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Morningstar Releases 2026 Medalist Ratings for 529 College Savings Plans, With 10 Upgrades and No Downgrades

  • Morningstar assigned 2026 Medalist Ratings to 60 prominent 529 college savings plans, with Gold ratings nearly doubling from five to nine.
  • Four new plans upgraded to Gold: California's ScholarShare, Connecticut's CHET, Georgia's Path2College, & Michigan's Education Savings Program.
  • Five plans retained Gold ratings: Alaska's T. Rowe Price, Illinois' Bright Start, Massachusetts' U.Fund, Pennsylvania's Investment Plan, & Utah's my529.
  • Ten plans received upgrades in 2026 while zero plans were downgraded, reflecting stronger investment teams, state oversight, & lower costs.
  • The share of plans earning Bronze ratings or better rose 5 percentage points year-over-year to 58% (35 of 60 plans).
  • Kansas' Quest529 & Schwab 529 plans each moved up two levels from Neutral to Silver after switching investment managers to TIAA-CREF & reducing fees.
  • College Savings Iowa & Invest529 upgraded to Silver on stronger investment processes, while Wisconsin's Edvest upgraded on a stronger team.
  • North Carolina's National College Savings Program & Maine's NextGen College Investing Plan received their first Bronze ratings.
  • The 60 rated plans account for over 90% of the $550 billion in 529 industry assets as of 2026.
  • Ratings are based on Morningstar's methodology weighting Process at 50%, People at 25%, Parent (state oversight) at 25%, & fees via modified z-scores.