Which Nebraska School Plan tier are you in?

The four tiers

Tiers: School Handbook p. 1, Benefit Tiers Average: School Handbook p. 2, Your Benefit; p. 28, Compensation Rule of 85: School Handbook pp. 32-33, Rule of 85: Unreduced Early Retirement COLA: School Handbook p. 45, Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA)

Each column has its own guide: the average in the benefit formula, the Rule of 85 in early retirement and the cap in the COLA. Try a Tier Two member in the calculator.

What's the same for everyone

• The formula: 2% of your average monthly pay for each year of service. School Handbook p. 2, Your Benefit (Defined Benefit Formula)
• Full benefit at 65; a reduced one from 60. School Handbook p. 31, Age 65: Unreduced Normal Retirement; School Handbook p. 34, Early Retirement at Age 60: Reduced
• Vested after 5 years. School Handbook p. 15, Eligibility/Vesting
• The 8% salary cap: raises above 8% a year in your last 5 plan years don't count, in every tier. School Handbook p. 29, 8% Salary Cap

One quieter difference: payment options for Tiers One and Two are set with a fixed 1994 mortality table. Tiers Three and Four use tables the board approves. School Handbook p. 39, Mortality Tables; Neb. Rev. Stat. §79-902(1)(b)-(c)

Coming back after a refund or retirement

Date the member joined the NPERS School Plan (date of plan participation). A member who takes a refund or a retirement benefit and later returns is treated as a new member; the tier is set by the return date unless a refund is repaid in full. Returning members who previously took a refund may restore their original tier by repaying the full refund. School Handbook p. 1 (WARNING); p. 23, Repayment of Refund Thinking of a refund? See refund or pension.

Who's in the NPERS School Plan

Regular employees of a Nebraska school district, ESU or certain state employers (state positions requiring a teaching certificate) who work at least 20 hours a week on an ongoing basis, or who have a full-time contract, must participate. A regular employee hired for under 20 hours who averages 20+ hours a week in any three calendar months of a plan year is enrolled from the next full payroll period. Substitutes, temporary employees and employees under 18 are not eligible. School Handbook pp. 3, 5, Mandatory Membership; Ineligibility

Omaha Public Schools employees are in OSERS instead, and the University of Nebraska, State Colleges and community colleges aren't covered. School Handbook p. ii; NPERS 2026 Annual Report p. 8, OSERS Transfer Project; p. 3, statutes administered (Class V School Employees Retirement Act 79-978 to 79-9,124); Neb. Rev. Stat. §79-979; School Handbook p. ii; Neb. Rev. Stat. §79-902(23)

From the sources

• The Nebraska School Employees Retirement System (the NPERS School Plan) covers all public school employees in Nebraska, certificated and non-certificated. It does not cover Omaha Public Schools, the University of Nebraska, the Nebraska State Colleges or the community colleges. NPERS runs it.School Handbook p. ii
• Omaha Public Schools employees are in a separate system, the Omaha School Employees Retirement System (OSERS). NPERS has run OSERS since Sept. 1, 2024, but it has its own rules and handbook.School Handbook p. ii; NPERS 2026 Annual Report p. 8, OSERS Transfer Project
• Your tier depends on the date you joined the NPERS School Plan. Tier One: before July 1, 2013. Tier Two: July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2017. Tier Three: July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018. Tier Four: July 1, 2018 or later.School Handbook p. 1, Benefit Tiers
• If you take a refund or start a retirement benefit and later come back, you return as a new member in the tier in effect on your return date. If you took a refund, repaying it in full restores your old tier.School Handbook p. 1 (WARNING); p. 23
• You must join if you are a regular employee of a Nebraska school district, ESU or certain state employers and work at least 20 hours a week on an ongoing basis, or have a full-time contract. Substitutes, temporary employees and employees under 18 are not eligible.School Handbook pp. 3, 5
• You are vested after five years of service credit. Members who joined before July 1, 2016 also vest by working for a participating employer up to age 65 with at least half a year of service. Unvested members can only take a refund.School Handbook p. 15, Eligibility/Vesting
• Years in another Nebraska governmental plan can count toward vesting (not toward your benefit) if NPERS receives your vesting credit application within 180 days of starting. There are no exceptions to the deadline.School Handbook p. 16, Vesting Credit
• Since July 1, 2002 you earn a full year of service for 1,000 or more hours in a plan year (July 1 to June 30), and 1/1000 of a year for each hour below that.School Handbook p. 21, Accrual Rate
• Since July 1, 2025 the contribution rate depends on how well the plan is funded. For 2026-27 (funded at 102.1%) members pay 7.25% of pay and employers 7.3225%. For 2025-26 it was 8.00% and 8.08%, and before that 9.78%.NPERS employer rates page; Retiree Update Jan. 2026 p. 2; School Handbook p. 13; Neb. Rev. Stat. §79-958
• Your contributions come out of your pay before tax. They go into your account, which earns interest at the one-year Treasury rate. Employer and state money is not credited to your account.School Handbook p. 13; p. 30

Questions

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