California's public school educators belong to the largest educator-only pension fund in the world. According to CalSTRS' own organizational overview, the system was established by law in 1913, covers educators from prekindergarten through community college, and today serves about 1 million members and beneficiaries. Its investment portfolio was worth roughly $412.9 billion as of July 31, 2026.
A workforce that size has real weight with lenders. Almost no CalSTRS member ever uses it.
The short version: CalSTRS members may qualify for discounted mortgage and home equity pricing through MyRateAdvisor's lender relationships. It is not a coupon and it is not posted on a rate sheet. It is relationship-based pricing that lenders extend to employees of large, stable California institutions, and you have to ask for it.
MyRateAdvisor has spent 30+ years building preferred broker relationships with lenders across California. Those lenders compete hard for borrowers they consider low-risk, and career educators sit near the top of that list: salaried income on a published district schedule, long tenure, and a job that holds up through economic cycles better than most.
The result is pricing that isn't advertised publicly. MyRateAdvisor acts as the bridge. Your advisor confirms you're a CalSTRS member, then shops your file to the lenders whose programs reward that profile.
It works the same way your district negotiates group health coverage on your behalf. You get better terms because you're part of a large, stable workforce, not because you argued harder as an individual.
An honest caveat: nobody can promise you a specific rate before looking at your file. Your actual pricing depends on the lender, loan type, loan size, credit profile, and the market on the day you lock. What we can tell you is that checking costs nothing and takes about two minutes.
Eligibility follows CalSTRS membership, not job title. That includes:
One important distinction. CalSTRS covers certificated educators. Most classified school employees, including instructional aides, office staff, custodians, and bus drivers, are covered by CalPERS instead. If that's you, the benefit works exactly the same way through the CalPERS page. Not sure which system you're in? Check the retirement deduction line on your paycheck.
Not sure if you qualify? Submit a free request at myrateadvisor.com/calstrs. Your advisor verifies your CalSTRS membership and comes back with options, typically within 24 hours, with no credit pull to start.
Start with where the market is. In the most recent Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed averaged 6.67% and the 15-year fixed 5.96%, both down from the prior week. The Fed's effective funds rate sat at 3.63% in July.
| Benchmark | Latest | Prior week | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-year fixed (national average) | 6.67% | 6.69% | August 13, 2026 |
| 15-year fixed (national average) | 5.96% | 6.01% | August 13, 2026 |
| Fed funds rate (effective) | 3.63% | 3.63% | July 2026 |
Now the arithmetic. On a $600,000 30-year loan, a normal number in most California districts, principal and interest at 6.67% comes to about $3,860/month. Here is what the same loan looks like at rates below the survey average:
| Rate on a $600K 30-year loan | Monthly P&I | Difference vs. 6.67% | Over 360 payments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.67% (survey average) | $3,860 | — | — |
| 0.25% lower (6.42%) | $3,761 | about $99/mo | about $35,600 |
| 0.50% lower (6.17%) | $3,663 | about $197/mo | about $70,800 |
Read that table as arithmetic, not as a quote. It assumes principal and interest only on a $600,000 30-year fixed loan held to term, with no taxes, insurance, HOA, or mortgage insurance included, and it makes no claim about what discount you specifically will receive. The point is narrower and more useful: at California loan sizes, a quarter point is not a rounding error. It is real money every month, for as long as you hold the loan.
Free quote in 2 minutes. No credit pull. No obligation. A licensed advisor responds within 24 hours.
Check My CalSTRS Rate →Educators are paid on some of the most varied schedules of any California profession: 10-month and 11-month contracts, 12-month spread pay, summer school, extra-duty stipends for coaching and department chair work, adult education hours, and per-diem substitute days. Underwriters don't look at one pay stub and call it a year.
Base contract salary is usually straightforward. The additional pay is where files stall. Stipends, summer school, and extra-duty income generally need a documented history before a lender will count them, and how much counts depends on the loan program. That's not a reason to leave it off your application. It's a reason to bring your last two years of W-2s and your district pay schedule to the first conversation, so your advisor can tell you up front which income counts and what you can actually borrow.
A CalSTRS retirement benefit is a lifetime defined benefit pension, which the major loan programs treat as stable, ongoing income. Lenders document it with a benefit statement or a 1099-R rather than pay stubs. Plenty of retired educators assume that leaving the classroom ended their ability to buy, refinance, or open a line of credit. In practice it usually just changes the paperwork.
One more thing worth knowing if you're near or past retirement. CalSTRS reported that the federal Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), signed January 5, 2025, eliminated the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision, two rules that had reduced Social Security payments for people receiving pensions from work not covered by Social Security, applying to benefits payable after December 2023. If your household Social Security income changed as a result, that is documented income too, and it belongs on the application.
A lot of educators bought or refinanced before 2022 and are sitting on a 3%-something mortgage. With the market at 6.67%, that rate is an asset. Protect it.
What's worth knowing is that protecting your rate and using your equity are not opposites. California home values have risen sharply since 2020, and a HELOC or home equity loan sits as a second lien, so your first mortgage, its balance, and its rate stay exactly where they are. Member pricing can apply to those products too, not just to purchases.
If you're weighing the two structures, the HELOC versus cash-out refinance comparison for California homeowners walks through when each one makes sense.
Teaching in the Bay Area, coastal Southern California, or San Diego County means large loan balances, which makes the rate you're offered matter more than the week you happen to lock. Shopping several lenders through a broker rather than one bank and checking your membership eligibility tends to move the number more than trying to time the market.
And if you bought at the 2023–2024 peaks and are holding something above 7.5%, today's 6.67% average may already clear the usual refinance rule of thumb of roughly 0.75% to 1% of improvement after fees. That's worth running the break-even on.
Short form at myrateadvisor.com/calstrs. Under two minutes, no credit pull at this stage.
Your advisor confirms your CalSTRS membership to check which lender programs you qualify for.
Personalized options back within 24 hours. Move forward only if the numbers work for you.
Rate data: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey and the Federal Reserve effective funds rate, via FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data), as of August 13, 2026 (fed funds as of July 2026). Survey rates are national averages for borrowers with excellent credit and may differ from the rate you are offered. CalSTRS founding year, membership scale, coverage, and portfolio value are from CalSTRS' published "CalSTRS at a glance" overview at calstrs.com; the Social Security Fairness Act details are from CalSTRS' January 27, 2025 Pension Sense post. Payment figures are illustrations calculated with a standard amortization formula on the assumptions stated above; they are not quotes, offers, or guarantees of any rate, savings amount, or approval. Income and documentation requirements vary by lender and loan program. MyRateAdvisor is not affiliated with or endorsed by CalSTRS. This article is general information, not financial advice — talk to a licensed advisor about your specific situation. MyRateAdvisor NMLS #1598577.