The 2026 Saving For College 529 Ratings have been released, and after our staff compiled the category and factor-level scores within the data, a few patterns stood out. Consumers, advisors and 529 industry participants should take note.
Both direct-sold and advisor-sold plans posted gains in their average overall rating scores this year. Direct-sold plans climbed from a 4.179 average in the 2025 ratings to a 4.238 mark (out of a possible 5.0 scale) in 2026. Advisor-sold plans average scores moved from 4.111 to 4.152. Plan administrators from both sides of the distribution channel are visibly working to improve their offerings, and savers are the ones benefiting.
Direct-Sold Plans: One Category Saw the Biggest Jump
Of the four categories used to evaluate direct-sold plans, Ease of Use had the largest score increase across the 56 rated plans, jumping from 4.268 to a robust 4.459. Program Delivery posted a far more modest move from 4.103 to 4.153. The most common improvement fueling the Ease of Use surge? A wave of plans implementing simplified enrollment processes. Program Delivery scores were boosted by numerous plan reductions to program fees over the past five years. Direct-sold 529 plans appear to be executing well on the “easy to open, cheaper to hold” formula that’s driven their popularity.
Advisor-Sold Plans: Across-the-board improvement
The advisor-sold story looks a bit different. Rather than a single category driving improvement, gains showed up across three of the four evaluated categories. Ease of Use rose from 4.283 to 4.348, Savings Success improved from 4.311 to 4.368, and Program Delivery jumped from 3.860 to 3.968.
Advisor-sold programs are now visibly starting to offer 529 plan conveniences direct-sold plans pioneered a number of years ago. The clearest evidence: electronic withdrawals to a student’s school account. By a wide margin this was the single largest factor-level change found within this year’s advisor-sold data: 9 of the 29 programs evaluated improved their score on this feature. E-gifting, another feature long associated with direct-sold plans, also continued to expand into more advisor-sold programs this year.
The upgrades aren’t limited to convenience features. A number of advisor-sold plan investment managers implemented changes to their load structures: maximum front-end sales loads on A shares are being cut, and the schedules governing when C shares convert to A shares continue to shorten. Both changes amount to a fee reduction for 529 investors — the kind of improvement that doesn’t always make headlines, but adds a positive benefit over the life of an account.
Positive saver trends continue in 2026
Our take after rating 85 different 529 plans on over twenty different factors? The industry’s group of plans, already well-equipped to meet the needs of 529 investors, continues to advance in a positive direction for the benefit of education savers. We tip our (graduate) cap to the people in the 529 industry who keep moving the needle forward on this critically important investment product.
