Updated October 21, 2026. Quick answer: The Ohio SERS Member Benefits Guide says additional service credit may be available to buy, that SERS sends a statement for the cost, and that all service credit must be purchased before you retire. You can pay in installments, by payroll deduction if your employer offers it, or with funds rolled over from another qualified plan.
What this covers
The guide has a section headed “PURCHASABLE SERVICE CREDIT”. It opens: “Additional service credit may be available to you for purchase.” This page quotes it. For the wider choices, see Ohio SERS retirement decisions and public pension retirement decisions.
How it works and how you pay
“If you qualify to purchase service credit, SERS will send you a statement for the cost of the credit.” “You can purchase all or a part of the service credit by making payments directly to SERS in one or more installments, or by payroll deduction, if your employer offers such a plan.”
On rollovers: “You also can purchase service credit with funds rolled over from another qualified plan, including an Internal Revenue Code (IRC) 401(a) plan, an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), an IRC 403(a) annuity, an IRC 403(b) plan, or a governmental deferred compensation program under IRC 457.”
On timing: “All service credit must be purchased before you retire.”
What can be purchased
These rows are the guide’s own wording for five of the categories it lists.
| Type of credit | What the guide says |
|---|---|
| Refunded service | “To purchase this credit, you must have returned to public employment, and have earned at least 1.500 years of service credit.” |
| Military, interrupted service | “you may purchase up to five years of military service credit, with exceptions.” |
| Other military service | “You may purchase up to five years of active duty in the armed forces, and up to an additional five years for time spent as a prisoner of war.” The statute limits both by Ohio service. Section 3309.021(B) allows the prisoner-of-war credit for “the same years of service used to purchase service credit under division (A) of this section”, and section 3309.021(C) provides that “The total number of years purchased under this section shall not exceed the member’s total accumulated number of years of Ohio service”. |
| Other government or school service | “The maximum amount of service credit that may be purchased is the lesser of five years, or the total years of your Ohio service credit.” |
| Employer-approved unpaid leave | “you may purchase the credit for this time by paying both the employee and employer contributions, plus interest.” |
Credit from other Ohio retirement systems
For a member who has also worked under STRS or OPERS, the guide says “you may combine your service credit and accounts in all the systems to receive one benefit.” “The system with the greatest service credit will be the system that calculates and pays your benefit.” Section 3309.35(A)(4) defines the paying system as “the state retirement system in which the member has the greatest service credit, without adjustment or, if a member who has equal service credit in two or more retirement systems, the retirement system in which the member has the greatest total contributions”, and section 3309.35(B) makes the combination “at the option of a member”. It also lists credit purchasable for former service under the Cincinnati Retirement System and as an Ohio firefighter, police officer or highway patrol officer.
Time with no contributions
The guide covers service that was never credited. For service on or after July 1, 1991 where membership was required but contributions were not paid, it says “your employer for that service is responsible to pay both the employee and employer contributions in effect at the time, plus interest.” It also says “If you filed an exemption form for school service after July 1991, or you had exempted service under OPERS or STRS, you may purchase the time”.
What the guide does not say
The section prints no price for any category, since the cost comes on the SERS statement. Whether a purchase is worth its cost is a separate question; see whether buying service credit is worth it and the pension buyback calculator.
Edition
This page reads the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio (SERS), Member Benefits Guide, the file Ohio SERS served on 2026-10-21; the guide prints “Revised 1/2026”. It describes SERS, the school employees system. Teachers (STRS) and other public employees (OPERS) belong to different Ohio systems, and Ohio law and your own member account control over this summary.
Common mistakes
- Waiting until after the retirement date. The guide says “All service credit must be purchased before you retire.”
- Treating leave time as free. The guide says the member pays “both the employee and employer contributions, plus interest.”
- Assuming one pension system pays everything. The guide says the system with the greatest credit “calculates and pays your benefit.”
Related: Ohio SERS retirement decisions, public pension retirement decisions, whether buying service credit is worth it, and pension buyback calculator.
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Answer againSources
- School Employees Retirement System of Ohio (SERS), Member Benefits Guide: www.ohsers.org
- Related official page (not quoted): Ohio Revised Code, School Employees Retirement System chapter: codes.ohio.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS, Rollovers of retirement plan and IRA distributions: www.irs.gov
Read from the pension system handbooks linked above on October 21, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a pension system or a qualified professional is the right place to confirm anything consequential.