%
6	NJBEST 529 College Savings Plan	New Jersey	4.92%
7	Maryland College Investment Plan	Maryland	4.72%Enroll Now
8	Edvest 529	Wisconsin	4.69%Enroll Now
9	Bright Start Direct-Sold College Savings Program	Illinois	4.59%Enroll Now
10	CollegeCounts 529 Fund	Alabama	4.57%Enroll Now
11	CollegeAccess 529 (Direct-sold)	South Dakota	4.54%Enroll Now
12	Path2College 529 Plan	Georgia	4.46%
13	Alaska 529	Alaska	4.45%Enroll Now
13	T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan	Alaska	4.45%Enroll Now
15	The Education Plan	New Mexico	4.44%
16	ScholarShare 529	California	4.40%
17	Nebraska Education Savings Trust -- Direct College Savings Plan	Nebraska	4.32%Enroll Now
18	Learning Quest 529 Education Savings Program (Direct-sold)	Kansas	4.31%
19	Oklahoma 529	Oklahoma	4.30%
20	Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold)	South Carolina	4.23%Enroll Now
21	NextGen 529 -- Client Direct Series	Maine	4.20%
22	Michigan Education Savings Program (MESP)	Michigan	4.12%
23	KY Saves 529	Kentucky	4.12%
24	Minnesota College Savings Plan	Minnesota	4.09%
25	ISave 529	Iowa	4.08%Enroll Now
26	Oregon College Savings Plan	Oregon	4.06%Enroll Now
27	Achieve Montana	Montana	3.94%
28	Florida 529 Savings Plan	Florida	3.84%Enroll Now
29	START Saving Program	Louisiana	3.84%
30	CollegeBound Saver (Direct-sold)	Rhode Island	3.75%
31	Schwab 529 College Savings Plan	Kansas	3.68%
32	Invest529	Virginia	3.61%Enroll Now
33	MOST - Missouri's 529 Education Plan (Direct-sold)	Missouri	3.60%Enroll Now
34	The Vanguard 529 College Savings Plan	Nevada	3.56%Enroll Now
35	DC College Savings Plan	District of Columbia	3.54%
36	TNStars College Savings 529 Program	Tennessee	3.51%Enroll Now
37	Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan	Pennsylvania	3.47%
38	NC 529 Plan	North Carolina	3.32%Enroll Now
39	Direct Portfolio College Savings Plan	Colorado	3.29%
40	Indiana529 Direct Savings Plan	Indiana	3.21%Enroll Now
41	Mississippi Affordable College Savings (MACS) Program	Mississippi	3.20%
42	College SAVE (Direct)	North Dakota	3.14%
43	Ohio's 529 Plan, CollegeAdvantage	Ohio	3.07%
44	U.Fund College Investing Plan	Massachusetts	3.02%
45	UNIQUE College Investing Plan	New Hampshire	3.02%
46	AZ529, Arizona's Education Savings Plan	Arizona	3.02%
47	DE529 Education Savings Plan	Delaware	3.02%
48	Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET)	Connecticut	3.01%
49	Hawaii's College Savings Program	Hawaii	2.98%
50	DreamAhead College Investment Plan	Washington	2.64%Enroll Now
-	Arkansas Brighter Future Direct Plan	Arkansas	N/A
-	Idaho College Savings Program (IDeal)	Idaho	N/A
-	New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan	New York	N/AEnroll Now
-	Texas College Savings Plan	Texas	N/AEnroll Now
-	Vermont Higher Education Investment Plan	Vermont	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.