Other · DOL Form 5500 · 2023
Northwestern University Retirement Plan
Data updated 2026-08-25
- $1.1B
- Total assets Very large vs avg
- 12,335
- Participants Very large workforce
- 99th
- Percentile by assets National rank
- $88,981
- Avg per participant Below avg balance/head
Official DOL plan name: Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan · Sponsored by Northwestern University · Illinois · Educational Services
$1.1B in assets, 12,335 participants
Northwestern University's Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan reported $1.1B in total assets and 12,335 participants in its 2023 DOL Form 5500 filing, ranking in the 99th 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.
- #3,668 in Educational Services (3,735 peers)
Coverage in Illinois
Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan covers 12,335 participants in Illinois, 16x the typical Illinois plan (state average ~779 per filing). Assets: $1.1B.
- #3,668
- in Educational Services (3,735 peers)
- +15.5%
- assets growth YoY
- 11×
- vs typical plan assets (national mean)
Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan's outsized position by total assets
Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan vs every filed plan by assets
End-of-year total assets · plan year 2023 · DOL Form 5500
$1,097,583,063 Top 1% higher than 99% of 127,068 filed plans
Dashed line + filled bar = this entry, among filed plans.
Source U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA) · plan year 2023
Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan's mega-plan peer group by participant headcount
Plan-year 2023 Form 5500 filings with a reported participant count, partitioned by headcount band, not by assets. Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan is a mega filing (12,335 participants), the rightmost band on the breakdown.
What changed between DOL Form 5500 filings
plan year 2022 → plan year 2023
- Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan reported net income rose from -$127M in the plan year 2022 filing to $147M in the plan year 2023 filing.
- Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan reported participants fell from 15,574 in the plan year 2022 filing to 12,335 in the plan year 2023 filing.
- Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan end-of-year assets rose from $950M in the plan year 2022 filing to $1.1B in the plan year 2023 filing.
Plan-year Form 5500 strip
Filing strip 362167817 · Northwestern University PY 2023 · Other
Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan · $1.1B · 12,335 · 99th
- IND $1.1B
- EOY 12,335
- 5500 99th
- ASSETS Other
- PCT near Howard University Savings Plan
- EIN ind #3668
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 Educational Services retirement plans → · Plans in Illinois →
Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan in the asset neighbourhood
Illinois filing particulars
| Total Assets (Beginning of Year) | $950M |
|---|---|
| Net Assets (End of Year) | $1.1B |
| Net Income | $147M |
| Employer EIN | 362167817 |
| Plan Effective Date | 1974-09-01 |
| Filing Status | FILING RECEIVED |
Sponsor Plan History (Northwestern University)
Sponsor-wide plan assets over time
All Northwestern University plans reported in each filing year
- Latest sponsor-wide plan assets
- $5.7B 26.835153425030896% vs 2022
- 2024 filing year
| Year | Plans | Participants | Total Assets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3 | 25,039 | $4.5B |
| 2023 | 3 | 21,775 | $5.1B |
| 2024 | 3 | 21,547 | $5.7B |
Nearby Other Plans in Illinois
Peer Other plans, same state, same plan type, ranked by total assets.
- Northwestern University Retirement Plan $4.0B · 9,440
- The University of Chicago Contributory Retirement Plan $3.5B · 4,796
- Endeavor Health Legacy 403(b) Tax Deferred Annuity Plan for Northshore University Healthsystem Employees $2.0B · 13,705
- The University of Chicago Supplemental Retirement Plan $1.7B · 8,254
- Argonne National Laboratory 403(b) Employee Retirement Plan $1.6B · 3,798
Scale composition for Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan
Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan reports $1.1B in end-of-year assets across 12,335 participants (0.009% of the $12.3T held by all Form 5500 filers in the national rollup , and 0.013% of 93,925,755 covered participants) - about $88,981 per participant (64% of the national average assets-per-participant) . Net income for plan year 2023 was $147M.
This plan identity (EIN 362167817, plan #003) has 3 Form 5500 filings on file from 2022 to 2024 , with end-of-year assets moving from $950M to $1.2B (+28.1%) while covered participants moved from 15,574 to 12,219 . Single-year sparse filers cannot show that trail.
| Plan year | Participants | EOY assets | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 15,574 | $950M | Open filing |
| 2023 | 12,335 | $1.1B | This page |
| 2024 · index core | 12,219 | $1.2B | Open filing |
The same sponsor also keeps 2 other index-core plans on PlainRetire:
- Northwestern University Retirement Plan (Other, $4.4B, 9,328 participants)
- Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan (Other, $1.2B, 12,219 participants)
Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan's out-of-state Other peers by assets and headcount
Outside Illinois, the nearest Other by assets is Howard University Savings Plan in DC ($1.1B); by covered participants it is Devereux Defined Contribution Retirement Plan in PA (12,312 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.
Closest by plan assets
Nearest other-state filings by tot_assets_eoy ($1.1B here).
- Howard University Savings Plan (DC) $1.1B · 6,611
- St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Defined Contribution Retirement Plan (TN) $1.1B · 6,010
- Baptist Health Thrift Plan (KY) $1.1B · 790
- Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Inc. Retirement Plan (MA) $1.1B · 1,883
Similar participant headcount
Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (12,335 participants); asset peers above are excluded.
- Devereux Defined Contribution Retirement Plan (PA) 12,312 · 23 off
- Baptist Health System, Inc. Matched Savings Plan (FL) 12,311 · 24 off
- Yale University Retirement Account Plan (CT) 12,259 · 76 off
- Cox Savings Incentive Plan (MO) 12,220 · 115 off
DOL Form 5500 plan year 2023. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.