The Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System covers teachers, support staff and administrators in the state’s public school districts, along with many employees of community colleges, intermediate units and some state universities. It is one of the largest public pension plans in the country.
PSERS sorts members into classes. Your class depends on when you joined and, for some members, on a one-time choice you made. The class decides your multiplier, your superannuation age (PSERS’s term for full retirement) and how early retirement is reduced.
The formula
Your yearly pension is your class multiplier times your years of credited service times your final average salary, up to 100% of salary.
| Class | Who | Multiplier | Final average salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| T-D | Joined before July 2011 (nearly all chose T-D in 2001) | 2.5% | 3 highest school years |
| T-C | Joined before July 2011, did not choose T-D | 2.0% | 3 highest school years |
| T-F | Joined July 2011 to June 2019, chose the higher rate | 2.5% | 3 highest school years |
| T-E | Joined July 2011 to June 2019 | 2.0% | 3 highest school years |
| T-G | Joined July 2019 or later (hybrid) | 1.25% + DC account | 5 highest school years |
| T-H | Joined July 2019 or later (hybrid) | 1.0% + DC account | 5 highest school years |
Here is an example. Karen, a Class T-D teacher, retires at 60 with 30 years of service and a final average salary of $80,000. Her pension is 2.5% × 30 × $80,000 = $60,000 a year, or $5,000 a month before taxes, under the maximum single life annuity. Choosing an option that continues payments to a spouse lowers that amount.
Class T-G and T-H members get a smaller pension plus a defined contribution account, where both the member and the employer put money in. At retirement, the account balance is theirs in addition to the monthly pension. A 30-year T-G member earns a pension of 37.5% of salary from the formula, plus whatever the account has grown to.
Superannuation: when the pension is full
| Class | Full, unreduced pension at |
|---|---|
| T-C, T-D | Age 62, or age 60 with 30 years, or 35 years at any age |
| T-E, T-F | Age 65 with 3 years, or Rule of 92 with at least 35 years |
| T-G | Age 67 with 3 years, or Rule of 97 with at least 35 years |
| T-H | Age 67 with 3 years |
The Rule of 92 means your age plus service must total 92 and you must have at least 35 years. A T-F member who started at 22 reaches it at 57 with 35 years.
Early retirement and 55/25
Once vested (5 years for T-C and T-D, 10 years for later classes), you can leave and take a reduced pension before superannuation. PSERS reduces it with an actuarial factor, which grows the further you are from superannuation.
There is a gentler option for long-serving members. With at least 25 years of service at age 55 (age 57 for T-G), the reduction is only 0.25% for each month you are short of superannuation, or 3% a year. For T-C and T-D members, the months are counted to the date you would have reached superannuation by working on, so the cut never exceeds 15%. Karen, retiring at 55 with 25 years instead, would be five years from the 60-and-30 point, so her pension would be 62.5% of salary reduced by 15%, about 53%.
Contributions and vesting
Members pay a share of every paycheck into the plan: 5.25% to 7.5% of pay for T-C and T-D members, and a base rate of 7.5% for T-E or 10.3% for T-F, which can shift with investment results. T-G and T-H members split their contribution between the pension and their defined contribution account. Purchasing eligible service, such as military or out-of-state teaching, must be done while you still work in a Pennsylvania public school.
Cost-of-living increases
PSERS pensions do not rise automatically each year. Increases require a law. In July 2026, Act 21 of 2026 gave a permanent raise to members who retired on or before July 1, 2001, ranging from 15% to 24.5% depending on retirement year. It was first paid in the September 30, 2026 payment. Members who retired later did not receive it. See the PSERS COLA page for the full table and the payment dates page for every deposit day.
Social Security
PSERS members pay into Social Security, so most retirees collect both. For T-D members who reach the 60-and-30 point, there are several years before Social Security’s full retirement age of 67, and waiting to claim raises the check 8% a year. The pension and Social Security calculator shows the combined income at each age.
How well funded is PSERS?
At the end of fiscal 2025, PSERS had assets to cover 67% of the benefits members have earned so far. That is below most large state plans, so the state and employers are paying extra each year to close the gap. It has risen from 57% in 2016.
In fiscal 2025, employers paid the full contribution the plan's actuaries asked for. A low funded ratio does not cut a pension you have already earned. Public pension benefits are protected by state law, and in many states by the state constitution. What a gap usually changes is the future: higher contributions from workers and employers, and less generous tiers for new hires.
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