Transparent California Releases University of California’s 2014 Pension Data
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tustin, California
July 2, 2015
Contact: Robert Fellner
(201) 206-6469
Transparent California Releases University of California’s 2014 Pension Data
Average UC pension is $91,430; UC San Francisco leads system with average pension of $102,899
TUSTIN — Today, TransparentCalifornia.com released previously unseen 2014 pension records for 49,516 University of California pensioners, data that was received through a series of public records requests.
The data reveals that the average pension – excluding benefits and Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) – for recent, full-career retirees from the University of California system was $91,430 in 2014. Such inflated payouts are a major reason for the pension system’s $12.1 billion unfunded liability, and have been cited as a major reason for the proposed tuition increases last fall.
The average pension varied widely by school, with UC San Francisco retirees averaging $102,899 pensions, and UC Merced retirees averaging $67,539 pensions:
| UC Campus | Average Pension* |
| San Francisco | $102,899 |
| Santa Cruz | $99,388 |
| Los Angeles | $98,740 |
| Berkeley | $89,346 |
| Davis | $86,684 |
| San Diego | $84,254 |
| Irvine | $83,385 |
| Santa Barbara | $82,560 |
| Riverside | $77,433 |
| Merced | $67,539 |
*Average pension payout for full-career (at least 30 years of service), recent (2013 or 2014) retirees
Among the 2014 University of California pension payouts, 190 retirees took home more than $200,000, excluding benefits and COLA, which would bump many more retirees above this threshold. (University of California refused to provide Transparent California with benefit information or COLA data for its pensioners, seemingly in violation of the California Public Records Act. Without this information the total pension payout is understated, dramatically so for those who retired many years ago.)
Ten University of California retirees took home base pensions greater than $300,000 – excluding benefits and COLA – in 2014:
The $300 Thousand Club
“This data is a stark reminder of the true reason for increasing tuition costs,” said Mark Bucher, president of the California Policy Center. “Further, the University of California’s reckless decision to stop funding their pension plan from 1990-2010 produced a $12 billion unfunded liability and massive intergenerational inequity. The cost for these benefits was shifted, entirely, from the employees’ who would receive them, onto a new generation of teachers and taxpayers who received none of their benefits.”To view the entire pension report in a searchable and downloadable format, click here.
To schedule an interview with California Policy Center president Mark Bucher, please contact Robert Fellner at 201 206-6469 or Robert@CalPolicyCenter.org.
Transparent California is California’s largest and most comprehensive database of public sector compensation and is a project of two nonpartisan, free-market think tanks, the California Policy Center and Nevada Policy Research Institute. Learn more at TransparentCalifornia.com.
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