Number of 529 Accounts Grows During Back-to-School Season

The market for 529 college savings plans grew during back-to-school season last quarter, according to data from ISS Market Intelligence, which, like PLANSPONSOR, is owned by ISS STOXX.

“529 plans continue to expand their reach to new audiences and serve an increasing number and broadening demographic set of families seeking a broader set of outcomes from an education and career training perspective,” states the quarterly report on the markets for these plans. “As adoption grows, investor interest in 529 plans and in tax-advantaged, strategic education savings solutions continues to strengthen.”

ABLE, for Achieving a Better Life Experience, accounts—also known as 529A accounts—which offer tax-advantaged savings for individuals with disabilities, also grew in the last quarter, the report states.

In Q3, the number of 529 college savings and prepaid tuition accounts grew to 18.4 million from 17.4 million one year earlier and from 18.2 million in this year’s Q2. Meanwhile, the assets invested in both fell to $641 billion from $654 billion in Q2, still up from $588 billion a year earlier.

The data show that holders of 17.6 million 529 accounts alone had invested $616 billion in assets, while prepaid tuition accounts totaled $25 billion across their 800,000 holders. The amount invested exclusively in 529 savings plans increased year-over-year from a previous total of 16.6 million accounts with $562 billion in assets. Last year, the 800,000 prepaid tuition accounts totaled $26 billion.

The number of ABLE accounts grew to 281,000, holding $3.7 billion in assets, up from 263,000 accounts and $3.6 billion in Q2 and 223,000 accounts with $2.9 billion invested, a year earlier.

Estimated 529 college savings plan net outflows were $7.4 billion in Q3, up from $6.7 billion in both Q3 2025 and Q3 2024. The ISS Market Intelligence report states that the increase in outflows is “a positive indicator that families are successfully using 529 savings to meet their need[s] for qualified education and career training expenses.”

The report states that investor interest in 529 plans and in the “tax-advantaged, strategic education savings solutions” is “particularly evident during year-end tax planning, estate planning and broader education financial planning discussions during back-to-school season.”

The five largest 529 savings plan program managers, by assets, through Q3 were:

• Ascensus: $167.9 billion;
• American Funds: $113.5 billion;
• TIAA: $90.9 billion;
• Fidelity: $61.8 billion; and
• State of Utah: $32.2 billion.

In addition, the five largest 529 savings plans, ranked by Q3 assets, were:

• Virginia’s CollegeAmerica 529 Savings, by American Funds: $113.5 billion;
• New York’s New York 529 Direct, by Vanguard: $54.9 billion;
• Nevada’s Vanguard 529, by Vanguard: $47.6 billion;
• Utah’s My529, by Utah: $32.2 billion; and
• New Hampshire’s UNIQUE College Investing Plan, by Fidelity: $31.3 billion.