UT Human Resources : Retirement Systems

Eligible full-time employees may enroll in either the State System-State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) for faculty and Ohio Public Employee Retirement Systems (OPERS) for all other staff, or both groups have the option to choose the Alternate Retirement Plan.

Employee contributions are "picked up" by the University from the employee's gross pay and paid directly to the retirement systems, thereby enabling employees to defer current federal and state taxes on this income.

Individuals may retire at age 60 with five or more years of service, or at age 55 with 25 years of service. There is no age requirement with 30 years of service credit. Benefits are based on an individual's age, salary and years of service.

STRS and PERS provide protection after five years of service against income loss due to permanent disability, with benefits comparable to those under age and service retirement criteria. A separate University program of long-term disability coverage provides protection from the start of employment (excludes CWA members).

The University sponsored long-term disability also covers employees who have selected the ARP.

Members of the STRS, PERS, or ARP who leave University employment may withdraw their retirement contributions. The University’s contributions are vested after five years. This means that if the contributions are left on deposit, STRS or PERS members will receive a pension at retirement age. For ARP members, vesting is immediate.

Employees who have service credit in other public institutions may be eligible to purchase that service for credit in the Ohio retirement systems. Service credit may be paid for in a lump sum or by installments via payroll deduction. Payments made by payroll deduction are withheld on a pre-tax basis. A maximum of five years of public employment plus a maximum of five years of military service may be purchased. This is irrelevant for ARP members.  

For a list of the approved ARP vendors, click here.