Louisiana’s higher education employees could see better retirement prospects

by Piper Hutchinson, Louisiana Illuminator
March 18, 2025

The Louisiana Legislature will consider a wish list of retirement reforms college and university faculty and staff have suggested, all aimed at keeping tenured professors and critical employees from leaving the state. 

House Bill 24 by Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Prairieville, incorporates most of the recommendations put forward by a Louisiana Board of Regents’ task force, which was created by a resolution Bacala sponsored in the 2024 legislative session. 

Reforming the optional retirement plan in the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) has been a long-desired goal of many in higher education who view updating the plan as vital to recruitment and retention.

Nearly 7,000 public college and university faculty and staff members have enrolled in the state’s “portable” or optional retirement plan, which allows them to take their accrued benefits with them if they choose to leave Louisiana for another job. In exchange for that portability, employees lose out on more lucrative benefits available through a fixed, pension-style retirement plan offered to most state employees. 

But as professors earn tenure and key personnel stay in place longer, the limited ability to switch over to the fixed benefit plan with a higher payout makes Louisiana less attractive for employees who want to finish their careers here. Employer retirement contributions are significantly lower in Louisiana than other southeastern states, as is faculty pay. The vast majority of optional or defined benefit plan members do not receive Social Security benefits. 

In the past, the system has stymied attempts to change the optional retirement plan. While the TRSL board has not yet taken an official position on the bill, Bacala seemed confident it would be on board. Bacala is the chairman of the retirement committee that must give the legislation initial approval. 

Last year, lawmakers gave certain higher education employees a limited window to switch from the optional plan to the defined benefit plan. According to the Board of Regents, 795 employees applied to switch as of the end of 2024. 

Bacala’s bill would expand eligibility for optional plan membership to include all schools within the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. It would also create an optional retirement plan advisory panel for the TRSL board and make enrollment in the retirement system optional for certain new-hires who are older. The proposal would also increase the minimum employer contribution to optional plan accounts from 6.2% to 8% of employee pay and open the window employees have to switch from the optional plan to the defined benefit plan from five to seven years. 

Extending the switchover deadline aligns state law with the typical tenure timeline, meaning that when faculty earn tenure, they have the option to switch into the more lucrative retirement plan. Tenure provides an indefinite academic appointment to high-performing faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in their field.

University of Louisiana Lafayette Faculty Senate President Phil Auter, a communication professor who served on the task force, said a later switch deadline would be good for faculty and the state, as it would give high-performing professors more incentive to remain at Louisiana universities. 

“In the long run, the more we support higher education in the state, the better it is for all of the people in all of our communities,” Auter said. 

Bacala’s bill did not include the task force recommendation that an optional plan member be given a spot on the TRSL Board of Trustees, but Bacala said it may be amended into the bill during the legislative process. 

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.

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