All full-time faculty, classified and unclassified staff members who are appointed to work at least 75% Annual Full-time Equivalency (FTE) are eligible to enroll in the Alternative Retirement Plan (ARP). Eligible faculty and staff members select and establish an ARP account with one of seven approved ARP vendors. Enrollment in the ARP must be indicated within the first 120 days of eligible employment. ARP enrollment takes place of participation in the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS) or the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS).
The Alternative Retirement Plan is a defined contribution retirement plan. An employee’s retirement benefit is determined by the amount of money, including investment earnings, which accumulates in the ARP account.
What are the ARP contributions?
An ARP participant and Wright State University is required to contribute the same amount under the ARP as they would to the state retirement system (OPERS or STRS).
Employee WSU
OPERS 10% of salary 14%* of salary
STRS 14% of salary 14%* of salary
Ohio Revised Code Section 3305.06 requires, when an ARP is chosen, that a portion of the employer contribution be sent to the state system (OPERS or STRS) to “mitigate” (lessen) any negative financial impact of the ARP on the state system.
*Mitigating Fees:
ARP-OPERS 2.44%, meaning 11.56% of WSU’s contribution goes to your ARP
ARP-STRS 4.47%, meaning 9.53% of WSU’s contribution goes to your ARP
Vesting and Retirement
You are immediately vested in both your employee and Wright State University contributions to your ARP account. Should you leave Wright State for any reason at any time, the full balance is available to you for a withdrawal or rollover to an IRA or another employer qualified account. Please consider all IRS tax laws when making a decision regarding a distribution or rollover from your ARP Account.
Retirement occurs when you leave Wright State at age 59 ½ or later, regardless of your years of service.
Changing ARP Vendors
Once selected, ARP participants are eligible to change ARP vendors to another Wright State approved ARP vendor at any time. Participants can change vendors via an ARP Vendor Change Form (PDF). It is the responsibility of the ARP participant to contact the selected vendor to open an account prior to submitting the form. It is also the participant's responsibility to arrange any desired transfer of existing account balances between the vendors. Forms will be processed based upon receipt in Human Resources and payroll deadlines.
ARP – Changes to Mitigating Rate Effective July 1, 2017 (PDF) – Emailed April 11, 2017
ARP Vendors
Listed below are the ARP vendors currently available to eligible faculty and staff members.
