529, ABLE Account Assets Continue Steady Growth in Q1

The 529 savings market continued to gain momentum in the first quarter of 2025, with total assets reaching $525 billion across 17.2 million accounts, according to data from ISS Market Intelligence, which, like PLANSPONSOR, is owned by ISS STOXX.

The Q1 total is up slightly from $525 billion across 17 million accounts at the end of 2024 and up from $497 billion across 16.6 million accounts one year prior.

The majority of the assets, $500 billion, are held in 16.3 million 529 savings plan accounts, while prepaid tuition plans held steady at $25 billion across roughly 900,000 accounts. 

Meanwhile, ABLE (or 529A) accounts, which offer tax-advantaged savings for individuals with disabilities, grew to 204,133 accounts holding $2.47 billion in assets, up from 194,728 accounts and $2.31 billion at the end of 2024 and 170,955 accounts with $1.92 billion invested one year ago.

Estimated net inflows into 529 savings plans reached $2.2 billion in Q1 2025, slightly outpacing the $2.1 billion in Q1 2024 and continuing an upward trend from $1.6 billion in Q1 2023.

According to the report, this reflects not only parents’ continued focus on funding education despite market volatility, but also growing awareness of the expanded uses for 529 plans.

“The overall outlook for 529s continues to brighten,” the report stated, pointing to the expansion of qualified expenses that now include certain types of rollovers from 529s to Roth individual retirement accounts.

The report also predicted this shift would energize new stakeholder interest and drive growth over the next three to five years, especially as families increasingly integrate 529 strategies into their tax, estate and financial planning playbooks.

The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 allowed certain assets in a 529 qualified tuition program account, maintained for at least 15 years for a designated beneficiary, to be directly rolled over on a tax-free basis to a Roth IRA maintained for the same beneficiary.