The latest 529 college savings plan data

FEB 29, 2016

By InvestmentNews Data and Liz Skinner

Americans continue to save for steep college costs through tax-advantaged Section 529 savings plans. Virginia's CollegeAmerica plan, an adviser-sold program managed by merican Funds, remains the nation's largest with nearly $50 billion in assets. The next largest college savings plan sold through financial advisers is Maine's NextGen College Ivesting Plan Select, which has $8 billion in assets. The top program that's sold directly to consumers is New York's 529 Program, which is managed by Ascensus and contains $16.4 billion in assets. That particular plan also ranks among the top five performers in its class over the last three years, as does the version of the CollegeAmerica plan in Virginia that's sold by registered investment advisers.

529s ranked by assets

State	Program	Manager	Assets ($M)
VA	CollegeAmerica	American Funds	$49,770.8
NY	New York's 529 Program (Direct)	Ascensus	$16,406.2
NV	The Vanguard 529 College Savings Plan	Ascensus	$10,900.9
NH	UNIQUE College Investing Plan	Fidelity Investments	$10,229.9
UT	Utah Educational Savings Plan	Utah Educational Savings Plan	$8,437.7
ME	NextGen College Investing Plan Select	Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith	$8,223.1
RI	CollegeBoundfund	AllianceBernstein	$7,124.6
CA	ScholarShare College Savings Plan	TIAA Tuition Financing Inc.	$6,489.4
MA	U.Fund College Investing Plan	Fidelity Investments	$5,003.7
OH	BlackRock CollegeAdvantage 529 Plan	BlackRock Advisors	$4,779.5
NH	Fidelity Advisor 529 Plan	Fidelity Investments	$4,413.9
MI	Michigan Education Savings Program	TIAA Tuition Financing Inc.	$4,248.1
IL	Bright Start College Savings (Direct)	OFI Private Investments Inc.	$3,765.8
CO	Scholars Choice College Savings Program	Legg Mason Global Asset Allocation	$3,661.3
NY	New York's 529 Program (Advisor-Guided)	Ascensus	$3,599.2
MD	Maryland College Investment Plan	T. Rowe Price Associates Inc.	$3,542.8
AK	John Hancock Freedom 529	T. Rowe Price Associates Inc.	$3,469.0
NJ	Franklin Templeton 529 Coll Savings Plan	Franklin Templeton Distributors Inc.	$3,298.2
VA	Virginia529 inVEST	Virginia College Savings Plan	$3,098.5
KS	Schwab 529 College Savings Plan	American Century Inv Mgt, Inc.	$2,796.7
NV	USAA College Savings Plan	Ascensus	$2,488.5
CT	Connecticut Higher Education Trust	TIAA Tuition Financing Inc.	$2,393.3
CO	CollegeInvest Direct Portfolio	Ascensus	$2,349.4
WI	Edvest 529 Plan	TIAA Tuition Financing Inc.	$2,305.1
MO	MOST Missouri's 529 Plan	Ascensus	$2,236.7

Most current assets available as of Aug. 19. Source: Morningstar, Inc.

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