West Virginia’s SMART529 WV Direct College Savings Plan ranks first on savingforcollege.com’s national list of direct-sold plans for three-year investment performance.

“We’re thrilled to be first in a national ranking, particularly one associated with something as meaningful as college savings,” said State Treasurer John Perdue, who chairs the Board of Trustees that administers SMART529’s savings plans. “Creating a better way to save for higher education is what our program is about. Personally, I know how important higher education has been for me in my life.”

SMART529 topped the three-year investment performance category and ranked tenth nationally for one- and five-year performance. West Virginia’s direct-sold plan is compared against similar plans sold nationally. See the complete direct-sold ranking list here.

Direct-sold plans are those consumers can enroll in without using a broker. Savingforcollege.com prepared one-year, three-year, five-year and ten-year performance tables. Figures are as of the end of the first quarter, March 31, and track exactly three years back.

The site compared a subset of portfolios from each 529 savings plan and selected those ranked based on their mix of stocks, bonds and money market funds, which allows for an apples-to-apples comparison in seven asset-allocation categories. The""performance score"" determines the ranking.

SMART529 WV Direct requires no minimum dollar amount for a beginning contribution, no enrollment fee, and no regular subsequent contributions, though systematic contributions greatly contribute to a plan’s growth.

“This plan is designed for the hard-working people of West Virginia to provide them with an easy-to-use and flexible college savings alternative,” Treasurer Perdue said. “We do urge anyone and everyone to save and invest what you can.”

For more information on West Virginia’s SMART529 program, go to SMART529.com or wvtreasury.com. You may also call 1-866-574-3542 for more details.