The Tuition Plan Consortium relaunched the Independent 529 Plan as the Private College 529 Plan and tapped OppenheimerFunds to manage the program, which has more than $160 million of assets. TIAA-CREF was the previous manager.

TPC decided to relaunch the program to gain distribution through the advisor channel, officials said.

For OppenheimerFunds, this represents the firm's first 529 mandate win this year, according to Raquel 'Rocky' Granahan, senior vice president and director of college savings at OppenheimerFunds.

"The board decided early on that the goal was to grow this plan," TPC president Nancy Farmer said in an interview. "We sought a partner that will help us get into the advisor channel."

TPC enlisted Casey Quirk to help evaluate its options. TPC looked at nine firms before narrowing down the list to two finalists. Farmer declined to name the other firms.

"OppenheimerFunds has the advisor channel experience that will help us meet our growth goals," Farmer said. She also pointed to the firm's experience in pre-paid tuition plans.

The Private College 529 is structured as a pre-purchase of tuition and not an investment.

The relaunch on Monday is "a little ahead of schedule," Farmer said.  

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