2016 Plan Performance Rankings Q4

Each quarter Savingforcollege.com analyzes the investment performance figures for thousands of 529 portfolios and ranks the 529 savings plans from best to worst for one-year investment performance, three-year investment performance, five-year investment performance and ten-year investment performance. The top-performing 529 plans In producing our rankings, we compared the reported investment performance of a subset of portfolios from each 529 savings plan. The "performance score" determines the ranking. For more details, please view our methodology. Here are our 529 performance rankings as of December 31, 2016. We ranked plans that consumers can enroll in directly (see below), as well as those sold through brokers and fee-based financial planners). var head=document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0],cssLink=document.createElement("link");cssLink.href="//www.savingforcollege.com/includes/css/top-ten-for-article.css";cssLink.type="text/css";cssLink.rel="stylesheet";head.appendChild(cssLink); Top 10 Performing 529 College Savings Plans 1 Year1 Yr 3 Year3 Yr 5 Year5 Yr 10 Year10 Yr One-year rankings are based on a plan's average investment returns over the last 12 months, as of the date shown. To see how a plan performed over a longer time period, see the three-year, five-year and 10-year performance rankings (where available). Rank State Plan Performance score 1 Nevada USAA 529 College Savings Plan 23.18 Plan Details 2 Alaska T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan 31.89 3 Alaska University of Alaska College Savings Plan 32.71 4 West Virginia SMART529 WV Direct College Savings Plan 33.71 Plan Details 5 Tennessee TNStars College Savings 529 Program 35.60 Plan Details 6 Virginia Virginia529 inVEST 35.71 Enroll Now 7 Wisconsin Edvest 36.11 Plan Details 8 New York New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan 36.34 9 South Carolina Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold) 37.94 Enroll Now 10 Michigan Michigan Education Savings Program 38.67 Plan Details Compare Reset See the full list of one-year direct-sold rankings | For broker-sold plan rankings and fee-based financial planners Three-year rankings are based on a plan's average annual investment returns over the last three years as of the date shown. To see how a plan performed over a longer time period, see the five-year and 10-year rankings (where available) Rank State Plan Performance score 1 District of Columbia DC 529 College Savings Program (Direct-sold) 21.47 Enroll Now 2 New York New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan 23.08 3 Michigan Michigan Education Savings Program 24.04 Plan Details 4 California The ScholarShare College Savings Plan 25.85 Plan Details 5 Tennessee TNStars College Savings 529 Program 26.25 Plan Details 6 Ohio Ohio CollegeAdvantage Direct 529 Savings Plan 27.34 Enroll Now 7 Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan 28.61 Plan Details 8 South Carolina Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold) 28.65 Enroll Now 9 Louisiana START Saving Program 29.40 Plan Details 10 Georgia Path2College 529 Plan 30.51 Enroll Now Compare Reset See the full list of three-year direct-sold rankings | For broker-sold plan rankings and fee-based financial planners Five-year rankings are based on a plan's average annual investment returns over the last five years as of the date shown. To see how a plan performed over a longer time period, see the 10-year rankings (where available). Rank State Plan Performance score 1 District of Columbia DC 529 College Savings Program (Direct-sold) 22.60 Enroll Now 2 Ohio Ohio CollegeAdvantage Direct 529 Savings Plan 24.30 Enroll Now 3 Alaska T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan 28.19 4 Alaska University of Alaska College Savings Plan 29.61 5 New York New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan 31.90 6 California The ScholarShare College Savings Plan 32.36 Plan Details 7 Maine NextGen College Investing Plan -- Client Direct Series 34.12 Enroll Now 8 Maryland Maryland 529 -- College Investment Plan 37.76 Plan Details 9 West Virginia SMART529 WV Direct College Savings Plan 38.00 Plan Details 10 Michigan Michigan Education Savings Program 38.07 Plan Details Compare Reset See the full list of five-year direct-sold rankings | For broker-sold plan rankings and fee-based financial planners 10-year rankings are based on a plan's average annual investment returns over the last ten years as of the date shown. To see how a plan performed during a more recent time period, see the one-year, three-year and five-year rankings. Rank State Plan Performance score 1 Utah Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) 25.81 Plan Details 2 New York New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan 31.00 3 Ohio Ohio CollegeAdvantage Direct 529 Savings Plan 31.91 Enroll Now 4 Florida Florida 529 Savings Plan 32.55 Plan Details 5 Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan 32.77 Plan Details 6 Michigan Michigan Education Savings Program 33.73 Plan Details 7 Nevada USAA 529 College Savings Plan 35.37 Plan Details 8 Alaska University of Alaska College Savings Plan 36.54 9 Louisiana START Saving Program 36.78 Plan Details 10 District of Columbia DC 529 College Savings Program (Direct-sold) 38.28 Enroll Now Compare Reset See the full list of ten-year direct-sold rankings | For broker-sold plan rankings and fee-based financial planners $('.tabcontent .content').hide();$('.tabcontent1').show();$('.mini-top-ten').attr('id','top-ten-performance');$('.tabs .tab1').click(function(){$('.tabcontent .content').hide();$('.tabcontent1').show();$('.tab').removeClass('active');$('#top-ten-performance-table .tabs .tab1').addClass('active');});$('.tabs .tab2').click(function(){$('.tabcontent .content').hide();$('.tabcontent2').show();$('.tab').removeClass('active');$('#top-ten-performance-table .tabs .tab2').addClass('active');});$('.tabs .tab3').click(function(){$('.tabcontent .content').hide();$('.tabcontent3').show();$('.tab').removeClass('active');$('#top-ten-performance-table .tabs .tab3').addClass('active');});$('.tabs .tab4').click(function(){$('.tabcontent .content').hide();$('.tabcontent4').show();$('.tab').removeClass('active');$('#top-ten-performance-table .tabs .tab4').addClass('active');});$('.mini-top-ten').attr('id','top-ten-performance');$('#top-ten-performance-table').click(function(){$('.popover').hide();}); How to rank 529 plan performance Ranking over 3,000 investment options is no easy task, considering the wide variety of options found in 529 savings plans, and it requires a special methodology. Step one: We select specific portfolios from each 529 plan that can be compared on an apples-to-apples basis to portfolios in other 529 plans, based on their allocation among stocks, bonds and short-term instruments (money market and guaranteed investments). We've set up seven different asset-allocation categories ranging from 100 percent equity to 100 percent short-term. Step two: Within each of the seven categories, we compare historical performance of the selected portfolios and assign each plan a percentile ranking between one (best) and 100 (worst). Separate rankings are developed for one-year, three-year, five-year and ten-year performances. Step three: We take the average of each 529 plan's percentile rankings in the seven asset-allocation categories to produce a combined or "composite" percentile ranking. We then produce reports showing how the 529 plans rank against each other in their composite percentile rankings. Note: We currently produce these composite rankings for one-year, three-year, five-year and ten-year performances. For a more in-depth explanation of our methodology, please read our white paper. See the one-year direct-sold, three-year direct-sold, five-year direct-sold and ten-year direct-sold rankings. More information Links to our full report on the composite rankings for this quarter are provided below for the direct-sold 529 plans. Only our Premium subscribers have access to composite rankings for advisor-sold 529 plans, to the underlying data supporting the rankings and to separate one-year, three-year, five-year and ten-year rankings for each of the seven different asset-allocation categories. In addition, subscribers can easily look up the historical performance for every 529 portfolio in every available share class by using our Fee and Performance Lookup Tool. Each quarter Savingforcollege.com analyzes the investment performance figures for thousands of 529 portfolios and ranks the 529 savings plans from best to worst for one-year investment performance, three-year investment performance, five-year investment performance and ten-year investment performance. The top-performing 529 plans In producing our rankings, we compared the reported investment performance of a subset of portfolios from each 529 savings plan. The "performance score" determines the ranking. For more details, please view our methodology. Here are our 529 performance rankings as of December 31, 2016. We ranked plans that consumers can enroll in directly (see below), as well as those sold through brokers and fee-based financial planners). var head=document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0],cssLink=document.createElement("link");cssLink.href="//www.savingforcollege.com/includes/css/top-ten-for-article.css";cssLink.type="text/css";cssLink.rel="stylesheet";head.appendChild(cssLink); Top 10 Performing 529 College Savings Plans 1 Year1 Yr 3 Year3 Yr 5 Year5 Yr 10 Year10 Yr One-year rankings are based on a plan's average investment returns over the last 12 months, as of the date shown. To see how a plan performed over a longer time period, see the three-year, five-year and 10-year performance rankings (where available). Rank State Plan Performance score 1 Nevada USAA 529 College Savings Plan 23.18 Plan Details 2 Alaska T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan 31.89 3 Alaska University of Alaska College Savings Plan 32.71 4 West Virginia SMART529 WV Direct College Savings Plan 33.71 Plan Details 5 Tennessee TNStars College Savings 529 Program 35.60 Plan Details 6 Virginia Virginia529 inVEST 35.71 Enroll Now 7 Wisconsin Edvest 36.11 Plan Details 8 New York New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan 36.34 9 South Carolina Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold) 37.94 Enroll Now 10 Michigan Michigan Education Savings Program 38.67 Plan Details Compare Reset See the full list of one-year direct-sold rankings | For broker-sold plan rankings and fee-based financial planners Three-year rankings are based on a plan's average annual investment returns over the last three years as of the date shown. To see how a plan performed over a longer time period, see the five-year and 10-year rankings (where available) Rank State Plan Performance score 1 District of Columbia DC 529 College Savings Program (Direct-sold) 21.47 Enroll Now 2 New York New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan 23.08 3 Michigan Michigan Education Savings Program 24.04 Plan Details 4 California The ScholarShare College Savings Plan 25.85 Plan Details 5 Tennessee TNStars College Savings 529 Program 26.25 Plan Details 6 Ohio Ohio CollegeAdvantage Direct 529 Savings Plan 27.34 Enroll Now 7 Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan 28.61 Plan Details 8 South Carolina Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold) 28.65 Enroll Now 9 Louisiana START Saving Program 29.40 Plan Details 10 Georgia Path2College 529 Plan 30.51 Enroll Now Compare Reset See the full list of three-year direct-sold rankings | For broker-sold plan rankings and fee-based financial planners Five-year rankings are based on a plan's average annual investment returns over the last five years as of the date shown. To see how a plan performed over a longer time period, see the 10-year rankings (where available). Rank State Plan Performance score 1 District of Columbia DC 529 College Savings Program (Direct-sold) 22.60 Enroll Now 2 Ohio Ohio CollegeAdvantage Direct 529 Savings Plan 24.30 Enroll Now 3 Alaska T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan 28.19 4 Alaska University of Alaska College Savings Plan 29.61 5 New York New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan 31.90 6 California The ScholarShare College Savings Plan 32.36 Plan Details 7 Maine NextGen College Investing Plan -- Client Direct Series 34.12 Enroll Now 8 Maryland Maryland 529 -- College Investment Plan 37.76 Plan Details 9 West Virginia SMART529 WV Direct College Savings Plan 38.00 Plan Details 10 Michigan Michigan Education Savings Program 38.07 Plan Details Compare Reset See the full list of five-year direct-sold rankings | For broker-sold plan rankings and fee-based financial planners 10-year rankings are based on a plan's average annual investment returns over the last ten years as of the date shown. To see how a plan performed during a more recent time period, see the one-year, three-year and five-year rankings. Rank State Plan Performance score 1 Utah Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) 25.81 Plan Details 2 New York New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan 31.00 3 Ohio Ohio CollegeAdvantage Direct 529 Savings Plan 31.91 Enroll Now 4 Florida Florida 529 Savings Plan 32.55 Plan Details 5 Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan 32.77 Plan Details 6 Michigan Michigan Education Savings Program 33.73 Plan Details 7 Nevada USAA 529 College Savings Plan 35.37 Plan Details 8 Alaska University of Alaska College Savings Plan 36.54 9 Louisiana START Saving Program 36.78 Plan Details 10 District of Columbia DC 529 College Savings Program (Direct-sold) 38.28 Enroll Now Compare Reset See the full list of ten-year direct-sold rankings | For broker-sold plan rankings and fee-based financial planners $('.tabcontent .content').hide();$('.tabcontent1').show();$('.mini-top-ten').attr('id','top-ten-performance');$('.tabs .tab1').click(function(){$('.tabcontent .content').hide();$('.tabcontent1').show();$('.tab').removeClass('active');$('#top-ten-performance-table .tabs .tab1').addClass('active');});$('.tabs .tab2').click(function(){$('.tabcontent .content').hide();$('.tabcontent2').show();$('.tab').removeClass('active');$('#top-ten-performance-table .tabs .tab2').addClass('active');});$('.tabs .tab3').click(function(){$('.tabcontent .content').hide();$('.tabcontent3').show();$('.tab').removeClass('active');$('#top-ten-performance-table .tabs .tab3').addClass('active');});$('.tabs .tab4').click(function(){$('.tabcontent .content').hide();$('.tabcontent4').show();$('.tab').removeClass('active');$('#top-ten-performance-table .tabs .tab4').addClass('active');});$('.mini-top-ten').attr('id','top-ten-performance');$('#top-ten-performance-table').click(function(){$('.popover').hide();}); How to rank 529 plan performance Ranking over 3,000 investment options is no easy task, considering the wide variety of options found in 529 savings plans, and it requires a special methodology. Step one: We select specific portfolios from each 529 plan that can be compared on an apples-to-apples basis to portfolios in other 529 plans, based on their allocation among stocks, bonds and short-term instruments (money market and guaranteed investments). We've set up seven different asset-allocation categories ranging from 100 percent equity to 100 percent short-term. Step two: Within each of the seven categories, we compare historical performance of the selected portfolios and assign each plan a percentile ranking between one (best) and 100 (worst). Separate rankings are developed for one-year, three-year, five-year and ten-year performances. Step three: We take the average of each 529 plan's percentile rankings in the seven asset-allocation categories to produce a combined or "composite" percentile ranking. We then produce reports showing how the 529 plans rank against each other in their composite percentile rankings. Note: We currently produce these composite rankings for one-year, three-year, five-year and ten-year performances. For a more in-depth explanation of our methodology, please read our white paper. See the one-year direct-sold, three-year direct-sold, five-year direct-sold and ten-year direct-sold rankings. More information Links to our full report on the composite rankings for this quarter are provided below for the direct-sold 529 plans. Only our Premium subscribers have access to composite rankings for advisor-sold 529 plans, to the underlying data supporting the rankings and to separate one-year, three-year, five-year and ten-year rankings for each of the seven different asset-allocation categories. In addition, subscribers can easily look up the historical performance for every 529 portfolio in every available share class by using our Fee and Performance Lookup Tool.