Other · DOL Form 5500 · 2024
Northwestern University Retirement Plan
Data updated 2026-08-25
- $4.4B
- Total assets Very large vs avg
- 9,328
- Participants Very large workforce
- 100th
- Percentile by assets National rank
- $476,513
- Avg per participant High balance/head
Official DOL plan name: Northwestern University Retirement Plan · Sponsored by Northwestern University · Illinois · Educational Services
$4.4B in assets, 9,328 participants
Northwestern University's Northwestern University Retirement Plan reported $4.4B in total assets and 9,328 participants in its 2024 DOL Form 5500 filing, ranking in the 100th 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.
- #3,620 in Educational Services (3,638 peers)
Coverage in Illinois
Northwestern University Retirement Plan covers 9,328 participants in Illinois, 12x the typical Illinois plan (state average ~779 per filing). Assets: $4.4B.
- #3,620
- in Educational Services (3,638 peers)
- +10.5%
- assets growth YoY
- 45×
- vs typical plan assets (national mean)
Northwestern University Retirement Plan's outsized position by total assets
Northwestern University Retirement Plan vs every filed plan by assets
End-of-year total assets · plan year 2024 · DOL Form 5500
$4,444,912,336 Highest reported value at or above every one of 123,620 filed plans
Dashed line + filled bar = this entry, among filed plans.
Source U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA) · plan year 2024
Northwestern University Retirement Plan's large-plan peer group by participant headcount
Plan-year 2024 Form 5500 filings with a reported participant count, partitioned by headcount band, not by assets. Northwestern University Retirement Plan lands in the large band (9,328 participants).
What changed between DOL Form 5500 filings
plan year 2023 → plan year 2024
- Northwestern University Retirement Plan reported net income fell from $508M in the plan year 2023 filing to $423M in the plan year 2024 filing.
- Northwestern University Retirement Plan end-of-year assets rose from $4.0B in the plan year 2023 filing to $4.4B in the plan year 2024 filing.
- Northwestern University Retirement Plan reported participants fell from 9,440 in the plan year 2023 filing to 9,328 in the plan year 2024 filing.
DOL schedule card
Filing strip 362167817 · Northwestern University PY 2024 · Other
Northwestern University Retirement Plan · $4.4B · 9,328 · 100th
- ASSETS $4.4B
- ASSETS 9,328
- ASSETS 100th
- ASSETS Other
- ASSETS near Montefiore Medical Center 403(b) Plan
- ASSETS ind #3620
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 Retirement Plan in the asset neighbourhood
Illinois filing particulars
| Total Assets (Beginning of Year) | $4.0B |
|---|---|
| Net Assets (End of Year) | $4.4B |
| Net Income | $423M |
| Employer EIN | 362167817 |
| Plan Effective Date | 1920-09-12 |
| 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.
- The University of Chicago Contributory Retirement Plan $3.8B · 5,144
- Endeavor Health Legacy 403(b) Tax Deferred Annuity Plan for Northshore University Healthsystem Employees $2.1B · 13,718
- The University of Chicago Supplemental Retirement Plan $1.9B · 8,635
- Rush University Medical Center 403(b) Retirement Savings Plan $1.8B · 13,592
- Argonne National Laboratory 403(b) Employee Retirement Plan $1.7B · 3,981
Scale composition for Northwestern University Retirement Plan
Northwestern University Retirement Plan reports $4.4B in end-of-year assets across 9,328 participants (0.036% of the $12.3T held by all Form 5500 filers in the national rollup , and 0.010% of 93,925,755 covered participants) - about $476,513 per participant (3.4x the national average assets-per-participant) . Net income for plan year 2024 was $423M.
This plan identity (EIN 362167817, plan #001) has 3 Form 5500 filings on file from 2022 to 2024 , with end-of-year assets moving from $3.5B to $4.4B (+26.5%) while covered participants moved from 9,465 to 9,328 . Single-year sparse filers cannot show that trail.
| Plan year | Participants | EOY assets | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 9,465 | $3.5B | Open filing |
| 2023 | 9,440 | $4.0B | Open filing |
| 2024 · index core | 9,328 | $4.4B | This page |
The same sponsor also keeps 1 other index-core plan on PlainRetire:
- Northwestern University Voluntary Savings Plan (Other, $1.2B, 12,219 participants)
Northwestern University Retirement Plan's out-of-state Other peers by assets and headcount
Outside Illinois, the nearest Other by assets is Montefiore Medical Center 403(b) Plan in NY ($4.3B); by covered participants it is City of Hope National Medical Center Tax-Deferred Annuity Plan in CA (9,226 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.
Closest by plan assets
Nearest other-state filings by tot_assets_eoy ($4.4B here).
- Montefiore Medical Center 403(b) Plan (NY) $4.3B · 16,441
- Nyu Grossman School of Medicine Retirement Plan for Members of the Faculty, Professional Research Staff and Administration (NY) $4.6B · 6,880
- Harvard University Tax Deferred Annuity Plan (MA) $4.3B · 24,395
- Columbia University Voluntary Retirement Savings Plan (NY) $4.7B · 25,394
Similar participant headcount
Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (9,328 participants); asset peers above are excluded.
- City of Hope National Medical Center Tax-Deferred Annuity Plan (CA) 9,226 · 102 off
- Children's Hospital Colorado 403(b) Plan (CO) 9,224 · 104 off
- Children's Mercy Hospital Tax-Deferred Annuity Retirement Plan (MO) 9,184 · 144 off
- The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Pension Plan B (MD) 9,501 · 173 off
DOL Form 5500 plan year 2024. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.