STRS Ohio

What STRS Ohio does

State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS Ohio) is a public pension system established in 1911 under Chapter 3307 of the Ohio Revised Code, providing retirement benefits to teachers and administrators employed by Ohio public schools, colleges, and universities. The system serves more than 549,000 active, inactive, and retired educators and operates as the mandatory, state-mandated retirement plan with a statutory monopoly over its covered population. As a government state entity and non-profit, STRS Ohio is governed by the State Teachers Retirement Board and reports publicly on investment performance, cost-of-living adjustment decisions, and strategic planning. Note: the firmographics summary states a founding year of 1920 while the company history places establishment under Ohio state law in 1911; the 1911 date is treated as authoritative given its specificity.

STRS Ohio offers three retirement plans: a Defined Benefit (DB) Plan providing predictable monthly benefits based on age, service credit, and final average salary; a Defined Contribution (DC) Plan offering member-directed investments; and a Combined (CO) Plan that blends elements of both. Supporting benefits include survivor and disability coverage during a member's career and access to health care coverage in retirement for eligible retirees. The technology layer centers on the Online Personal Account member portal — a web platform supporting retirement application submission, benefit estimate calculators, document uploads, direct deposit controls, and 24/7 self-service — complemented by a Member Education Hub with video content, calculators for service retirement / service credit / disability / survivor benefits, and virtual counseling tools. Distribution occurs through a Columbus headquarters, statewide virtual and in-person benefits counseling (the Member Education team logged 22,058 travel miles in FY2025), and digital self-service channels.

The system is funded through mandatory member and employer contributions and invested through institutional asset management; it charges no fees to members for pension administration. Recent disclosed investment activity includes quarterly portfolio rebalancing across public equities (Cheniere Energy, Warner Bros. Discovery, RBC Bearings, Hanover Bancorp, Solaris Energy Infrastructure, Compass Therapeutics), with no disclosed impact on operating scale.

Name

STRS Ohio

Legal name

State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio

Website

https://strsoh.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1911

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio is a public pension system serving more than 549,000 Ohio public educators. Established under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3307, it provides Defined Benefit, Defined Contribution, and Combined retirement plans plus disability, survivor, and retiree health care benefits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Pension Administration

NAICS

Pension Funds (525110), Pension Funds (52511), Insurance and Employee Benefit Funds (5251)

akta.pro primary industry

Pensions & Retirement Benefits Administration (BPAIAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Taft-Hartley / Labor Union & Public Sector Retirement Systems (FSAAAGAK), Employer Retirement Plan Advisory (401(k)/Pension) (FSAEABAE)

Keywords

• Public pension system
• Educator retirement benefits
• Defined benefit plan
• Defined contribution plan
• Retirement plan administration

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbus

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

STRS Ohio administers a statewide public pension system providing retirement, disability, survivor, and health care benefits to more than 549,000 active, inactive, and retired Ohio public educators. Members may choose among three plan options—Defined Benefit (DB), Defined Contribution (DC), and Combined (CO)—and access the system through an Online Personal Account portal featuring retirement applications, benefit estimates, and account management tools.

Product overview

STRS Ohio provides a three-plan retirement system for Ohio educators consisting of the Defined Benefit (DB) Plan, Defined Contribution (DC) Plan, and Combined (CO) Plan. The DB Plan offers predictable monthly benefits based on service credit and salary, while the DC Plan provides member-directed investments. The CO Plan combines elements of both. Supporting services include an Online Personal Account member portal, retirement planning calculators, the Member Education Hub with educational videos and workshops, and member education events. The organization serves more than 549,000 active, inactive, and retired educators with retirement, survivor, disability, and health care benefit programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• TIAA: TIAA is a large national financial services provider serving the academic, research, and education sectors with retirement plans, IRAs, and advisory services. While not a state pension system, it competes for the same higher-education retirement market that STRS Ohio serves.
• CalPERS (California Public Employees' Retirement System): CalPERS is one of the largest US public pensions, covering California state, school, and local government employees. It is a broader incumbent with overlapping public-pension capabilities but covers a much wider population than STRS Ohio's educator-only mandate.

Direct peers

• CalSTRS (California State Teachers' Retirement System): CalSTRS is the largest US teacher-only public pension system, serving California public educators with DB and supplemental savings plans. Directly comparable to STRS Ohio in mission, statutory mandate, plan architecture, and member base, though at significantly larger scale.
• Texas Teacher Retirement System (TRS): TRS Texas administers retirement and health care benefits for Texas public educators under a similar statutory mandate. It operates the same DB-plus-optional-DS-style architecture and provides retiree health coverage, making it a close functional analog to STRS Ohio.
• PSERS Pennsylvania (Public School Employees' Retirement System): PSERS administers DB and DC retirement benefits for Pennsylvania public school employees under a state mandate. Operates the same statutory monopoly model as STRS Ohio with comparable K-12 educator and retiree health care programs.
• SERS Ohio (School Employees Retirement System of Ohio): SERS Ohio is Ohio's school-employee pension system serving non-teaching public school personnel under Chapter 3309 of the Ohio Revised Code. Shares the same state regulatory framework, plan design philosophy, and member education approach as STRS Ohio.
• Illinois Teachers' Retirement System (TRS Illinois): TRS Illinois provides DB pension benefits to Illinois public school teachers outside Chicago under a state statutory mandate. Comparable to STRS Ohio in mandate, plan type, and member profile of public educators.
• New York State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS): NYSTRS is a state-level teacher retirement system providing DB pension benefits to New York public school educators. It shares STRS Ohio's statutory monopoly model, K-12 educator focus, and DB-centric plan structure.
• Washington State Department of Retirement Systems: Washington DRS administers multiple state retirement plans covering public employees and teachers. Comparable to STRS Ohio in operating DB and DC plans under a state mandate and in providing retiree-focused member education and counseling.
• OPERS (Ohio Public Employees Retirement System): OPERS is Ohio's sister public retirement system serving state and local government employees (non-teachers). Highly comparable to STRS Ohio in jurisdiction, governance model, plan architecture, and Ohio-specific regulatory environment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about STRS Ohio