2024 plan-year Industry rank #9 of 21 DOL Form 5500

Educational Services Retirement Plans

3,899 ERISA-covered retirement plans in the Educational Services industry, holding $451.4B for 2,510,811 participants per 2024 Form 5500 filings.

$451.4B across 3,899 plans

According to DOL Form 5500 filings (plan year 2024), the Educational Services industry sponsors 3,899 ERISA-covered retirement plans holding $451.4B for 2,510,811 participants, ranking #9 of 21 industries by plan assets, with 34.6% structured as 401(k)s.

  • #9 of 21 industries
  • 34.6% 401(k) plans

The industry in one line

Educational Services sponsors 3,899 ERISA-covered retirement plans holding $451.4B for 2,510,811 participants, the 9th-largest industry by plan assets.

$451.4B
total plan assets
3,899
employer plans
$116M
average plan size
34.6%
of plans are 401(k)s
Plans
3,899
401(k) Plans
1,351
34.6% of plans
Total Assets
$451.4B
Participants
2,510,811

What the Educational Services Industry Plan Filings Show

The Educational Services industry sponsors 3,899 ERISA-covered retirement plans according to 2024 Form 5500 filings, ranking #9 of 21 industries on PlainRetire by total plan assets. Within the industry, 34.6% of plans are 401(k) defined-contribution arrangements (1,351 plans), with the remainder split across defined-benefit pension plans, profit-sharing arrangements, ESOPs, and money-purchase plans. The average plan in Educational Services holds $116M in end-of-year assets and covers 644 participants.

Industry-level totals reflect aggregate sponsor disclosures on Form 5500 Schedule H and Schedule I and provide a useful frame for benchmarking individual employer plans. They are not a substitute for plan-specific Summary Plan Description review when evaluating any single plan. Industry classification is self-reported by sponsors based on the primary economic activity of the sponsoring employer. Plans whose sponsor industry has changed across years (mergers, restructurings) carry the most-recent classification on file.

Plan Type Breakdown (Educational Services)

Plan Type Plans Participants Total Assets
Other 1,957 1,487,821 $340.4B
401(k) 1,351 668,242 $38.4B
Defined Benefit (Pension) 89 97,837 $26.2B
Money Purchase 75 100,827 $23.2B
Profit Sharing 404 149,523 $21.8B
ESOP 22 6,411 $1.3B
IRA-Based 1 150 $8M

Largest Educational Services Plans by Assets

Top 30 Educational Services retirement plans ranked by 2024 end-of-year total assets.

# Plan Sponsor State Type Participants Assets
1 Stanford Contributory Retirement Plan The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University CA Other 22,753 $12.6B
2 The Duke University Faculty and Staff Retirement Plan Duke University NC Other 48,377 $11.0B
3 Johns Hopkins University 403(b) Plan Johns Hopkins University Office of Benefits Services MD Other 25,833 $8.8B
4 Yale University Retirement Account Plan Yale University CT Other 13,197 $8.3B
5 University of Rochester Retirement Program University of Rochester NY Other 30,335 $8.0B
6 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Supplemental 401(k) Plan Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA 401(k) 14,762 $7.7B
7 Washington University Retirement Savings Plan Washington University in St. Louis MO Other 26,975 $7.5B
8 The University of Pennsylvania Matching Plan Trustees of the University of PA PA Other 22,110 $7.0B
9 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Basic Retirement Plan Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA Defined Benefit (Pension) 12,533 $5.9B
10 Retirement Plan for Officers of Columbia University Trustees of Columbia University NY Other 14,399 $5.6B
11 Emory University Retirement Plan Emory University Division of Human Resources GA Profit Sharing 18,936 $5.5B
12 New York University Retirement Plan for Members of the Faculty, Professional Research Staff and Administration New York University NY Other 10,678 $5.4B
13 Caltech Base Retirement Plan California Institute of Technology CA Other 10,970 $5.2B
14 University of Southern California Defined Contribution Retirement Plan University of Southern California CA Money Purchase 19,806 $5.0B
15 University of Southern California Tax-Deferred Annuity Plan University of Southern California CA Other 20,886 $4.8B
16 Vanderbilt University Medical Center Retirement Plan Vanderbilt University Medical Center TN Other 31,810 $4.7B
17 Columbia University Voluntary Retirement Savings Plan Trustees of Columbia University NY Other 25,394 $4.7B
18 Nyu Grossman School of Medicine Retirement Plan for Members of the Faculty, Professional Research Staff and Administration New York University NY Other 6,880 $4.6B
19 Northwestern University Retirement Plan Northwestern University IL Other 9,328 $4.4B
20 Harvard University Tax Deferred Annuity Plan President & Fellows of Harvard College Harvard Human Resources, Benefi MA Other 24,395 $4.3B
21 The University of Chicago Contributory Retirement Plan The University of Chicago IL Other 5,144 $3.8B
22 Cornell University Retirement Plan for the Employees of the Endowed Colleges at Ithaca Cornell University NY Other 14,648 $3.0B
23 Boston University Retirement Plan Trustees of Boston University MA Other 8,173 $3.0B
24 The Retirement Plan for Graham Holdings Company Graham Holdings Company VA Defined Benefit (Pension) 6,257 $3.0B
25 Carnegie Mellon University Faculty and Staff Retirement Plan Carnegie Mellon University PA Other 6,772 $2.8B
26 Jefferson Defined Contribution Retirement Plan Thomas Jefferson University PA Other 17,497 $2.8B
27 Employees' Retirement Plan of Duke University Duke University NC Defined Benefit (Pension) 22,655 $2.8B
28 Northeastern University Retirement Plan Northeastern University MA Other 8,900 $2.6B
29 University of Notre Dame 403(b) Retirement Plan University of Notre Dame Du Lac IN Profit Sharing 10,920 $2.6B
30 The Medical College of Wisconsin, Inc. Retirement Plan The Medical College of Wisconsin, Inc. WI Other 6,796 $2.6B

Nationwide industries with similar retirement plan scale

Two DOL Form 5500-derived peer sets for Educational Services: nearest tracked industries by plan filing count (3,899 plans here) and nearest by aggregate plan assets ($451.4B here). Rows stay link-disjoint so each axis is a distinct neighborhood.

Similar plan count

Nearest other industries by reported employer plan filings.

Similar total assets

Nearest other industries by aggregate end-of-year plan assets (plan-count peers above are excluded).

Questions about Educational Services plans

How many retirement plans are in the Educational Services industry? ▼
Educational Services sponsors 3,899 ERISA-covered retirement plans according to 2024 Form 5500 filings, including 1,351 401(k) plans (34.6% of plans in the industry). Total assets across all plans in the industry sum to $451.4B, covering 2,510,811 participants.
What's the average plan size in the Educational Services industry? ▼
The average Educational Services retirement plan holds $116M in assets and covers 644 participants. This is an arithmetic mean across all 3,899 plans in the industry, actual plan sizes vary widely, with a small number of very large plans pulling the average up. See the table above for the largest plans by assets.
Where does this industry data come from? ▼
Industry classification comes from each plan sponsor's Form 5500 filing with the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). Sponsors self-classify into one of approximately 20 industry categories based on the primary economic activity of the sponsoring employer. The category labels follow the DOL plan-sponsor industry taxonomy.
What plan types are most common in the Educational Services industry? ▼
In Educational Services, the most common plan type by total assets is Other (1,957 plans, $340.4B in assets). Other common types include: 401(k) (1,351), Defined Benefit (Pension) (89), Money Purchase (75).

Related guides

See also these PlainRetire explainers for interpreting Form 5500 industry totals and comparing plans.

Explore from Educational Services

Management of Enterprises

Closest peer by total plan assets ($418.1B, 1,176 plans)
Stanford Contributory Retirement Plan

Largest Educational Services plan on file · $12.6B
Other

Dominant type here by assets · 1,957 plans, $340.4B
All industries

Industry #9 of 21 by total Form 5500 plan assets

What to do with Educational Services plan data

3,899 plans across the Educational Services sector offer a baseline for benchmarking your own plan.

Industry classification is self-reported by plan sponsors on Form 5500. Plans may span multiple sectors.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor EBSA Form 5500 public-disclosure dataset, 2024 plan year. Industry classification self-reported by sponsors.

Reference: IRS Publication 560, Retirement Plans for Small Business.

Every figure on PlainRetire is rendered directly from the Department of Labor's Form 5500 annual return filings, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-25.