5 plans receive Morningstar's gold rating for 529 plans

Five 529 plans received Morningstar’s Gold ratings, based on its analysis of factors such as the approach to asset allocation; process for selecting and monitoring investments; investment team and fees. Alaska’s T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan, Illinois’ Bright Start Direct-Sold College Savings and Utah’s U.Fund College Investing Plan received upgrades this year.

There were 14 plans with Silver ratings, including five that received upgrades. The new plans are California’s ScholarShare College Savings Plan, Connecticut’s CHET Direct College Savings Plan, Maine’s NextGen College Investing Plan Direct, New Hampshire’s UNIQUE College Investing Plan and Ohio’s BlackRock CollegeAdvantage 529 Plan.

Bronze-rated plans, which have a mix of average and above-average ratings across categories, numbered 13. District of Columbia's DC College Savings Plan was newly added to the bronze list after it wasn’t covered last year. There were two upgraded plans, the Indiana529 Direct Savings Plan and Nebraska’s Bloomwell 529 Education Savings Plan.