Morningstar 529 Ratings: The Best Plans of 2025

A 529 college savings plan can be a powerful savings tool for future education expenses, as investments in the plan increase tax-free.

While state tax benefits should be the first consideration for most people, there still is a range of 529 plans available, and Morningstar’s manager research analysts remain focused on guiding investors to the best options available.

Our analysts annually assign forward-looking, qualitative ratings to 529 education savings plans based on our assessment of each plan’s investment merits relative to its peers. In October 2025, we reviewed 59 plans representing more than 90% of the industry’s assets. Of this subset, 31 plans earned Morningstar Medalist Ratings of Gold, Silver, or Bronze.

You can learn more about 529 college savings plans and how to start saving in our 529 guide.

Here’s a look at our latest 529 assessments.

Morningstar’s 529 Ratings: Key Takeaways

• Five states earned the Medalist Ratings of Gold for one of their plans: Alaska, Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Utah. These Gold-rated 529 plans offer exceptional state stewardship of investor capital and well-constructed portfolios managed by competent investment teams.
• Thirteen plans earned Silver ratings, including advisor-sold plans offered by Ohio and Virginia. (Advisor-sold 529 plans tend to be more expensive and experience a higher hurdle for Medalist Ratings.)
• Most plans retained their Medalist Ratings. One plan—Illinois’ Bright Directions advisor-sold plan—was upgraded, and four were downgraded.
• Within the ratings, the Parent Pillar rating saw the most movement, while Process and People ratings remained mostly stable. Five states representing seven different plans received an upgrade to the Parent rating, reflecting their improved or industry-leading advocacy for plan participants.

The Best 529 Plans

The 529 industry has made commendable improvements on all fronts, including more sophisticated investment approaches, increased state oversight, and lower fees since we debuted our ratings in 2012.

But there are still some plans that stand out above the rest, and we are committed to steering educational savers to the best 529 plan options available. The 31 plans earning Gold, Silver, or Bronze Medalist Ratings exhibit some combination of the following attractive features:

• A well-researched asset-allocation approach
• A robust process for selecting and monitoring underlying investments
• A well-resourced and experienced investment team
• Stable and engaged oversight from the state
• Low fees

Investors in what Morningstar analysts consider to be the best 529 plans should be well-positioned for the future.

It’s important to note that many states provide income tax benefits to education savers. And depending on a saver’s place of residency and unique tax profile (which we do not factor into our ratings), those benefits might be generous enough to make investing in a home state’s plan a worthy choice even if it’s not one we recommend.

Gold 529 Ratings: The Valedictorians

Five plans earned Medalist Ratings of Gold, standing out as the best 529 plans among those that Morningstar analysts cover. Notably, all five also earned Gold Medalist Rating in 2024 and continue to offer exceptional state stewardship of investor capital and well-constructed portfolios managed by competent investment teams.

Alaska’s T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan taps an industry-leading multi-asset investment team at T. Rowe Price that follows a robust and research-driven approach to education savings. Although the Education Trust of Alaska’s unusually long contract with T. Rowe Price (expires in 2045) isn’t best practice, the trust otherwise provides strong oversight and partnership with T. Rowe Price to continually improve the plan.

Illinois’ Bright Start Direct-Sold College Savings Plan offers compelling investment options that are also highly cost-effective. Notably, the state offers a wide range of high-quality investment options across multiple firms, compared with some peers whose offerings are restricted to a single asset manager. Its investment manager, TIAA-CREF, is spread thin relative to its growth, but the state’s investment team keeps a close watch on the portfolios and effectively negotiates better terms for its participants.

Massachusetts’ U.Fund College Investing Plan features a well-resourced investment team at Fidelity. It notably offers enrollment portfolios in three different flavors: all actively managed, all-passive, and blend. All three are thoughtfully constructed, and the rest of the investment menu has several high-quality options. While four other states offer similar plans managed by Fidelity, the state of Massachusetts stands out with its scrupulous oversight and continuous, effective engagement with the firm.

The Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan continues to benefit from its topnotch state oversight. The Pennsylvania Treasury Department has built an impressive record of effective governance, including a successful negotiation with its investment manager and program manager that will lead to accelerated fee reductions as the plan’s assets grow. Its well-defined plans for career development and succession planning help future-proof the oversight process and ensure continuity.

On top of its well-diversified, cost-effective enrollment year portfolios, Utah’s my529 plan continues to offer its unique, custom age-based portfolios that allow investors to build their own glide paths using Vanguard and DFA funds. While the custom options can be misused, the my529 team has placed guardrails and behavioral nudges to steer investors away from overly expensive or niche portfolios.

Silver 529 Ratings: The Dean’s List

Silver-rated 529 plans sport a combination of superior investment teams, robust investment processes, and/or good state stewardship that benefit participants.

Thirteen plans earned the Silver rating this year, and all 13 had earned this designation the year prior, reflecting their continued dedication to help investors meet their education savings goals. Under the hood, two states—Georgia and Maine—earned an upgrade to their Parent ratings, in recognition of their proactive and thorough investment oversight.

Bronze 529 Ratings: High Honors

Bronze-rated plans tend to carry a mix of Average and Above Average ratings across the People, Process, and Parent Pillars. Though they may not quite match higher-rated peers when it comes to investment options or investment managers, they can still help investors meet their goals, especially when combined with various state tax benefits.

Several Bronze-rated plans are also quite affordable, which means that investors are likely to take a larger share of the returns realized by their investment portfolios.

How to Decide Which 529 Plan Is Right for You

All education savers using 529 plans benefit from tax-free growth and tax-free withdrawals (at the federal level) for qualified education expenses. On top of that, over 30 states offer state income tax credits or deductions. Some states allow residents to claim state tax benefits no matter which 529 plan they choose, but in most cases, opting for an out-of-state plan means giving up home-state tax incentives. Morningstar Medalist Ratings do not consider the state’s tax benefits because every education saver has a unique tax and residency situation. This is why it is paramount to understand your 529 state tax benefits first.

You may also need to choose between direct- and advisor-sold plans. Whether you have an advisor or not influences your opportunity set. Working with an advisor allows participants to access advisor-sold plans; otherwise, you can choose a direct-sold plan. Note, investors with advisors can also access direct-sold plans.

Direct-sold plans tend to have smaller menus, more index funds, and lower price tags, while advisor-sold plans tend to offer more actively managed strategies and niche exposures for a higher cost. While the quality ranges for both direct and advisor-sold plans, it is an important consideration when assessing your options.

Once you understand your state tax benefits and have identified your opportunity set, you can use the Morningstar Medalist Rating to find high-quality plans.

If your state offers generous tax advantages and highly rated plans, you likely have an easy choice to make. If your state does not offer (good) tax benefits and your state-sponsored plans earn a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Neutral or Negative, you are likely better served by a different state’s 529 plan. If your state offers generous tax benefits but lackluster plans, you should do a cost-benefit analysis of what it means to invest in the state versus out of state. Tax benefits are more certain than future returns.

Morningstar’s 529 Rating Methodology

Our rating methodology for 529 plans focuses on each plan’s investment merits relative to its peers. The Process Pillar rating, weighted at 50%, examines investment quality as well as the rigor and resilience of the underlying investment process. The People and Parent Pillars are each weighted at 25%, equally highlighting the critical role of experienced management and effective state oversight.

Plan fees are evaluated using modified z-scores that adjust a plan’s rating based on how its average expense ratio compares with the peer group median. The resulting Medalist Rating provides a holistic assessment of both investment quality and affordability.

529 Plans Continue to Raise the Bar

The 2025 ratings continue to reflect the rising standards across the industry. Since Morningstar began rating 529 education savings plans in 2012, an increasing number of plans have adopted some or more of the positive attributes described in our methodology. Asset managers no longer consider education savings plans as an afterthought to their existing multi-asset offerings; instead, we see an increasing dedication of research and resources to specifically help education savers. Stewardship standards continue to rise as well. Robust interaction between the state and its investment entity forms a baseline now, with more engaged state entities aggressively negotiating with external managers and advocating for their accountholders.

With the right 529 plan, a family can effectively save for the future, so money is less of an obstacle in the beneficiary’s education journey. Moreover, with the ability to convert long-term 529 balances to Roth IRAs, education savings plans have become an even more powerful tool to not only fund beneficiaries’ education but also potentially kick-start their retirement plans.