Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) vs University of California Retirement Plan
Side-by-side pension health comparison from DOL and public plan data
Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) and University of California Retirement Plan are meaningfully apart on the LakeQuality pension-health rubric: Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) grades C while University of California Retirement Plan grades B. Funding ratios: 58% vs 84%.
University of California Retirement Plan comes out ahead on the composite rubric. For a participant in either plan, the spread is informative but not directly actionable — pension participation is not portable, so the relevant question is what each plan's funded-status trajectory means for that participant's benefit security.
Verdict
University of California Retirement Plan has a stronger Pension Health Score of 78/100 (B) compared to Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) at 54/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 25.7 percentage points (83.5% vs 57.8%). University of California Retirement Plan covers 305,000 participants.
| Metric | Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) | University of California Retirement Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Health Score Composite of funding ratio, trend, and PBGC risk | 54/100 (C) | 78/100 (B)* |
| Funding Ratio Assets as % of liabilities (100%+ is fully funded) | 57.8% | 83.5%* |
| Total Assets | $72.0B | $82.0B |
| Total Liabilities | $124.6B | $98.2B* |
| Unfunded Liability | $52.6B | $16.2B* |
| Participants | 518,000 | 305,000 |
| 1-Year Investment Return | 5.1% | 7.2%* |
| Plan Type | public | public |
| PBGC Risk Level | high | low |
| Sponsor | State of Pennsylvania | University of California |
University of California Retirement Plan has a stronger Pension Health Score of 78/100 (B) compared to Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) at 54/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 25.7 percentage points (83.5% vs 57.8%). University of California Retirement Plan covers 305,000 participants.