RHODE ISLAND

Rhode Island CollegeBoundfund

Type: Savings

Phone: 888-324-5057

State tax deduction for residents: $500 per year ($1,000 for married couples)

Open to nonresidents: Yes

Refund provisions: Penalty of 100% of earnings in the first two years; 10% of earnings plus $50 fee thereafter.

Minimum/maximum contributions: $250 / $301,550

Rhode Island currently has the best performing individual fund, its Mid-Cap Growth Fund. With year-to-date returns of more than 10%, it has outperformed all other static portfolios offered by any of the 529 plans. However, several of the other eight individual funds and three static portfolios have lackluster track records. And fund manager Alliance has had a compliance lapse. The age-based portfolios in this plan are aggressively invested and thus have mostly underperformed their peers over the past year.

Only state residents can buy shares directly; expenses run from 0.90% to 1.63%. Nonresidents must buy through brokers and pay up to an additional 1% per year, plus a $25 annual fee (which may be waived). The state will match up to $500 in contributions for low- and moderate-income residents who open an account before the beneficiary reaches 11.

JP Morgan Higher Education Plan
This plan offers and age-based portfolio and three blended fund portfolios. The portfolios that invest primarily in stocks have short track records, because the underlying funds are new. But some of the more-conservative portfolios have performed well over one, three and five years. No individual mutual funds are available.

For residents, expenses range from 0.90% to 1.54%. Nonresidents must buy through brokers and pay up to an additional 1% per year, plus a $25 annual fee (which may be waived).