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Overview

• 403(b) defined contribution plan.
• Employees contribute 6.65% of their eligible earnings on a pre-tax basis each pay period.
• Ï㽶ֱ²¥ contributes an additional 6.8%.
• Employees manage their own investments.
• Vesting in ORP occurs at one year and one day of participation.
• Vested members have access to both the employee and employer contributions made to their account upon termination of employment.
• Withdrawals or rollovers from your ORP account are only allowable following termination, retirement, or attainment of age 70½.
• This plan does not provide disability benefits.

Eligibility

• Employees have 90 days to elect once eligible. This is a one-time irrevocable election.
• Full-time faculty and certain administrative positions are eligible to elect to participate in ORP as an alternative to TRS.
• Eligibility is strictly determined by the job an employee performs and is not based on years of service or salary level.
• To view the position titles that are ORP eligible, please reference the

Enrollment

• Employees eligible to enroll in ORP will receive an eligibility notice from Human Resources via email.
• ORP eligible team members (that have not participated in ORP prior to their employment) will automatically be enrolled in TRS.
• You have a one-time opportunity during your employment in Texas public higher education to choose between TRS and ORP.
• You’re eligible to elect ORP on your first day of employment in an ORP-eligible position.
• You have 90 calendar days to make your election, which is your ORP Election Period. Elections made after the 90-day period are not legally allowed.
• For those electing ORP, the date the election is notarized is the date TRS will use to determine if your election is timely. If your election is not timely, TRS will require any ORP contributions made be withdrawn and the member will be required to participate in TRS.
• Requests for refunds or rollover of TRS contributions made during the ORP election period may be submitted. Withdrawals from your TRS account will only include contributions made by the employee. No matching amount is refunded by TRS.

Contributions

• The contribution rate is is defined and cannot be changed by the employee.
• Limits for ORP are based on calendar year payments issued from Jan. 1 – Dec. 31. For calendar year 2026, members contribute 6.65% (matching contribution of 6.8%) of their eligible compensation up to an annual compensation limit of $360,000.
• This is an individualized retirement plan in which each participant selects from a variety of investment products offered by authorized insurance and investment companies. The ORP participant is responsible for monitoring their selected companies and investments.
• The ORP participant must also make an account with the elected vendor to manage their investments.
• The employing institution has no fiduciary responsibility for the market value of a participant’s ORP investments or the financial stability of the ORP companies chosen by the participant.

Additional Information

• www.highered.texas.gov/orp
• (eRaider required)