401(k) · DOL Form 5500 · 2023

Nelnet, Inc. 401(k) Plan

Data updated 2026-08-25

$674M
Total assets Above avg plan size
8,442
Participants Very large workforce
98th
Percentile by assets National rank
$79,870
Avg per participant Below avg balance/head
PlainRetire home → About this data RSS: change history

Official DOL plan name: Nelnet 401(k) Plan · Sponsored by Nelnet, Inc. · Nebraska · Finance & Insurance

$674M in assets, 8,442 participants

Nelnet, Inc.'s Nelnet 401(k) Plan reported $674M in total assets and 8,442 participants in its 2023 DOL Form 5500 filing, ranking in the 98th percentile by assets among filed plans. Figures are as reported by the plan sponsor to the Department of Labor, not audited or endorsed by PlainRetire.

  • #8,548 in Finance & Insurance (8,869 peers)

Coverage in Nebraska

Nelnet 401(k) Plan covers 8,442 participants in Nebraska, 15x the typical Nebraska plan (state average ~552 per filing). Assets: $674M.

#8,548
in Finance & Insurance (8,869 peers)
+21.1%
assets growth YoY
6.8×
vs typical plan assets (national mean)

Nelnet 401(k) Plan's outsized position by total assets

Nelnet 401(k) Plan vs every filed plan by assets

End-of-year total assets · plan year 2023 · DOL Form 5500

$674,259,450 Top 2% higher than 98% of 127,068 filed plans

This plan $0 $2,050,000,000 every filed plan with reported assets, bucketed by value

Dashed line + filled bar = this entry, among filed plans.

Source U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA) · plan year 2023

Nelnet 401(k) Plan's large-plan peer group by participant headcount

Plan-year 2023 Form 5500 filings with a reported participant count, partitioned by headcount band, not by assets. Nelnet 401(k) Plan lands in the large band (8,442 participants).

What changed between DOL Form 5500 filings

plan year 2022 → plan year 2023

  • Nelnet 401(k) Plan reported net income rose from -$102M in the plan year 2022 filing to $114M in the plan year 2023 filing.
  • Nelnet 401(k) Plan end-of-year assets rose from $557M in the plan year 2022 filing to $674M in the plan year 2023 filing.
  • Nelnet 401(k) Plan reported participants rose from 6,977 in the plan year 2022 filing to 8,442 in the plan year 2023 filing.

See the national 2022→2023 release diff →

Form 5500 schedule snapshot

Filing strip 840748903 · Nelnet, Inc. PY 2023 · 401(k)

Nelnet 401(k) Plan · $674M · 8,442 · 98th

  • NET $674M
  • BOOK 8,442
  • VS-ST 98th
  • BOY 401(k)
  • SCH near Alstom Transportation 401(k) Savings Plan
  • EBSA ind #8548

Stamps derive from this plan's Form 5500 line items (assets, participants, type, EIN, cohort placement) - not a quality rating of the sponsor. Read with Finance & Insurance retirement plans → · Plans in Nebraska →

Nelnet 401(k) Plan in the asset neighbourhood

Northwest Carpenters Individual Account Pension PlanNorthwest Carpenters Individ…$676MThe Whiting-Turner Contracting Company 401(k) PlanThe Whiting-Turner Contracti…$675MNelnet 401(k) Plan$674MAlstom Transportation 401(k) Savings PlanAlstom Transportation 401(k)…$674MShi International Corp 401(k) Savings PlanShi International Corp 401(k…$673M
End-of-year total assets ($M) among Nelnet 401(k) Plan and nearest nationwide 401(k) peers. Source: DOL Form 5500 plan year 2023.

Nebraska filing particulars

Total Assets (Beginning of Year)$557M
Net Assets (End of Year)$674M
Net Income$114M
Employer EIN840748903
Plan Effective Date1998-04-01
Filing StatusFILING RECEIVED

Sponsor Plan History (Nelnet, Inc.)

Sponsor-wide plan assets over time

All Nelnet, Inc. plans reported in each filing year

Latest sponsor-wide plan assets
$755M 35.711315879988554% vs 2022
2024 filing year
$500M$600M$700M$800M 202220232024 $557M $755M ▲ +35.7%
Year Plans Participants Total Assets
2022 1 6,977 $557M
2023 1 8,442 $674M
2024 1 7,953 $755M

Nearby 401(k) Plans in Nebraska

Peer 401(k) plans, same state, same plan type, ranked by total assets.

Nelnet 401(k) Plan vs. nearby 401(k) plans in Nebraska, assets vs. participants Scatter plot of 6 data points. 0100002000030000 02468 Total assets ($B) Participants Nelnet 401(k) Plan, Total assets ($B): 0.67425945 · Participants: 8442Nelnet 401(k) PlanHdr, Inc. Best Plan and ESOP, Total assets ($B): 6.272854301 · Participants: 10652Hdr, Inc. Best Plan and ESOPPeter Kiewit Sons, Inc. Retirement Savings Plan, Total assets ($B): 2.422593059 · Participants: 16947Peter Kiewit Sons, Inc. Retirement Savings PlanUnion Pacific Corporation Thrift Plan, Total assets ($B): 2.265096577 · Participants: 5470Union Pacific Corporation Thrift PlanUnion Pacific Agreement Employee 401(k) Retirement Thrift Plan, Total assets ($B): 2.255128453 · Participants: 27770Union Pacific Agreement Employee 401(k) Retirement Thrift PlanFirst National of Nebraska, Inc. First Savings Plan, Total assets ($B): 0.926040387 · Participants: 5038First National of Nebraska, Inc. First Savings Plan
Nelnet 401(k) Plan vs. nearby 401(k) plans in Nebraska, assets vs. participants
Compare Nelnet 401(k) Plan side-by-side with 3 peers →

Scale composition for Nelnet 401(k) Plan

Nelnet 401(k) Plan reports $674M in end-of-year assets across 8,442 participants (0.005% of the $12.3T held by all Form 5500 filers in the national rollup , and 0.009% of 93,925,755 covered participants) - about $79,870 per participant (58% of the national average assets-per-participant) . Net income for plan year 2023 was $114M.

This plan identity (EIN 840748903, plan #001) has 3 Form 5500 filings on file from 2022 to 2024 , with end-of-year assets moving from $557M to $755M (+35.7%) while covered participants moved from 6,977 to 7,953 . Single-year sparse filers cannot show that trail.

Plan year Participants EOY assets Filing
2022 6,977 $557M Open filing
2023 8,442 $674M This page
2024 · index core 7,953 $755M Open filing

The same sponsor also keeps 1 other index-core plan on PlainRetire:

Nelnet 401(k) Plan's out-of-state 401(k) peers by assets and headcount

Outside Nebraska, the nearest 401(k) by assets is Alstom Transportation 401(k) Savings Plan in PA ($674M); by covered participants it is Sinclair, Inc. 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan in MD (8,447 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.

Similar participant headcount

Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (8,442 participants); asset peers above are excluded.

DOL Form 5500 plan year 2023. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.

Frequently Asked Questions

How did Nelnet 401(k) Plan assets move in 2023? ▼
Nelnet 401(k) Plan grew sharply - up 21.1% during 2023, from $557M to $674M. Reported net income was $114M.
How have Nelnet, Inc. plan assets changed over time? ▼
Across 3 plan years on file (2022-2024), Nelnet, Inc.'s sponsor-wide assets grew 35.7%, from $557M to $755M.
Where does Nelnet 401(k) Plan rank by assets among Form 5500 filers? ▼
Nelnet 401(k) Plan ranks in the 98th percentile by end-of-year assets among 127,072 plans that reported assets for plan year 2023 (in the top 5% of all filed plans by assets).
Which 401(k) plans are similar in size to Nelnet 401(k) Plan? ▼
Among 401(k) plans in other states, the closest by assets is Alstom Transportation 401(k) Savings Plan in PA ($674M, 4,677 participants).
Which 401(k) plans cover a similar participant headcount to Nelnet 401(k) Plan? ▼
Among 401(k) plans in other states, the closest by covered participants is Sinclair, Inc. 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan in MD (8,447 participants, $649M in assets).

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Form 5500 public disclosure dataset. Plan year 2023.

Source: DOL EFAST2 filing system (efast.dol.gov) - original filing retrieval by EIN 840748903.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA). See our methodology for details.