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Morningstar Releases Medalist Ratings for 54 of the Nation's Largest 529 College-Savings Plans, Including 10 Upgrades and Seven Downgrades
CHICAGO, Nov. 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, today announced Morningstar
About this update from Morningstar, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"CHICAGO, Nov. 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, today announced Morningstar Medalist Ratings™ for 54 of the nation's largest 529 college-savings plans, which represent more than 90% of the industry's approximately $415 billion in 529 plan assets as of Aug. 31, 2023. The Medalist Rating expresses 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 two Gold ratings, 15 Silver ratings, 17 Bronze ratings, 16 Neutral ratings, and four Negative ratings to 529 plans.\n\"Since we debuted our 529 ratings in 2012, we've been pleased with the overall improvement in the 529 industry, namely through more sophisticated investment approaches, increased state oversight, and lower fees,\" said Hyunmin Kim, manager research analyst at Morningstar. \"Rightly, asset managers no longer consider education savings plans as an afterthought. With the right plan, families can effectively save for education and even kickstart retirement plans, and our team remains focused on providing these 529 ratings to guide investors through the available options.\"\nA full list of Morningstar's 529 ratings and key insights is available in a Fund Spy article published today on Morningstar.com.\nIn this year's assessment, Morningstar analysts upgraded 10 plans and downgraded seven plans. The table below shows these changes.\nUpgrades\n(Distribution Channel)\nState \nCurrent Morningstar Medalist Rating\nPrevious Morningstar Medalist Rating\nPennsylvania 529 Investment Plan (Direct)\nPA\nGold\nSilver\nAZ529, Arizona's Education Savings Plan (Direct)\nAZ\nSilver\nBronze\nDE529 Education Savings Plan (Direct)\nDE\nSilver\nBronze\nU.Fund College Investing Plan (Direct)\nMA\nSilver\nBronze\nNew York's 529 Program (Direct)\nNY\nSilver\nBronze\nCollegeAmerica (Advisor)\nVA\nSilver\nBronze\nInvest529 (Direct)\nVA\nSilver\nBronze\nNextGen College Investing Plan Direct (Direct)\nME\nBronze\nNeutral\nThe Education Plan (Direct)\nNM\nBronze\nNeutral\nNextGen College Investing Plan Select (Advisor)\nME\nNeutral\nNegative\nDowngrades\n(Distribution Channel)\nState\nCurrent Morningstar MedalistRating\nPrevious Morningstar Medalis...