Best-Performing College Savings Plans

The mutual fund industry has 523 answers to the question about what it's doing to help fund higher education.

That's the number of open-end mutual funds specifically designed as "529 college funding" vehicles. In fact, the industry could honestly claim nearly triple that number of solutions for college funding. Since many of the funds have multiple share "classes," there are around 1,500 total selections available to investors.

The aggregate net assets of these specialized funds is $54.8 billion.

These investment plans are named after Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code. They allow savings earmarked for higher education to accrue free from federal taxes. In many cases, they're also free from state taxes, so long as withdrawals are used for eligible college expenses.

Each 529 plan is sponsored by a state or an agency of a state. Every state, as well as the District of Columbia, sponsors at least one type of "529" plan. Investors are not limited to plans sponsored by their respective home states.

The offerings include virtually every equity, hybrid and fixed-income investment objective. The "529" funds with multiple classes of shares offer sales charge options that include front-end loads, contingent deferred sales charges and level loads.

Some of the college savings funds offer as many as seven different classes of shares.

The proliferation of "529" funds has resulted in "target maturity" plans similar to those offered to people investing for retirement. When the anticipated matriculation date is years in the future, these "target" funds invest in securities anticipated to have greater returns than most but at higher levels of risk. Over time, as they approach their "target" dates, they move to investments with steadier growth but generally lower expected returns.

Whereas Fidelity Management names its target maturity "529" funds by embedding the anticipated time of need in a fund's name (e.g., Fidelity NH Portfolio 2015), for Putnam Funds, the recipient's birth year appears in the name of its offerings (e.g., Putnam College Adv Aggr 2003 A -- with caution needed if your offspring turns into a prodigy who earns her M.D. at the age of 13).

The American Funds group, as can be seen in the accompanying table of "529" college fund management companies, has attracted more "529" assets than the other college fund managers, even without nearly as many portfolios or fund classes as some of the others.

In addition, the 11 largest portfolios in the nearby list of the 25 largest "529" funds are all from American Funds. The firm manages 14 of the 25 biggest "529" offerings.

LARGEST "529 COLLEGE" FUNDS
NAME, TICKER & TheStreet.com RATINGS GRADE	INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE	TOTAL NET ASSETS ($MIL) *	12-MO. TOTAL RET'N (%)	ANN'L EXPENSE RATIO (%)	NO. OF SHARE CLASSES
American Funds Gr Fnd of Amer 529A (CGFAX) B-	Growth - Dom.	4,416.0	3.5	0.69	5
American Funds Cap Wld Gr&Inc 529A (CWIAX) A-	Global Equity	2,614.6	9.2	0.80	5
American Funds Amer Balancd Fd 529A (CLBAX) C	Balanced - Dom.	2,263.4	1.0	0.68	5
American Funds Cap Inc Builder 529A (CIRAX) B+	Equity Income	2,008.0	3.2	0.65	5
American Funds Inv Co of Amer 529A (CICAX) C-	Growth & Income	1,883.1	-2.4	0.65	5
American Funds Wash Mutl Invs 529A (CWMAX) C-	Growth & Income	1,689.8	-4.2	0.67	5
American Funds EuroPacific Gr 529A (CEUAX) B+	Non-US Equity	1,302.2	10.1	0.83	5
American Funds New Perspective 529A (CNPAX) A	Global Equity	1,265.8	8.7	0.82	5
American Funds Inc Fnd of Amer 529A (CIMAX) C	Equity Income	1,119.2	-3.4	0.65	5
American Funds Fundamentl Invs 529A (CFNAX) B+	Growth & Income	947.4	5.0	0.66	5
American Funds Bnd Fd of Amer 529A (CFAAX) C	Gen. Bond - Inv. Gr.	946.7	1.7	0.69	5
Putnam College Adv Growth A (N/A) D+	Asset Alloc. - Dom.	904.8	-9.3	1.50	7
Fidelity NH Portfolio 2015 (N/A) A+	Asset Alloc. - Dom.	856.4	2.3	1.00	1
Fidelity NH Portfolio 2018 (N/A) A-	Asset Alloc. - Dom.	849.2	1.1	1.04	1
Fidelity NH Portfolio 2012 (N/A) A+	Asset Alloc. - Dom.	786.0	3.1	0.95	1
American Funds SMALLCAP World 529A (CSPAX) C+	Small Cap	755.9	3.6	1.10	5
American Funds AMCAP 529A (CAFAX) D+	Growth - Dom.	739.2	-3.3	0.74	5
Fidelity NH Portfolio 2009 (N/A) A+	Asset Alloc. - Dom.	698.0	3.2	0.92	1
Vanguard 529 Aggressive Growth Port (N/A) B-	Growth - Dom.	578.8	-2.7	0.59	1
Vanguard 529 Growth Fund (N/A) B+	Growth & Income	569.4	-0.1	0.59	1
Oppenheimer 529 BS Eq Port 4 (N/A) U	Growth - Dom.	567.5	0.0	N/A	5
Fidelity NH Portfolio 2021 (N/A) B	Asset Alloc. - Dom.	539.2	-0.1	1.07	1
American Funds New World 529A (CNWAX) A	Global Equity	532.3	27.2	1.07	5
Putnam College Adv Bal A (N/A) C-	Asset Alloc. - Dom.	478.7	-5.0	1.44	7
Vanguard 529 Moderate Growth Port (N/A) A+	Growth & Income	464.1	2.3	0.59	1
* Total net assets of all fund classes. Source: TheStreet.com Ratings. Data as of 2/29/2008.

MANAGERS OF "529 COLLEGE" FUNDS
DISTRIBUTOR	NO. OF FUNDS	NO. OF SHARE CLASSES	TOTAL
American Funds	22	110	24,195.3
Columbia	48	192	1,213.1
Fidelity	179	354	13,740.5
Hartford	21	84	756.8
JPMorgan	12	41	738.6
MFS	18	54	394.1
Oppenheimer	49	131	2,882.3
Pacific Life	20	54	118.5
Putnam	82	343	4,232.3
T. Rowe Price	26	26	2,510.1
Van Kampen	20	80	674.3
Vanguard	26	26	3,306.7
TOTALS	523	1,495	54,762.7
Source: TheStreet.com Ratings. Data as of 2/29/2008.