General FAQs

To find your SURS Member ID, you can log in to the SURS Secure Member Website and click on the “Forms” tab. If you’re a first-time user, you will need to complete the Member Website registration process first, which is initiated by clicking the “Registration Process” button on the login page. Your SURS Member ID is also issued to you by SURS after they receive an Employment Certificate from your employer.

A photocopy of the one of the following is acceptable for verification:

• Birth certificate
• Military discharge papers
• Passport or passport card
• Valid driver’s license

If you are married, we also ask for a photocopy of your spouse’s birth certificate and a photocopy of your marriage or civil union certificate.

It is important to understand that the health, life, dental, and vision insurance coverage many SURS retirees have in retirement is administered by the Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS). Insurance carriers, premiums, and coverage are all developed and negotiated by CMS.

In retirement, the mailings you receive outlining benefits and open enrollment periods, come from CMS. Plan design details and identification cards come directly from your insurance provider.

SURS involvement in these benefits is limited. We act only as the agent to collect member and dependent premiums. For many of our retirees, this means that we deduct insurance premiums from their monthly retirement check and forward that money to CMS.

Retirees and survivors can view this page or call SURS for general information, but often we must refer you to the insurance provider or CMS for details about your specific coverage.

No. Under current law, you cannot borrow or take a partial withdrawal from the SURS accumulation.

Members who are within five years of retirement eligibility can request an estimate of their retirement benefit. The member must supply information such as future salary expectations and sick leave or vacation accumulations. SURS will calculate the benefit based on the current laws and the potential retirement date listed by the member.

If you meet the five-year guideline, call SURS to obtain an estimate request form.

The SURS Call Center is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. If you have any questions, call 800-275-7877 (800-ASK-SURS) or dial direct (217) 378-8800.

Click here to access the SURS Secure Member Website. On the login page, enter your login credentials or click Registration Process to begin.

Registration Tutorial

Your contributions are equal to 8 percent of your gross earnings, including earnings for overtime and summer sessions.

Full-time community college employees (except City Colleges of Chicago) pay an additional 0.5 percent of earnings to fund a health insurance plan devised for community college retirees.

If you began working for a SURS-covered employer on or after April 1, 1986, your employer is required to deduct contributions for Medicare from your gross earnings. Currently, this contribution equals 1.45 percent of gross earnings.

Police/Firefighters have special rules that allow them to contribute 9.5 percent of gross earnings.

Contributions are deducted from your salary by your employer and forwarded to SURS.

Visit the SURS Secure Member Website. If you have misplaced your username or password, re-register or call SURS at 800-275-7877.

You may access an up-to-date snapshot of your benefit information by logging into your SURS Secure Member Website Account and clicking on the My SURS tab. The SURS Member Summary screen will display. The Member Summary screen summarizes your demographic, beneficiary, and balance information and is updated nightly. It also links to our Benefit Estimator where you may estimate future retirement benefits. The Member Summary screen is in lieu of an annual paper statement.

If you are a member of the Retirement Savings Plan (RSP), Voya and TIAA statements are made available quarterly. You may request statements on demand if you want something more specific than a quarterly statement. If you want an up-to-date account value, you should access your account online. The Voya website is accessible via the SURS Secure Member website. You may log into your TIAA directly.

Under state law, SURS benefits may not be paid to anyone other than the member, except to an alternate payee named in a Qualified Illinois Domestic Relations Order (QILDRO).

You or your attorney may contact SURS two to three months prior to a divorce court proceeding to receive the informational packet regarding QILDROs.

In most cases, the employer contribution to your pension is made by the state rather than your individual university or community college. Exceptions may apply if you are paid through a federal trust or grant or if you receive earnings in excess of 6 percent during your final average earnings period.

Traditional and Portable Plans:
The state contribution is a varying amount that is actuarially determined each year. The Illinois pension code (under 40 ILCS 5/15-155) requires the state to contribute an amount each year necessary for the System to become funded at 90 percent of assets to liabilities by the end of the state fiscal year 2045. The contribution amount is reported in the financial section of the SURS Annual Comprehensive Financial Report.

The state contribution does not go directly to your individual retirement account, but rather is paid to the System and kept in a pooled account used to fund retirement benefits.

Retirement Savings Plan (RSP):

Currently, all 7.6% of the state’s contribution is put towards your retirement. However, up to 1% of future contributions can be set aside to fund the RSP disability benefit if necessary. Employer contributions begin with the first full payroll period after you elect the Retirement Savings Plan.

Members who are within five years of retirement can schedule a private appointment with a SURS Retirement Counselor. These meetings are 45 minutes in length and are specific to the member’s personal SURS history. Retirement amounts, death and survivor benefits, insurance, and many other topics are reviewed. Members are limited to one counseling session or written estimate every 12 months.

Counseling appointments are typically held in the SURS offices in Champaign and Naperville, virtually or by telephone. SURS also periodically visits individual campuses. Log into the SURS Secure Member Website to schedule an appointment, or call SURS at 800-275-7877 to obtain an estimate request form.

SURS can accept tax-deferred payments for purchases of service credit. Generally, SURS will accept an eligible rollover distribution from a qualified 401(a) plan, a conduit IRA, a traditional IRA (non-Roth), a 403(b) tax-sheltered plan, and a governmental section 457 plan.

Click here to view further information about purchasing service credit.

SURS law requires that 1 percent of your earnings be designated to help fund a survivor annuity. In the event of a member’s death, a spouse, unmarried minor and disabled children, and income-dependent parents may be eligible for the survivor annuity.

If you do not have a qualifying survivor at the time you retire, SURS law allows you to receive a refund of the 1 percent survivor contribution, plus the accrued interest. The refund may be taken as either a lump sum or as an additional monthly annuity. Click here for more information on Survivor Refunds.

The SIMPLE IRA must have been open for a minimum of two years. The SIMPLE IRA Certification form must be properly completed.

If you are employed by a SURS-covered employer, your employer will determine your eligibility to participate. Generally, you will participate if your position requires you to work continuously for at least one academic term or four months, whichever is less.

SURS accepts eligible rollovers from non-Roth IRAs, 401(a), 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans.

SURS covers all faculty and support staff of Illinois public higher education including universities, colleges, scientific surveys, and other related agencies. For more information see the complete list of SURS-covered employers.

Prior to the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act (signed into law Jan. 2025), SURS members who also received Social Security benefits from non-SURS covered employment were subject to the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset. These offsets were repealed through the Act, which became effective for Social Security benefits payable after December 2023.

SURS cannot answer questions about Social Security benefits or the specific impact of the Social Security Fairness Act on your benefits. Social Security benefits are calculated and paid by the Social Security Administration. Visit ssa.gov for more information.

Social Security taxes will not be withheld from your SURS earnings. SURS participants are not eligible for Social Security coverage based on their employment with a SURS-covered employer.

With few exceptions, SURS members do not contribute to Social Security.