In addition to earning membership service credit through employment with a TRS-covered employer, you may be eligible to purchase additional service credit.
When do I Need to Purchase Service Credit?
To use purchased service credit in calculating service retirement benefits, you must complete the purchase by the effective date of retirement or by the last day of the month in which you submit a retirement application, whichever is later. If the purchased service credit is required for retirement eligibility, payment must be completed by the effective date of retirement.
Types of Service Credit
Please refer to the TRS Service Credit brochure for complete descriptions of the types of service that may be purchased and eligibility requirements.
Withdrawn service credit occurs if you refund your TRS member account, canceling all TRS service credit and canceling membership.
Unreported service and/or compensation credit is eligible service and/or compensation that should have been reported but was not reported to TRS at the time the service was rendered and/or the compensation was paid. Work as a substitute for a minimum of 90 workdays in a school year may qualify for service credit if verified and purchased. If you receive workers’ compensation payments as temporary wage replacement pay, you may be eligible to purchase TRS service and/or compensation credit.
If you have out-of-state service in a public school system or college and you have at least five years of TRS membership service credit, you may be eligible to purchase service credit.
Developmental leave is unpaid leave from employment with your TRS-covered employer that is approved in advance by your employer for study, research, travel, or another purpose designed to improve your professional competence.
If you are a TRS member with at least five years of TRS service credit, you may be eligible to purchase up to five years of service credit for active-duty federal military service in the U.S. armed forces.
USERRA establishes certain rights if you leave TRS-covered employment for voluntary or involuntary active military duty and are then reemployed or apply for reemployment with the same TRS-covered employer. If this is the case, you may be eligible to establish TRS service credit and/or compensation credit for the period of duty under USERRA.
If you meet the eligibility requirements on your last day of employment before retirement, you may purchase one year of service credit if you have 50 days or 400 hours of unused state sick and/or personal leave accumulated at no more than five days per year. Purchased state sick and/or personal leave may not be used to establish eligibility for retirement.
If you are a certified career or technology education teacher, with at least five years of service credit, you may be eligible to establish service credit for one or two years of work experience.
A member is subject to a 90-day waiting period for TRS membership if the member:
- began work for a TRS-covered employer on or after Sept. 1, 2003, but before Sept. 1, 2005, and
- was not already a TRS member at the time that employment began.