Contact Information
Eligibility
All benefits-eligible employees are required to participate in one of two state retirement plans. All benefits-eligible employees are eligible to participate in PERS. Some positions are eligible to elect to participate in the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) instead. However, if an employee has made a previous ORP election while employed with another IHL institution through the State of Mississippi and holds an ORP eligible position through Mississippi State University, they are not eligible for participation in PERS.
The Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi's Tier 5 was created with the passage of House Bill 1 by the Mississippi Legislature during its 2025 session. The tier is a hybrid of a defined benefit (DB) pension plan and a defined contribution (DC) plan. Membership in this tier is for those hired in PERS-covered positions March 1, 2026, or later who are new to PERS or who were previous members of PERS but refunded. Those in the tier will pay a mandatory 9 percent of salary (4 percent into the DB and 5 percent into the DC). Vesting in this tier requires eight years of service. For more information, see this link: https://www.pers.ms.gov/Tier5
Plan Information
Visit https://www.pers.ms.gov/ for more information.
Contributions
The employee's pre-tax contribution is 9% of gross wages and the university's contribution is 18.4% (effective July 1, 2025) of the employee's gross wages.
Eligible and thinking about retirement
Once you are eligible for retirement, filing Form 16, Advanced Application will allow you to pre-select any benefit option for which you are eligible and designate beneficiaries. If you should pass away before you retire, benefits will be paid in accordance with your wishes.