403(b) Retirement Plan

The Loyola University Maryland 403(b) Retirement Plan allows employees to make voluntary tax-deferred contributions to a tax-deferred retirement account with TIAA. All regular employees and faculty are eligible and encouraged to make voluntary salary reduction contributions on a tax-deferred basis with no age or service requirement.  The tax-deferred status of the retirement contributions is governed by the Internal Revenue Code. Investments are made at the direction of the participant into one of the University-approved investment funds. Accumulations in the 403(b) Plan are generally not accessible before age 59½ except in the case of termination of employment, death, disability, or financial hardship (as determined by IRS regulations). Certain other restrictions may also apply. Within certain parameters, loans may also be obtained based on the employee's 403(b) plan accumulations. Contact TIAA at 1-800-842-2252 for more information.

What's New

Starting on July 1, 2026, the employer contribution changes to a 2-Tier contribution structure. Employees will see a 5% or 7.25% contribution based on their completed years of service as of July 1. Read the announcement.

Alex - Virtual Benefits Advisor

Alex is Loyola's virtual adivsor for all benefits, including retirement savings. Asking Alex is a great start especially for those who are unfamiliar with 403(b) retirement plans. Alex will explain the purposes of a retirement plan and help the employee determine how much to contribute. Please note, the advice from Alex does not replace the expertise of TIAA's retirement plan specialist. To speak with TIAA, call 1-800-842-2252.

Eligibility and Enrollment 

New Employees: New and newly eligible employees must satisfy the eligibility requirements as defined in the 403(b) Plan Document. Voluntary elective deferrals can begin any time during the first year of employment however, Loyola's employer contribution begins after the eligible employee completes their first year of continuous service.

Service Requirement Waiver: New employees may be eligible to waive the one year waiting requirement if all of the following applies.

• Worked at an accredited four-year higher education institution immediately prior to their Loyola hire date
• Completed 12 continuous months of service in the 12-month period immediately prior to their Loyola hire date
• Worked at least 1,000 hours during that 12-month period
• Is age 21 or older
• Submits a completed Retirement Verification Form to people-culture@loyola.edu. The employee must have their previous employer complete this form certifying they've satified all of the waiting requirements. 

Automatic Enrollment: Employees will be automatically enrolled in the 403(b) Plan once eligibility requirements are met. Employee contributions will be set at two (2) percent in order to receive the University retirement contribution. These contributions will be directed into the plan’s age appropriate default investment fund closest to their projected date of retirement. The investment fund is age-specific, and provides a ready-made diversified portfolio that adjusts over time. TIAA will send the automatic enrollment notification to the employee before their eligibility date.

Waive Participation: Employees can opt out of participating before they are automatically enrolled. They must log in to their TIAA online account and cancel their automatic enrollment. They can also opt out after automatic enrollment begins. A refund request can be submitted within 30 days after automatic contributions are first taken from their salary. Requesting a refund of all accumulations will result in forfeit of the employer accumulations and tax liability. If there are questions or assistance needed, employees should refer to their automatic enrollment notification or call TIAA at 1-800-842-2252.  

Contributions

Loyola's employer contribution automatically begins on the first of the month following the completion of the employee's first year of continuous service.
*Example: Employee hired on 5/11/2025. Their employer contribution begins effective 6/1/2026.

Current Employer Contribution: Temporarily changed from 9% to 5% beginning 12/1/2025 through 6/30/2026. Senior leadership's contribution changed to 2% or 0% for this same period.

Employee Required Minimum Contribution: Eligible employees must contribute at least 2% of their base salary to receive the employer contribution. Contributions are updated in their online account at TIAA.org. For assistance or investment advice, contact TIAA at 1-800-842-2252.

Annual Maximum Contributions: The IRS sets annual limits on how much employees can contribute to the plan each calendar year (January–December). An employee's maximum contribution depends on IRS limits, which may vary based on age.

IRS Annual Limits for Calendar Year 2026 (1/1/2026 to 12/31/2026):

• Employees aged 21 to 49 can contribute the standard annual limit of $ 24,500
• Employees aged 50 and older can contribute the age-based catch-up annual limit of $ 32,500
• Employees aged 60 to 63 can contribute the age-based super catch-up annual limit of $ 35,750
• Employees with 15 or more years of full-time service may be eligible to contribute an extra $ 3,000 per year, with a life-time maximum contribution of $ 15,000.  Employees must contact TIAA and request a TDA Calculation at 1-800-842-2252 or submit a request online at TIAA.org. To ensure a timely update to their pay check, employees should contact our office immediately after TIAA approves the additional contribution

SECURE 2.0 Catch-up Contribution: Beginning 1/1/2026, employees who earned $145,000+ in the prior calendar year, must direct their catch-up contributions to the Roth 403(b) post-taxed source. This means, the standard maximum contribution ($ 24,500) will remain pre-taxed but, the age-based catch-up contribution ($ 8,000 or $ 11,250) will be automatically changed to after tax contributions. 

Contribution Sources: Pre-tax and Post-tax
Contributions deducted from employees' paychecks are typically pre-taxed. The required 2% employee minimum contribution must be pre-tax; however, any contributions above this minimum can be directed to the Roth 403(b) post-tax option.

Learn about Roth 403b

Educational Resources

• Calculate your needs for retirement with TIAA's Retirement Calculators and Financial Tools
• Attend Live Webinars. Register at  TIAA.org/webinars
• On Demand Presentations. Watch past presentations at TIAA.org/webinars

Enrollment Resources

• Enrollment Instructions for New Employees and Newly Eligible Employees 
• Retirement Verification Form
• Waive Participation form 
• TIAA.org/loyolamd  
• TIAA Customer Protection Flyer
• 403b Summary Plan Description and Amendments

 

This website provides a summary of the benefits available. The University reserves the right to modify, amend, suspend or terminate any plan at any time, and for any reason without prior notification. You will be notified of any changes to these plans and how they affect your benefits, if at all. The plans described on this website are governed by insurance contracts and plan documents, which are available for examination. We have attempted to make explanations of the plans on this website as accurate as possible. However, should there be a discrepancy between this website and the provisions of the insurance contracts or plan documents, the provisions of the insurance contracts or plan documents will govern. In addition, you should not rely on any oral descriptions of these plans, since the written descriptions in the insurance contracts and plan documents will always govern.