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Morningstar Releases Medalist Ratings for 529 College-Savings Plans, Including 11 Upgrades and Nine Downgrades
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, today announced Morningstar Medalist
About this update from Morningstar, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":" CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nMorningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, today announced Morningstar Medalist Ratings™ for 59 of the nation’s most prominent 529 college-savings plans. These plans account for more than 95% of 529 industry assets as of Aug. 31, 2024. The Medalist Ratings reflect Morningstar manager research analysts’ forward-looking views of which plans are best suited to help investors reach their goals. It has five tiers—Gold, Silver, Bronze, Neutral, and Negative. This year, Morningstar analysts assigned five Gold ratings, 14 Silver ratings, 13 Bronze ratings, 21 Neutral ratings, and six Negative ratings to the 529 plans.\n\n\"Our 2024 assessment of 529 education savings plans highlights significant strides in investment quality and state stewardship, with more than half of evaluated plans receiving a Bronze rating or better,\" said Hyunmin Kim, manager research analyst at Morningstar. \"The evaluation process focuses on the importance of well-constructed portfolios, effective oversight, and seasoned management, and we're committed to helping savers determine the best plan options to help fund their education.\"\n\nA full list of Morningstar’s 529 ratings and key insights is available in a Fund Spy article published today on Morningstar.com. The 2024 ratings reflect Morningstar’s updated methodology for evaluating 529 education savings plans. The updated framework increases the emphasis on the Process and Parent pillars. Plan fees, now evaluated using a modified z-score, have a varying impact on the overall rating.\n\nIn this year’s assessment, Morningstar analysts upgraded 11 plans and downgraded nine. Five plans are new to coverage from the 2023 ratings. The table below shows these changes.\n\n\n\nUpgrades\n(Distribution Channel)\n\n\n\nState\n\n\n\nCurrent\nMorningstar\nMedalist Rating\n\n\n\nPrevious Morningstar\nMedalist Rating\n\n\n\n\n\nT. Rowe Price College Savings Plan (Direct)\n\n\n\nAK\n\n\n\nGold\n\n\n\nSilver\n\n\n\n\n\nBright Start Direct-Sold College Savings (Direct)\n\n\n\nIL\n\n\n\nGold\n\n\n\nSilver\n\n\n\n\n\nU. Fund College Investing Plan (Direct)\n\n\n\nMA\n\n\n\nGold\n\n\n\nSilver\n\n\n\n\n\nScholarShare College Savings Plan (Direct)\n\n\n\nCA\n\n\n\nSilver\n\n\n\nBronze\n\n\n\n\n\nCHET Direct College Savings Plan (Direct)\n\n\n\nCT\n\n\n\nSilve...