CHARLESTON – SMART529 WV Direct, a college savings plan administered by State Treasurer John Perdue’s office, earns high marks for its three-year performance.

Savingforcollege.com ranks WV Direct seventh out of 49 similar plans from across the country. The site ranked only directly sold plans -- those that do not require the services and fees of a stockbroker.  Only six states rated higher for the three-year performance period from December of 2011 to December of 2014.

WV Direct requires no stockbroker, no minimum initial contribution and no regularly scheduled subsequent contributions. Obviously, however, regular contributions greatly aid in growing a savings plan.

SMART529’s direct plan earned a 34.69 percentile, with the lower numbers indicating the better plans.

“This confirms what we have been saying all along,” said State Treasurer John Perdue. “All of our SMART529 plans are quality products and in this particular instance a nationally respected web site has acknowledged our direct plan as good for the long haul.”

To prepare the ranking, savingforcollege.com compared a subset of portfolios from each 529 savings plan. It selected portfolios based on a mix of stocks, bonds and money market funds, which allow for an apples-to-apples comparison in seven asset-allocation categories. The lower the""percentile,"" the better the ranking.

To enroll in a SMART529 plan, go to www.SMART529.com or call 1-866-574-3542.