Some naysayers are badmouthing the value of higher education these days, but many families believe that paying for their children to go to college is one of the best investments they can make.
Families have acted on that belief by pouring cash into 529 college savings plans.
The families ended the fourth quarter of 2024 with $525 billion accumulated in about 17 million college savings plan accounts, or close to $30,900 per account, according to 529 plan data compiled by the College Savings Plan Network and available from that organization and the Federal Reserve.
Assets were 11.5% higher than they were a year earlier, and assets were 41.4% higher they were in the fourth quarter of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic came to light and changed everything.
At the state level, the total five-year asset change ranged from a decrease of 27.3%, in Rhode Island, up to an increase of 122.1% in one state.
The five-year increase was 58.3% or higher in 12 states and the District of Columbia.
For the 12 states with the biggest five-year asset increases, see the gallery above. (If we'd let the District of Columbia count as a state, it would have ranked third.)
For a table showing the statewide asset totals for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, see the table below.
529 plan basics: The college savings plan is distinct from the 529 prepaid plan program, which lets a family pay in advance for a specified amount of college credits at specified colleges or universities.
Families have accumulated about $24.6 billion in the 17 prepaid plans.
Families can allocate college savings plan assets. Institutional asset managers handle the money in the prepaid plans.
| State | Q4 2015 | Q4 2019 | Q4 2023 | Q4 2024 | Change from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024 | Change from Q4 2019 to Q4 2024 |
(assets in millions of dollars) | ||||||
| Alabama | $1,283 | $1,931 | $2,484 | $2,762 | 11.2% | 43.0% |
| Alaska | $6,659 | $9,075 | $9,983 | $10,580 | 6.0% | 16.6% |
| Arizona | $1,018 | $1,531 | $2,121 | $2,449 | 15.5% | 60.0% |
| Arkansas | $608 | $980 | $1,307 | $1,431 | 9.6% | 46.1% |
| California | $6,373 | $9,881 | $14,416 | $15,075 | 4.6% | 52.6% |
| Colorado | $6,262 | $9,305 | $11,466 | $12,684 | 10.6% | 36.3% |
| Connecticut | $2,707 | $4,180 | $5,464 | $6,202 | 13.5% | 48.4% |
| Delaware | $606 | $684 | $651 | $679 | 4.3% | -0.7% |
| District of Columbia | $408 | $749 | $1,224 | $1,446 | 18.1% | 93.1% |
| Florida | $422 | $731 | $1,258 | $1,548 | 23.0% | 111.8% |
| Georgia | $1,852 | $3,329 | $5,206 | $6,001 | 15.3% | 80.3% |
| Hawaii | $68 | $89 | $104 | $117 | 12.0% | 31.0% |
| Idaho | $335 | $557 | $784 | $881 | 12.4% | 58.1% |
| Illinois | $7,657 | $12,873 | $18,387 | $20,894 | 13.6% | 62.3% |
| Indiana | $3,185 | $5,217 | $7,045 | $7,912 | 12.3% | 51.6% |
| Iowa | $4,254 | $5,811 | $6,443 | $6,926 | 7.5% | 19.2% |
| Kansas | $4,783 | $7,359 | $10,611 | $12,286 | 15.8% | 67.0% |
| Kentucky | $174 | $221 | $261 | $288 | 10.2% | 30.6% |
| Louisiana | $634 | $1,045 | $1,477 | $1,655 | 12.0% | 58.3% |
| Maine | $8,226 | $11,113 | $13,465 | $14,910 | 10.7% | 34.2% |
| Maryland | $4,187 | $6,754 | $9,090 | $10,240 | 12.7% | 51.6% |
| Massachusetts | $4,845 | $6,742 | $8,803 | $10,054 | 14.2% | 49.1% |
| Michigan | $4,540 | $6,897 | $8,775 | $9,739 | 11.0% | 41.2% |
| Minnesota | $1,169 | $1,561 | $1,889 | $2,087 | 10.5% | 33.7% |
| Mississippi | $182 | $252 | $300 | $322 | 7.3% | 27.6% |
| Missouri | $2,501 | $3,400 | $4,049 | $4,442 | 9.7% | 30.6% |
| Montana | $215 | $215 | $219 | $236 | 7.8% | 9.6% |
| Nebraska | $3,850 | $5,657 | $6,644 | $7,172 | 8.0% | 26.8% |
| Nevada | $15,940 | $28,733 | $40,484 | $46,044 | 13.7% | 60.2% |
| New Hampshire | $14,160 | $19,337 | $24,412 | $27,925 | 14.4% | 44.4% |
| New Jersey | $4,519 | $5,858 | $6,275 | $6,830 | 8.8% | 16.6% |
| New Mexico | $2,251 | $2,473 | $2,282 | $2,329 | 2.0% | -5.8% |
| New York | $21,109 | $34,681 | $46,878 | $53,215 | 13.5% | 53.4% |
| North Carolina | $1,684 | $2,651 | $4,119 | $4,774 | 15.9% | 80.1% |
| North Dakota | $389 | $536 | $602 | $644 | 6.9% | 20.2% |
| Ohio | $8,951 | $12,782 | $16,272 | $18,154 | 11.6% | 42.0% |
| Oklahoma | $789 | $1,170 | $1,520 | $1,714 | 12.7% | 46.4% |
| Oregon | $2,385 | $3,856 | $4,834 | $5,256 | 8.7% | 36.3% |
| Pennsylvania | $1,881 | $3,311 | $4,924 | $5,706 | 15.9% | 72.4% |
| Rhode Island | $6,810 | $5,432 | $4,048 | $3,948 | -2.5% | -27.3% |
| South Carolina | $2,365 | $4,226 | $6,051 | $6,808 | 12.5% | 61.1% |
| South Dakota | $1,065 | $1,018 | $834 | $820 | -1.7% | -19.4% |
| Tennessee | $58 | $179 | $330 | $397 | 20.6% | 122.1% |
| Texas | $520 | $805 | $1,027 | $1,132 | 10.2% | 40.5% |
| Utah | $8,466 | $15,277 | $21,945 | $25,250 | 15.1% | 65.3% |
| Vermont | $277 | $442 | $628 | $700 | 11.5% | 58.2% |
| Virginia | $51,826 | $76,005 | $94,366 | $104,729 | 11.0% | 37.8% |
| Washington | ND | $818 | $678 | $691 | 1.9% | -15.5% |
| West Virginia | $2,163 | $2,736 | $2,909 | $3,056 | 5.1% | 11.7% |
| Wisconsin | $3,869 | $5,802 | $7,235 | $8,092 | 11.8% | 39.5% |
| Wyoming | ND | ND | ND | ND | NA | NA |
| TOTAL | $253,493 | $371,416 | $471,169 | $525,183 | 11.5% | 41.4% |
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