Defined contribution plans in the public higher education sector could provide an area of opportunity for experienced providers in the United States.

That’s according to research from Boston-based Cerulli Associates, which said in its report “The Cerulli Edge — Retirement Edition, 2Q 2016” that nonprofit and governmental defined contribution plans are still increasing their share of total U.S. retirement assets. That’s in contrast to corporate defined contribution plans, which are experiencing negative net flows.

And that growth is expected to continue. Cerulli put the projected five-year annual compound growth rates at 4.3 percent for corporate defined contribution plans and -0.9 percent for corporate defined benefit plans, while in contrast not-for-profit and governmental defined contribution plans are expected to grow by 7 percent and public defined benefit plans by 1.6 percent.