| | American Funds
        College 2018 Fund®
        Summary
        prospectus
        January
        1, 2014
        (as supplemented August 29, 2014)
| | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





|Class 529-A | 529-B | 529-C | 529-E | 529-F-1
|----------- | ----- | ----- | ----- | -------
|CNEAX       | CNEBX | CNECX | CNEEX | CNEFX  
|            |       |       |       |        



|Before you invest, you may want to review the fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, which contain more information about the fund and its risks. You can find the fund’s prospectus, statement of additional information and other information about the fund online at americanfunds.com/prospectus. You can also get this information at no cost by calling (866) 421-2166 or by sending an email request to prospectus@americanfunds.com. The current prospectus and statement of additional information, dated January 1, 2014
(as supplemented August 29, 2014), are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------







Investment objectives

The fund will seek to achieve the following objectives to
varying degrees: growth, income and preservation of capital, depending on the proximity to its target date. The target date is
meant to roughly correspond to the year in which the fund beneficiary will start to withdraw funds to meet higher education expenses.
The fund will increasingly emphasize income and preservation of capital by investing a greater portion of its assets in bond, equity-income
and balanced funds as it approaches and passes its target date. In this way, the fund seeks to achieve an appropriate balance of
total return and stability during different time periods.

Fees and expenses of the fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may
pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. You may qualify for a Class 529-A sales charge discount if you and your family invest,
or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in American Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available
from your financial professional and in the “Sales charge reductions and waivers” section on page 52 of the prospectus
and on page 57 of the fund’s statement of additional information.

|Shareholder fees
        (fees paid directly from your investment)                  
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                                    
|                                                                                    
|Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price)
|Maximum deferred sales charge (load) (as a percentage of the amount redeemed)       
|Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on reinvested dividends                         
|Redemption or exchange fees                                                         



|Annual fund operating expenses
        (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the
        value of your investment)
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                                                                                
|                                                                                                                                
|Management fees                                                                                                                 
|Distribution and/or service (12b-1) fees                                                                                        
|Other expenses                                                                                                                  
|Acquired (underlying) fund fees and expenses                                                                                    
|Total annual fund operating expenses                                                                                            
|Fee waiver2                                                                                                                     
|Total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver                                                                           

| | 1 | A contingent deferred sales charge of 1.00% applies on certain redemptions within one year following purchases of $1 million
or more made without an initial sales charge.
| | - | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| | 2 | The investment adviser is currently waiving its management fee of .10%. This waiver will be in effect through at least December
31, 2014. The waiver may only be modified or terminated with the approval of the fund’s board.
| | - | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



American Funds College 2018 Fund / Summary prospectus   1





ExampleThis example is intended to help you compare
the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund
for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your
investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may
be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

|Share classes | 1 year | 3 years | 5 years | 10 years
|------------- | ------ | ------- | ------- | --------
|529-A         | $499   | $678    | $   872 | $1,432  
|529-B         | 656    | 904     | 1,077   | 1,718   
|529-C         | 257    | 508     | 882     | 1,935   
|529-E         | 103    | 343     | 602     | 1,343   
|529-F-1       | 55     | 195     | 347     | 789     

For the share classes listed below, you would pay the following
if you did not redeem your shares:

|Share classes | 1 year | 3 years | 5 years | 10 years
|------------- | ------ | ------- | ------- | --------
|529-B         | $156   | $504    | $877    | $1,718  
|529-C         | 157    | 508     | 882     | 1,935   



Portfolio turnoverThe fund may pay transaction costs,
such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover
rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These
costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s investment results.
During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was less than 1% of the average value of its portfolio
or there was no turnover.

Principal investment strategies

The fund will attempt to achieve its investment objectives
by investing in a mix of American Funds in different combinations and weightings. The underlying American Funds represent a variety
of fund categories such as growth-and-income funds, equity-income funds, balanced funds and bond funds. The fund categories represent
differing investment objectives. For example, growth-and-income funds seek long-term growth-and-income primarily through investments
in stocks. Equity-income and balanced funds generally strive for income and growth through stocks and/or bond investments, while
bond funds seek current income through bond investments.

The investment adviser may periodically rebalance or modify
the asset mix of the funds and change the underlying fund investments. According to its current investment approach, the percentage
of the fund invested in different categories will change until the fund reaches its target date. Upon reaching its target date,
the fund will be principally invested in fixed-income funds and may merge into the Enrollment Fund, which will also be principally
invested in fixed-income funds.

The fund’s investment adviser periodically reviews
the investment strategies and asset mix of the underlying funds. The investment adviser will also consider whether overall market
conditions would favor a change in the exposure of the fund to various asset types or geographic regions. Based on these considerations,
the investment adviser may make adjustments to underlying fund holdings by adjusting the percentage of individual underlying funds
within the fund, or adding or removing underlying funds. The investment adviser may also determine not to change the underlying
fund allocations, particularly in response to short-term market movements, if in its opinion the combination of underlying funds
is appropriate to meet the fund’s investment objective.

With respect to its fixed-income investments, the underlying
funds in which the fund invests may hold debt securities with a wide range of quality and maturities. The fund may invest in underlying
funds with significant exposure to bonds rated BB+ or below and Ba1 or below by Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations
designated by the fund’s investment adviser, or unrated but determined by the fund’s investment adviser to be of equivalent
quality. Securities rated BB+ or below and Ba1 or below are sometimes referred to as “junk bonds.” Exposure to lower
rated securities may help the fund achieve its objective of providing current income.

The underlying funds may hold securities issued and guaranteed
by the U.S. government, securities issued by federal agencies and instrumentalities and securities backed by mortgages or other
assets. The underlying funds may also invest in the debt securities of governments, agencies, corporations and other entities domiciled
outside the United States.



American Funds College 2018 Fund / Summary prospectus   2





The following chart illustrates the investment approach
of the fund by showing how its investment in the various fund categories will change over time. The allocations shown reflect the
fund’s target allocations as of September 14, 2012, the fund’s inception date.

Investment approach





The investment adviser anticipates that the fund will invest
its assets within a range that deviates no more than 10% above or below the investment approach set forth above. For example, a
20% target allocation to growth funds is not expected to be greater than 30% or less than 10%. The investment adviser will continuously
monitor the fund and may make modifications to either the investment approach or the underlying fund allocations that the investment
adviser believes could benefit shareholders.



American Funds College 2018 Fund / Summary prospectus   3





Principal risks

This section describes the principal risks associated
with the fund’s principal investment strategies. You may lose money by investing in the fund. The likelihood of loss may
be greater if you invest for a shorter period of time. Investors in the fund should have a long-term perspective and be able to
tolerate potentially sharp declines in value.

Allocation risk — Investments in the fund are
subject to risks related to the investment adviser’s allocation choices. The selection of the underlying funds and the allocation
of the fund’s assets could cause the fund to lose value or its results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar
objectives.

Fund structure — The fund invests in underlying
funds and incurs expenses related to the underlying funds. In addition, investors in the fund will incur fees to pay for certain
expenses related to the operations of the fund. An investor holding the underlying funds directly and in the same proportions as
the fund would incur lower overall expenses but would not receive the benefit of the portfolio management and other services provided
by the fund.

Because the fund’s investments consist of underlying
funds, the fund’s risks are directly related to the risks of the underlying funds. For this reason, it is important to understand
the risks associated with investing in the underlying funds.

Market conditions —The prices of, and the
income generated by, the common stocks, bonds and other securities held by the underlying funds may decline due to market conditions
and other factors, including those directly involving the issuers of securities held by the underlying funds.

Investing in stocks — Investing in stocks may
involve larger price swings and greater potential for loss than other types of investments. As a result, the value of the underlying
funds may be subject to sharp, short-term declines in value. Income provided by an underlying fund may be reduced by changes in
the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at, the companies in which the underlying fund invests. These risks
will be more significant for the fund in the years preceding its target date because a greater proportion of the fund’s assets
will consist of underlying funds that primarily invest in stocks.

Investing in bonds —Rising interest rates
will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Longer maturity debt securities may be subject to greater
price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities. In addition, falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call
or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the underlying fund having to reinvest the proceeds
in lower yielding securities.

Bonds and other debt securities are subject to credit risk,
which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer will weaken and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make
timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings
of the debt securities in which the underlying fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing
them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The fund’s investment adviser relies on
its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in seeking to mitigate various credit and default risks. These risks will
be more significant as the fund approaches its target date because a greater proportion of the fund’s assets will consist
of underlying funds that primarily invest in bonds.

Investing in lower rated bonds —Lower rated
bonds and other lower rated debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and involve greater risk of default or price
declines due to changes in the issuer’s creditworthiness than those of higher quality debt securities. The market prices
of these securities may fluctuate more than the prices of higher quality debt securities and may decline significantly in periods
of general economic difficulty. These risks may be increased with respect to investments in bonds rated Ba1 or BB+ or below by
Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations or unrated but determined by the underlying fund’s investment adviser
to be of equivalent quality. Such securities are considered speculative and are sometimes referred to as “junk bonds.”

Investing in small companies —Investing in
smaller companies may pose additional risks. For example, it is often more difficult to value or dispose of small company stocks
and more difficult to obtain information about smaller companies than about larger companies. In addition, the prices of these
stocks may be more volatile than stocks of larger, more established companies.



American Funds College 2018 Fund / Summary prospectus   4





Investing outside the United States —Securities
of issuers domiciled outside the United States, or with significant operations outside the United States, may lose value because
of adverse political, social, economic or market developments in the countries or regions in which the issuers operate. These securities
may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries.
Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside
the United States may also be subject to different settlement and accounting practices and different regulatory, legal and reporting
standards, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. The risks of investing outside the United States
may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.

Investing in emerging markets — Investing in
emerging markets may involve risks in addition to and greater than those generally associated with investing in the securities
markets of developed countries. For instance, developing countries may have less developed legal and accounting systems than those
in developed countries. The governments of these countries may be less stable and more likely to impose capital controls, nationalize
a company or industry, place restrictions on foreign ownership and on withdrawing sale proceeds of securities from the country,
and/or impose punitive taxes that could adversely affect the prices of securities. In addition, the economies of these countries
may be dependent on relatively few industries that are more susceptible to local and global changes. Securities markets in these
countries can also be relatively small and have substantially lower trading volumes. As a result, securities issued in these countries
may be more volatile and less liquid, and may be more difficult to value, than securities issued in countries with more developed
economies and/or markets. Additionally, there may be increased settlement risks for transactions in local securities.

Investing in mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities
—Many types of bonds and other debt securities, including mortgage-backed/related securities, are subject to prepayment
risk as well as the risks associated with investing in debt securities in general. If interest rates fall and the loans underlying
these securities are prepaid faster than expected, the underlying fund may have to reinvest the prepaid principal in lower yielding
securities, thus reducing the fund’s income. Conversely, if interest rates increase and the loans underlying the securities
are prepaid slower than expected, the time in which the securities are paid off could be extended. This may reduce the fund’s
cash for potential reinvestment in higher yielding securities.

Investing in U.S. government securities —Securities
backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of
interest and principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes
in interest rates. Securities issued by government-sponsored entities and federal agencies and instrumentalities that are not backed
by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. government.

Investing in future delivery contracts —Contracts
for future delivery of mortgage-related securities, such as to be announced contracts and mortgage dollar rolls, involve the fund
selling mortgage-related securities and simultaneously contracting to repurchase similar securities for delivery at a future date
at a predetermined price. This can increase the underlying fund’s market exposure, and the market price of the securities
the fund contracts to repurchase could drop below their purchase price. While the fund can preserve and generate capital through
the use of such contracts by, for example, realizing the difference between the sale price and the future purchase price, the income
generated by the fund may be reduced by engaging in such transactions. In addition, these transactions may increase the turnover
rate of the fund.

Management — The investment adviser to the
fund and to the underlying funds actively manages each underlying fund’s investments. Consequently, the underlying funds
are subject to the risk that the methods and analyses employed by the investment adviser in this process may not produce the desired
results. This could cause an underlying fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds
with similar objectives.

Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is
not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person. You
should consider how this fund fits into your overall investment program.



American Funds College 2018 Fund / Summary prospectus   5





Investment results

The following bar chart shows the fund’s investment
results for its first full calendar year of operations, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total
returns for various periods compare with different broad measures of market results. This information provides some indication
of the risks of investing in the fund. Past investment results (before and after taxes) are not predictive of future investment
results. Updated information on the fund’s investment results can be obtained by visiting americanfunds.com.



|Average annual total returns
        For the periods ended December 31, 2013 (with maximum
        sales charge):
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Share classes                                                                                                    
|529-A                                                                                                            
|529-B                                                                                                            
|529-C                                                                                                            
|529-E                                                                                                            
|529-F-1                                                                                                          



|Index                                                                                                                   | 1 year | Lifetime(from Class 529-Ainception)
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ | -----------------------------------
|S&P Target Date®To 2015 Index (reflects no deductions for sales charges, account fees or U.S.
    federal income taxes) | 9.16%  | 7.48%                              





American Funds College 2018 Fund / Summary prospectus   6





Management

Investment adviserCapital Research and Management
CompanySM

Portfolio oversight committeeThe investment adviser’s
Portfolio Oversight Committee develops the allocation approach and selects the underlying funds in which the fund invests. The
members of the Portfolio Oversight Committee are:

|Investment professional/ 
Series title (if applicable) | Investment professional
experience in this fund | Primary title with investment adviser                    
|------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------
|Bradley J. VogtVice Chairman of the Board              | 2 years                                         | Senior Vice President –
Capital Research Global Investors
|Alan N. BerroSenior Vice President                     | 2 years                                         | Senior Vice President –
Capital World Investors          
|James B. LovelaceSenior Vice President                 | 2 years                                         | Senior Vice President –
Capital Research Global Investors
|Wesley K.-S. PhoaSenior Vice President                 | 2 years                                         | Senior Vice President –
Capital Fixed Income Investors   
|John H. SmetSenior Vice President                      | 2 years                                         | Senior Vice President –
Capital Fixed Income Investors   
|Andrew B. SuzmanSenior Vice President                  | 2 years                                         | Senior Vice President – 
Capital World Investors         



Purchase and sale of fund shares

The minimum amount to establish an account for all share
classes is $250 and the minimum to add to an account is $50. For an employer-sponsored 529 account, the minimum is $25 to establish
or add to an account.

You may sell (redeem) shares through your dealer or financial
advisor or by writing to American Funds Service Company®at P.O. Box 6007, Indianapolis, Indiana 46206-6007;
telephoning American Funds Service Company at (800) 421-4225; faxing American Funds Service Company at (888) 421-4351;
or accessing our website at americanfunds.com.

Tax information

Dividends and capital gains distributed by the fund to tax-favored
college savings accounts are not currently taxable. Please refer to the applicable program description for more information regarding
the tax consequences of holding or selling Class 529 shares.

Payments to broker-dealers and other financial
intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the fund through a broker-dealer
or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the fund and the fund’s distributor or its affiliates may pay the intermediary
for the sale of fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer
or other intermediary and your individual financial advisor to recommend the fund over another investment. Ask your individual
financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.





|MFGEIPX-090-0814P Litho in USA CGD/UNL/10224 | Investment Company File No. 811-22692
|-------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------