Defined Benefit (Pension) · DOL Form 5500 · 2024

Samford University Pension Plan

Data updated 2026-07-24

$170M
Total assets
327
Participants
94th
Percentile by assets
$520,570
Avg per participant

Official DOL plan name: Samford University Pension Plan · Sponsored by Samford University · Alabama · Educational Services

$170M in assets, 327 participants

Samford University's Samford University Pension Plan reported $170M in total assets and 327 participants in its 2024 DOL Form 5500 filing, ranking in the 94th 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.

  • 94th percentile by assets (of 116,472 plans)

What the 2024 filing shows

Samford University Pension Plan holds $170M for 327 participants - about $520,570 per participant, in the top 10% of all filed plans by assets, down 5.9% over the 2024 plan year.

$170M
total plan assets (2024 EOY)
327
covered participants
94th
percentile by assets (of 116,472 plans)
$520,570
avg assets per participant

The plan reported a net loss of $11M for the year, a single-year figure driven by markets and benefit payments, not a measure of plan health.

State
Industry
Educational Services

Defined Benefit (Pension) · DOL Form 5500 · 2024

What the Filing Says About Samford University Pension Plan

Samford University Pension Plan is a Defined Benefit (Pension) retirement plan sponsored by Samford University, headquartered in Alabama. According to the U.S. Department of Labor's 2024 Form 5500 filing, the plan reports $170M in total end-of-year assets and covers 327 participants across the Educational Services industry. The sponsor's EIN on file with the U.S. Department of Labor is 630312914, and the plan has been effective since 1988-01-01. Its filing status is currently FILING RECEIVED.

Year over year, total assets pulled back noticeably from $181M at the beginning of 2024 to $170M at year-end - down 5.9%. Net assets (after liabilities) closed the year at $170M, with reported net income of -$11M driven by investment returns, contributions received, and benefit payments during the period. These figures reflect what the plan administrator certified on Schedule H or Schedule I of the Form 5500 annual return and can be compared against 2 prior plan-year filings from the same sponsor shown below.

Across the 3 plan years Samford University has on file with PlainRetire (2022-2024), sponsor-wide plan assets have moved from $271M to $297M, a gain of 9.7%, while reported participants moved from 2,185 to 1,758 (-19.5%). The strongest year on file by total sponsor assets was 2024 at $297M; the softest was 2022 at $271M. Year-by-year, sponsor-wide filings show: 2022 - $271M in assets across 2 plans covering 2,185 participants; 2023 - $289M in assets across 2 plans covering 1,989 participants; 2024 - $297M in assets across 2 plans covering 1,758 participants.

By assets, Samford University Pension Plan outranks 94% of the 116,472 plans that filed a Form 5500 for the 2024 plan year, and holds roughly 1.7x the national average plan size of $100M and 730 average participants.

Asset totals and participant counts reflect a single plan year snapshot and can change materially with market conditions, plan mergers, or workforce changes. Fields such as "net income" include both realized investment performance and contribution/distribution flows, a single-year figure does not by itself indicate plan health or participant outcomes. This page summarizes public DOL disclosures for research and educational purposes only and is not retirement, tax, legal, or financial advice. Before making decisions about your own retirement benefits or evaluating an employer's plan, verify the underlying filing directly via the DOL EFAST2 system and consult a qualified professional.

How the percentile is calculated: we count every plan that filed a 2024 Form 5500 with a reported end-of-year asset figure (116,472 plans), rank Samford University Pension Plan against all of them by total assets, and report the share of those plans it outranks. A plan reporting no asset figure for the year is excluded from the ranking rather than assumed to be zero.

Financial Summary (2024)

Total Assets (Beginning of Year)$181M
Total Assets (End of Year)$170M
Net Assets (End of Year)$170M
Net Income-$11M
Plan TypeDefined Benefit (Pension)
Employer EIN630312914
Plan Effective Date1988-01-01
Filing StatusFILING RECEIVED

Sponsor Plan History (Samford University)

$260M$270M$280M$290M$300M 202220232024 $271M $297M ▲ +9.7%
Total plan assets by year, all Samford University 401(k) plans on file
Year Plans Participants Total Assets
2022 2 2,185 $271M
2023 2 1,989 $289M
2024 2 1,758 $297M

Nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) Plans in Alabama

Peer Defined Benefit (Pension) plans, same state, same plan type, ranked by total assets.

Samford University Pension Plan vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in Alabama, assets vs. participants

Samford University Pension Plan vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in Alabama, assets vs. participants Scatter plot of 6 data points. 05001000150020002500 00.511.5 Total assets ($B) Participants Samford University P…Regions Financial Co…Blue Cross and Blue …Regions Financial Co…Retail, Wholesale & …Vulcan Materials Com…
Samford University Pension Plan vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in Alabama, assets vs. participants

Similar-Sized Defined Benefit (Pension) Plans Nationally

Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in other states closest to Samford University Pension Plan by total assets, not by location.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much money is in the Samford University Pension Plan?
As of the 2024 Form 5500 filing, Samford University Pension Plan holds $170M in total assets with 327 participants. It is sponsored by Samford University.
What type of plan is Samford University Pension Plan?
Samford University Pension Plan is a Defined Benefit (Pension) plan. It has been effective since 1988-01-01. The plan is filed with the U.S. Department of Labor under EIN 630312914.
Who sponsors the Samford University Pension Plan?
Samford University Pension Plan is sponsored by Samford University, located in Alabama. The sponsor's EIN is 630312914 and the plan operates in the Educational Services industry.
How did Samford University Pension Plan perform in 2024?
Samford University Pension Plan pulled back noticeably - down 5.9% during 2024, moving from $181M to $170M in total assets. Net income was -$11M.

What this filing means

Ways to act on Samford University Pension Plan's numbers.

  • By total assets, Samford University Pension Plan ranks in the top 10% of all filed plans by assets. See the largest plans
  • Compare it side-by-side against 3 similar Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in Alabama. Compare plans
  • Samford University's sponsor-wide assets have grown 9.7% since 2022 across 3 plan years on file. More Educational Services plans
  • A Defined Benefit (Pension) plan works differently from other retirement plan types, understand the structural differences before comparing. Compare plan types

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Form 5500 public disclosure dataset. Plan year 2024.

Source: DOL EFAST2 filing system (efast.dol.gov) - original filing retrieval by EIN 630312914.

Reference: IRS Publication 560, Retirement Plans for Small Business, contribution-limit rules.

Reference: IRS Publication 590-B, Distributions from IRAs, RMD rules under SECURE Act 2.0.

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

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 2026-07-24.