Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)
The University of Alaska partners with the State of Alaska Division of Retirement and Benefits (DRB) to administer the Public Employee's Retirement System (PERS). The DRB is the plan administrator for all PERS plans. All benefit-eligible staff are required to participate in a retirement account. For information on faculty retirement plans, please review the TRS and ORP webpages.
PERS Enrollment
Staff
Staff who are in a benefit-eligible position participate in PERS. There are two types
of PERS plans - the Defined Benefit (DB) plan under PERS Tiers I, II, and III, and
the Defined Contribution (DC) plan under PERS Tier IV.
Non-academic Officer / Senior Administrator
Non-academic officers or senior administrators may choose between PERS and ORP within
30 days of hire into an eligible position as long as they have never had the option
to select ORP in a previous position with the university.
Faculty
Faculty are not eligible for PERS but participate in either TRS or ORP.
Temporary
Temporary employees are not eligible to participate in PERS, TRS, ORP or the ÂÌÅ«Ì컨°å Pension
Plan. Temporary employees can participate in a 403(b). Review our 403(b) webpage for more information.
​Retirement election paperwork is sent to employees via DocuSign. This is a one-time decision in all except rare cases.
New Employees - Irrevocable Decision - 30 days
Retirement elections are irrevocable. This means that the retirement selected cannot
be changed as long as an employee is in a staff position with the university - even
if they separate from the university and return as staff after a break in service.
New benefit-eligible staff will be provided with their retirement election paperwork
within their first 30 days of hire.
Mandatory Participation
Participation in a retirement plan is mandatory for all benefit-eligible positions.
Reminder | The Default
If there is a choice between more than one retirement plan, the choice must be made
within 30 days of hire. If no election is made, staff will automatically default into
PERS.
Irrevocable Decision
Retirement elections cannot be changed except in very specific circumstances when
an employee is transferring positions between certain employee classes. Depending
on prior elections, an employee moving employee classes (i.e. from faculty to staff) may receive an option to change their retirement plan.
Transferring Positions - Reach out to ua-benefits@alaska.edu
If an employee is transferring positions within ÂÌÅ«Ì컨°å (between temporary, staff, faculty,
or executive) they may be given additional retirement choices depending on their initial
election. If needed, additional retirement election paperwork will be sent after the
transition. For questions, please email ua-benefits@alaska.edu.
Transferring Positions - Reach out to ua-benefits@alaska.edu
If a temporary employee is transferring to a benefit-eligible position, they will
receive retirement depending on prior work history and elections. Email ua-benefits@alaska.edu for additional information.
Review the options below to get an idea of staff retirement options depending on past service with the university or the State of Alaska. Official retirement selections will be sent by a member of the ÂÌÅ«Ì컨°å Benefits team. For questions, please email ua-benefits@alaska.edu.
| Work Status | Retirement Plan |
|---|---|
| I am staff and I have never worked for the University of Alaska or any State of Alaska employer before. | My retirement plan will be PERS DC Tier IV with ÂÌÅ«Ì컨°å Pension Plan. |
| I am staff and I have worked for the University of Alaska before in a staff benefit-eligible position. | My retirement plan will be the plan I previously selected (either ORP or PERS with or without ÂÌÅ«Ì컨°å Pension Plan). |
| I am staff and I have worked for the University of Alaska before in a faculty benefit-eligible position. |
If I previously selected ORP with my faculty position, I will be placed back in ORP. If I previously selected TRS with my faculty position, I will be placed in PERS with our without the ÂÌÅ«Ì컨°å Pension Plan. |
| I am staff and I have worked for a State of Alaska employer before (either faculty or staff) but this is my first staff position with the University of Alaska. |
My retirement plan will be my previous PERS plan if I was a staff member. If I was previously faculty with another State of Alaska employer, I will move to the PERS retirement plan. |
These changes are not allowed.
PERS Basics
The State of Alaska Division of Retirement and Benefits (DRB) has two PERS plans - a Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution (DC). Whether an employee is in a DB or DC plan depends on the date of hire into the PERS system.
| PERS Tier | Dates of Eligibility |
|---|---|
| PERS DB Tier I | Hired into PERS through June 30, 1986. |
| PERS DB Tier II | Hired into the PERS from July 1, 1986 through June 30, 1996. |
| PERS DB Tier III | Hired into PERS from July 1, 1996 through June 30, 2006. |
| PERS DC Tier IV | Hired into PERS on or after July 1, 2006. |
PERS Tiers I, II, III (DB)
The PERS DB plan is managed through the DRB. .
PERS Tier IV (DC)
The PERS DC plan is managed by the DRB through Empower Retirement. for more information.
PERS Tiers I, II, III (DB)
PERS DB Tiers I - III can update beneficiaries at any time either by , completing the Tiers I - III Beneficiary Form, or by contacting DRB directly at 1-800-821-2251.
PERS Tier IV (DC)
PERS DC Tier IV can update beneficiaries at any time by .
PERS Details
PERS Tiers I, II, III (DB)
The University of Alaska contributes a percentage of an employee's salary as determined
annually by PERS and the DRB.
PERS Tier IV (DC)
The University of Alaska contributes 5% of an employee's salary.
PERS Tiers I, II, III (DB) 6.75%*
Employee contributions are mandatory. These percentages are fixed and cannot be changed.
Regular staff in PERS DB Tier I, II or III will contribute 6.75%* of their salary
through biweekly pre-tax payroll deductions.
*Firefighters and Peace Officers in PERS DB Tier I, II, or III will contribute 7.5% of their salary through biweekly pre-tax payroll deductions.
PERS Tier IV (DC) 8%
Employee contributions are mandatory. These percentages are fixed and cannot be changed.
Regular staff will contribute 8% of their salary through biweekly pre-tax payroll
deductions.
PERS Tiers I, II, III (DB)
PERS DB Tiers I - III members are vested at five paid-up years of creditable PERS
service. Once vested, employees may terminate PERS employment and still receive a
monthly retirement benefit when they reach retirement age. Former employees must leave
their contributions in the plan to stay vested.
PERS Tier IV (DC)
Employees are 100% vested in the employee contributions they make to their retirement
account. Employer contributions follow the 5 year vesting schedule shown below.
| Years of Service | Employer Vesting Percent |
|---|---|
| Less than 2 years of service | 0% vested in employer contributions |
| 2 years of service | 25% vested in employer contributions |
| 3 years of service | 50% vested in employer contributions |
| 4 years of service | 75% vested in employer contributions |
| 5+ years of service | 100% vested in employer contributions |
PERS Tiers I, II, III (DB)
The PERS Tier Chart is a side by side comparison of all four PERS tiers. For more detailed information,
visit the and refer to the .
PERS Tier IV (DC)
The PERS Tier Chart is a side by side comparison of all four PERS tiers. For more detailed information,
visit the and refer to the .
Guaranteed Income (PERS Tiers I, II, III (DB))
Defined benefits (DB) plans provide eligible employees guaranteed income for life
at the time of retirement. The monthly benefit for each participant is calculated
based on factors such as the employee’s salary and years of service. The PERS DB plan
is managed through the DRB. .
Market Gain/Loss Income - Empower Retirement (PERS Tier IV (DC))
Defined contribution (DC) plans are account-based plans where the employee and employer
contributions are invested into mutual funds or money market funds where they grow
tax-deferred until withdrawn. The PERS DC plan is managed by the DRB through Empower
Retirement. for more information. Please note ÂÌÅ«Ì컨°å has opted out of the DRB deferred compensation
plan.
Post-tax Contributions
The Voluntary Savings Plan (VSP) is an account funded solely by the employee's post-tax,
voluntary contributions. These are separate and independent of the mandatory contributions
that employees are required to make to PERS. For more information, please visit the
.
Contact DRB for Eligibility
To be eligible for the VSP, employees must be an active PERS Tier I, II, or III member.
Contributions cannot exceed 5% of an employee's eligible salary. Employees must enroll
for the VSP directly with the DRB.
ÂÌÅ«Ì컨°å is Not Authorized
ÂÌÅ«Ì컨°å is not authorized to provide financial advice to employees. Please contact the
DRB directly to discuss.
Reach out to DRB
An employee who is considering retirement from PERS must reach out to DRB as soon
as possible to review the retirement application process and what to expect. DRB can
be reached at 1-800-821-2251. Planning and/or applying for retirement is slightly
different between the Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution (DC) PERS plan.
Review the offboarding webpage for up-to-date information.
Review offboarding webpage
Employees who are separating from the university (but are not retiring) have a few
different considerations for their PERS accounts depending on what type of account
they have. Review the offboarding webpage for information on separating from the university.
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