Retirement Benefits at CSU and UC Systems

The retirement benefits eligibility at CSU and UC systems:

• see also: CalPers Health Agencies

CSU System - CalPERS

Not all jobs at CSU automatically qualify for CalPERS. Eligibility depends on the type of appointment and hours worked.

Who qualifies for CalPERS at CSU:

1. Full-time employees: Full-time appointments that exceed six months

2. Half-time employees: Half-time appointments (50 percent or more) for one year or longer

3. Temporary faculty: Temporary faculty are required to enter CalPERS membership commencing with the third consecutive semester at half time or more

4. Part-time/intermittent employees: Part time or intermittent employment is covered by CalPERS upon completion of 125 days or 1,000 hours of service within a fiscal year

Who is excluded from CalPERS:

• Most student employment and instructors appointed to work in extension programs
• Special Consultant (class codes 4660, 4760, 8379, and 8380) and Casual Worker (class code 1800)
• Employees excluded from CalPERS Membership are mandatorily enrolled in the Part-Time, Seasonal, Temporary (PST) Retirement Program

UC System - UCRP

Similarly, not all UC positions automatically qualify for UCRP. The UC system has different tiers and options depending on when you were hired.

Who qualifies for UCRP:

1. Eligible employees are automatically enrolled in either:

   • UCRP (traditional pension plan)
   • UC Retirement Choice program (for those hired after July 1, 2016) which offers two options:
     • Pension Choice offers a UCRP pension benefit with a supplemental 401(k)-style component for employees who are eligible
     • Savings Choice offers a stand-alone 401(k)-style account

2. Faculty eligibility: In general, you are eligible for the faculty program if you are an academic appointee in one of the following groups:

   • Ladder-rank faculty and equivalent titles
   • Full-time Lecturers/Senior Lecturers with Security of Employment
   • Librarians in certain units

Vesting Requirements:

For CSU/CalPERS:

• Service retirement is a lifetime benefit. Employees can retire as early as age 50 with five years of CalPERS pensionable service credit unless all service was earned on or after January 1, 2013, then employees must be at least age 52 to retire
• Health benefits vesting varies: 5 or 10 years depending on hire date

For UC/UCRP:

• Generally, vesting in UCRP requires 5 years UCRP service credit
• UC's contributions will vest after one year for Savings Choice participants

Key Point:

You don't need to be a professor to qualify for retirement benefits at either system. Many types of employees qualify, including staff, administrators, and various faculty classifications. The main factors are:

• Type of appointment
• Hours worked (full-time, half-time, etc.)
• Length of service
• Meeting minimum service credit requirements for vesting