This year's comprehensive 529 Ratings spotlight leading state programs and incorporate new measures to ensure families can confidently select the right plan for their education goals.
MIAMI, Sept. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Saving For College (savingforcollege.com), the nation's leading authority on 529 plans and education savings, today released its annual 529 Ratings. This year, three T. Rowe Price plans earned the highest scores among direct-sold options: the Maryland College Investment Plan, the T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan, and Alaska 529. Other state plans recognized as Top of the Class include those from West Virginia, California, New Jersey, and New Mexico.
In addition, four advisor-sold plans - from Alaska, New Jersey, Ohio, and West Virginia - were recognized as Top of the Class within their category. Advisor-sold ratings apply to plans available exclusively through investment professionals.
With more than 17 million accounts holding over $500 billion, 529 plans have become a vital tool for families looking to cut future student debt. Since 1999, Saving For College has offered the most comprehensive 529 plan ratings, helping families compare options and make informed education-savings decisions.
This year's Ratings were refined to better capture 529 plan innovations, efforts to simplify investment choices, and overall program support to help savers succeed. Changes to the ratings process include:
- Adding three new objective factors and removing three from the prior year's set of more than twenty scoring factors.
- Revising the weightings for nearly half of the factors used to calculate final scores.
- Expanding the Resident Benefits score to account for the level of active grant and matching efforts, as well as new tax rules.
"Families today face more choices – and more complexity – when it comes to saving for education," said Jordan Lee, CEO of Saving For College and Backer. "By refining our 2025 Ratings to reflect new incentives, updated tax rules, and innovations across state programs, we aim to make those choices clearer. Our mission is to give families the confidence to start saving and to know they're putting their money in a plan that will support their long-term goals."
Saving For College rated each 529 plan on a five-point scale, evaluating them across four categories to measure overall attractiveness. Categories include:
- Performance: This category reflects the plan's historical investment returns. Scores are based on proprietary 529 performance rankings that analyze all age-based and year-of-enrollment portfolios to assess overall results.
- Ease of Use: This category measures how simple it is to open, manage, and use a plan. Programs that streamline these processes earn higher scores.
- Savings Success: This category evaluates how effectively a plan supports investors in maximizing their savings. Criteria include helpful features like online gifting or automatic contribution increases, as well as savings drawbacks such as annual account fees.
- Program Delivery: This category assesses how well a plan is structured to deliver consistent performance in the future. Criteria include program manager tenure, contract stability, and the breadth of methods for tracking plan quality, among others.
"The 2025 Saving For College 529 Ratings are a valuable resource for families deciding to start saving for education," said Scott Morrison, Head of Product at Saving For College. "With the recent passage of H.R. 1, 529 programs now cover more uses – including K-12 tutoring expenses, higher K-12 disbursement limits, and a broad range of continuing education programs. As more families begin saving, our 529 Ratings make it easier to choose the right plan and get started."
Families can view and compare all plan ratings at savingforcollege.com/529-plan-ratings.
About Saving For College
For over 25 years since its founding in 1999, Saving For College has provided unbiased information to help families manage the rising costs of education. In 2023, it became part of Backer, the leading fintech focused on 529 plans. Its research, content, calculators, and tools have guided tens of millions of families in making well-informed decisions about saving and paying for education.
Media Contact
Martha Kortiak Mert, Saving For College, 1 3057762544, [email protected], savingforcollege.com
SOURCE Saving For College
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