2010 One-year Top Performing Direct Plans Q4

Savingforcollege.com ranks the performance of direct-sold 529 plans. Direct-sold plans are those that consumers can enroll in without using a broker. We have prepared one-year, three-year and five-year performance tables. To prepare this ranking, we compared a subset of portfolios from each 529 savings plan. We selected portfolios based on their mix of stocks, bonds and money market funds, which allows for an apples-to-apples comparison in seven asset-allocation categories. The lower the "percentile," the better the ranking. This ranking could be a useful tool for you when selecting which direct 529 plan might be right for you. Here are our 529 performance rankings as of December 31, 2010 for Direct-sold 529 plans. One-year performance ranking (click here for three-year performance table and five-year performance table): Rank State Plan Percentile 1 Louisiana START Saving Program 23.08 2 Alaska University of Alaska College Savings Plan 27.95 3 Alaska T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan 29.55 4 Michigan Michigan Education Savings Program 30.15 5 Virginia Virginia Education Savings Trust (VEST) 31.19 6 South Dakota CollegeAccess 529 (Direct-sold) 31.70 7 Nevada USAA 529 College Savings Plan 32.81 8 North Carolina National College Savings Program 33.28 9 West Virginia SMART529 Select 33.61 10 Utah Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) Trust 37.06 11 New York New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan 39.24 12 Oklahoma Oklahoma College Savings Plan 39.47 13 Kansas Schwab 529 College Savings Plan 40.37 14 Maryland College Savings Plans of Maryland -- College Investment Plan 41.02 15 Vermont Vermont Higher Education Investment Plan 42.01 16 Minnesota Minnesota College Savings Plan 42.70 17 West Virginia SMART529 WV Direct 44.91 18 South Carolina Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold) 44.92 19 Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan 45.81 20 Wisconsin EdVest (Direct-sold) 48.10 21 New Jersey NJBEST 529 College Savings Plan 50.63 22 Colorado Direct Portfolio College Savings Plan 50.68 23 Connecticut Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET) 52.47 24 Florida Florida College Investment Plan 52.82 25 Kentucky Kentucky Education Savings Plan Trust 53.04 26 Nevada The Upromise College Fund 53.32 27 Mississippi Mississippi Affordable College Savings (MACS) Program 53.80 28 Nevada The Vanguard 529 Savings Plan 54.34 29 Iowa College Savings Iowa 54.55 30 Georgia Path2College 529 Plan 54.66 31 Maine NextGen College Investing Plan -- Client Direct Series 56.00 32 Rhode Island CollegeBoundfund (Direct-sold, Alternative RI) 56.53 33 New Hampshire UNIQUE College Investing Plan 56.81 34 Hawaii Hawaii's College Savings Program 56.90 35 Delaware Delaware College Investment Plan 57.05 36 California The ScholarShare College Savings Plan 57.29 37 Arizona Fidelity Arizona College Savings Plan 57.47 38 District of Columbia DC 529 College Savings Program (Direct-sold) 57.54 39 Illinois Bright Start College Savings Program -- Direct-sold Plan 57.57 40 North Dakota College SAVE 57.96 41 Massachusetts U.Fund College Investing Plan 58.08 42 Arkansas GIFT College Investing Plan 58.24 43 Indiana CollegeChoice 529 Investment Plan (Direct-sold) 58.24 44 Missouri MOST - Missouri's 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold) 59.07 45 Idaho Idaho College Savings Program (IDeal) 60.06 46 Kansas Learning Quest 529 Education Savings Program (Direct-sold) 62.25 47 Ohio Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 Savings Plan 63.02 48 New Mexico The Education Plan's College Savings Program (Direct-sold) 70.73 49 Texas Texas College Savings Plan 77.53 - Alabama College Counts 529 Fund (Direct-sold) NA - Montana Montana Family Education Savings Program Investment Plan NA - Nebraska Nebraska Education Savings Trust - Direct College Savings Plan NA - Nebraska TD Ameritrade 529 College Savings Plan NA - Oregon Oregon College Savings Plan NA NA = Not applicable = Program does not have at least three portfolios with sufficiently long performance under our ranking model. The Savingforcollege.com plan composite rankings are derived using the plans' relevant portfolio performance in seven unique asset allocation categories. The asset-allocation categories used are: 100 percent equity, 80 percent equity, 60 percent equity, 40 percent equity, 20 percent equity, 100 percent fixed and 100 percent short term. The plan composite ranking is determined by the average of its percentile ranking in the seven categories. The performance data underlying these rankings represent past performance and are not a guarantee of future performance. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data used. A plan portfolio's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares or units when redeemed may be worth more or less than their original cost. Investors should carefully consider plan investment goals, risks, charges and expenses by obtaining and reading the plan's official program description before investing. Investors should also consider whether their beneficiary's home state offers any tax or other benefits that are available for investments only in such state's 529 plan. Brokers, please note: For internal use only and not for use with or to be shown to the investing public. Disclaimer: Bankrate, Inc. shall not be liable for any errors or omissions in this report. Users should rely on official program disclosures. For broker-sold plan rankings, click here. Savingforcollege.com ranks the performance of direct-sold 529 plans. Direct-sold plans are those that consumers can enroll in without using a broker. We have prepared one-year, three-year and five-year performance tables. To prepare this ranking, we compared a subset of portfolios from each 529 savings plan. We selected portfolios based on their mix of stocks, bonds and money market funds, which allows for an apples-to-apples comparison in seven asset-allocation categories. The lower the "percentile," the better the ranking. This ranking could be a useful tool for you when selecting which direct 529 plan might be right for you. Here are our 529 performance rankings as of December 31, 2010 for Direct-sold 529 plans. One-year performance ranking (click here for three-year performance table and five-year performance table): Rank State Plan Percentile 1 Louisiana START Saving Program 23.08 2 Alaska University of Alaska College Savings Plan 27.95 3 Alaska T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan 29.55 4 Michigan Michigan Education Savings Program 30.15 5 Virginia Virginia Education Savings Trust (VEST) 31.19 6 South Dakota CollegeAccess 529 (Direct-sold) 31.70 7 Nevada USAA 529 College Savings Plan 32.81 8 North Carolina National College Savings Program 33.28 9 West Virginia SMART529 Select 33.61 10 Utah Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) Trust 37.06 11 New York New York's 529 College Savings Program -- Direct Plan 39.24 12 Oklahoma Oklahoma College Savings Plan 39.47 13 Kansas Schwab 529 College Savings Plan 40.37 14 Maryland College Savings Plans of Maryland -- College Investment Plan 41.02 15 Vermont Vermont Higher Education Investment Plan 42.01 16 Minnesota Minnesota College Savings Plan 42.70 17 West Virginia SMART529 WV Direct 44.91 18 South Carolina Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold) 44.92 19 Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 529 Investment Plan 45.81 20 Wisconsin EdVest (Direct-sold) 48.10 21 New Jersey NJBEST 529 College Savings Plan 50.63 22 Colorado Direct Portfolio College Savings Plan 50.68 23 Connecticut Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET) 52.47 24 Florida Florida College Investment Plan 52.82 25 Kentucky Kentucky Education Savings Plan Trust 53.04 26 Nevada The Upromise College Fund 53.32 27 Mississippi Mississippi Affordable College Savings (MACS) Program 53.80 28 Nevada The Vanguard 529 Savings Plan 54.34 29 Iowa College Savings Iowa 54.55 30 Georgia Path2College 529 Plan 54.66 31 Maine NextGen College Investing Plan -- Client Direct Series 56.00 32 Rhode Island CollegeBoundfund (Direct-sold, Alternative RI) 56.53 33 New Hampshire UNIQUE College Investing Plan 56.81 34 Hawaii Hawaii's College Savings Program 56.90 35 Delaware Delaware College Investment Plan 57.05 36 California The ScholarShare College Savings Plan 57.29 37 Arizona Fidelity Arizona College Savings Plan 57.47 38 District of Columbia DC 529 College Savings Program (Direct-sold) 57.54 39 Illinois Bright Start College Savings Program -- Direct-sold Plan 57.57 40 North Dakota College SAVE 57.96 41 Massachusetts U.Fund College Investing Plan 58.08 42 Arkansas GIFT College Investing Plan 58.24 43 Indiana CollegeChoice 529 Investment Plan (Direct-sold) 58.24 44 Missouri MOST - Missouri's 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold) 59.07 45 Idaho Idaho College Savings Program (IDeal) 60.06 46 Kansas Learning Quest 529 Education Savings Program (Direct-sold) 62.25 47 Ohio Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 Savings Plan 63.02 48 New Mexico The Education Plan's College Savings Program (Direct-sold) 70.73 49 Texas Texas College Savings Plan 77.53 - Alabama College Counts 529 Fund (Direct-sold) NA - Montana Montana Family Education Savings Program Investment Plan NA - Nebraska Nebraska Education Savings Trust - Direct College Savings Plan NA - Nebraska TD Ameritrade 529 College Savings Plan NA - Oregon Oregon College Savings Plan NA NA = Not applicable = Program does not have at least three portfolios with sufficiently long performance under our ranking model. The Savingforcollege.com plan composite rankings are derived using the plans' relevant portfolio performance in seven unique asset allocation categories. The asset-allocation categories used are: 100 percent equity, 80 percent equity, 60 percent equity, 40 percent equity, 20 percent equity, 100 percent fixed and 100 percent short term. The plan composite ranking is determined by the average of its percentile ranking in the seven categories. The performance data underlying these rankings represent past performance and are not a guarantee of future performance. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data used. A plan portfolio's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares or units when redeemed may be worth more or less than their original cost. Investors should carefully consider plan investment goals, risks, charges and expenses by obtaining and reading the plan's official program description before investing. Investors should also consider whether their beneficiary's home state offers any tax or other benefits that are available for investments only in such state's 529 plan. Brokers, please note: For internal use only and not for use with or to be shown to the investing public. Disclaimer: Bankrate, Inc. shall not be liable for any errors or omissions in this report. Users should rely on official program disclosures. For broker-sold plan rankings, click here.