19C0007_Notice of Intent_071420.pdf

NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE: Extension of the Application and Eligibility Determination System (AEDS) contract to include Development and Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of the 22/23 FAFSA Cycle

Special Notice

Federal Student Aid (FSA) is proposing to enter into a fixed-price non-competitive contract with the incumbent General Dynamics One Source (GDOS) located at 3150 Fairview Park Drive, Falls Church, VA 22042 for the continued Application Eligibility Determination System (AEDS). This proposed action will allow GDOS to develop the 22/23 FAFSA application development cycle support and to include a 3rd option period from September 30, 2022 to September 29, 2023 for operations and maintenance (O&M) to ensure no disruption to current services.

A Firm Fixed-price non-competitive contract (AEDS II) was awarded to the incumbent, GDOS on September 26, 2019 for the continued support of the AEDS. The AEDS II sole source contract is a three (3) year contract which is comprised of one (1) Base Year (12 months) and two (2) 1-Year Options. The AEDS II Contract is set to expire on September 29, 2022.

The AEDS II Contract provides the continued support of a Central Processing System (CPS) which calculates eligibility for federal aid when students/parents apply through fafsa.gov, myStudentAid mobile app, phone, paper applications, or with help from their school’s financial aid office via Financial Aid Administrators (FAA) Access or EDExpress. In addition, the AEDS II Contract supports Participation Management, an enrollment system for schools and other partners to access FSA’s systems and exchange information with FSA through the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG).

Under the AEDS II Contract, GDOS was tasked with developing the 21-22 FAFSA application cycle during the base year of their contract. This 21-22 FAFSA application cycle is currently being developed and will be available on October 1, 2020. The 21-22 FAFSA application cycle will then go into the O&M phase of this contract for two (2) years (Option Years 1 and 2) until the 21-22 FAFSA application cycle is retired in September of 2022.

While the AEDS II sole source contract was being negotiated, an active procurement for the NextGen Optimal Processing Solution (OPS) was underway. The OPS Solicitation had a target Contract Award date of June 2020 and a scope that required the new OPS Contractor to develop the 22-23 FAFSA application cycle. This strategy would require parallel operations, with the AEDS II sole source contract continuing to maintain the other active application cycles while the new OPS Contractor developed the new 22-23 FAFSA application cycle. At the end of Year 3 of the AEDS II sole source contract, the plan was to have all AEDS II functionality transitioned to the OPS Contract.

However, the OPS procurement never proceeded beyond the solicitation phase because of the recent passing of the Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education

(FUTURE) Act (H.R. 5363). The FUTURE Act impacts the OPS procurement since it adds additional requirements for securing Federal Tax Information (FTI) which is passed from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to FSA to determine aid eligibility. Concurrently, OPS funding was deferred to FY22. As a result, the OPS Solicitation was cancelled on April 3, 2020 and the requirements for OPS are being re-evaluated and revised to reflect the impacts of the FUTURE Act.

Due to the cancellation of the OPS Solicitation, the OPS Contract award will be delayed significantly. Therefore, the OPS Contract will not be awarded in time for the OPS Contractor to develop the 22-23 FAFSA application cycle. FSA is requesting to extend the current AEDS II Contract by one additional year to allow GDOS to develop the 22-23 FAFSA Application cycle and the O&M of this cycle from October 1, 2021 thru June 30, 2023 and the close out period from August 1 thru September 30, 2023 under the current AEDS II Contract. In order to continue the necessary mission critical support required until FSA's NextGen Financial Services environment replaces all AEDS functionality via the contract award for OPS, FSA will need to extend the period of performance of the AEDS II Contract by one additional year.

*****Market research was conducted in 2014 for a new Application and Eligibility Determination System. The three firms that participated in the market research proposed the following timeline for development, implementation, and transition to a new system of 15 to 30 months.

*****The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541519 - Other Computer Related Services, with a small business size standard of $30 Million.

The Product Service Code (PSC) is D318 - IT AND TELECOM- INTEGRATED

HARDWARE/SOFTWARE/SERVICES SOLUTIONS, PREDOMINANTLY SERVICES.

*****A determination by the Government not to compete the proposed acquisition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining competitiveness of future procurement.

*****No solicitation package will be issued. This notice of intent is not a request for quotations;

however, all responsible sources interested may identify their interest and capability to respond to this requirement. Interested parties that believe they can satisfy the requirements listed above must identify their capability in writing before the response date of this notice. Only responses received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 will be considered by the government. Responses shall be submitted via email to Carolyn.Dickens@ed.gov with a carbon copy (cc) to LaWanda.King@ed.gov.