91003120R00180001_Tracked.pdf

I. PRICING

See Attachments “09 – Pricing Template Instructions v2” and “10 – Pricing Template” for the Pricing Instructions and Template for the Interim Servicing Solution (ISS) Statement of Work

(SOW).

Offerors shall use the template and instructions included with this solicitation to complete the pricing categories, to propose pricing based on volumes and durations required to accomplish and achieve U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid’s (FSA) requirements for the ISS.

Offerors shall provide assumptions made for all operating elements, sub-elements, and pricing methodologies, inclusive of any volume and pricing assumptions. Offerors that do not adhere to Attachment ”09 – Pricing Template Instructions v2” may be deemed unacceptable.

The common pricing established in this Multiple Award, Firm Fixed Price (FFP), Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contracts applies to all Task Orders exclusive of Implementation Costs. Common Pricing is a Firm Fixed Price per unit for Servicing Requirements that will be identical for both ISS Contractors under all Task Orders issued under this IDIQ.

II. STATEMENT OF WORK

A. GENERAL

See Attachments “01 – Business Operations Servicing Requirements v2” and associated attachments, “01A – Specialty Requirements v2”, “02 – Financial Technical Requirements v2” and associated attachments, “03 – IRPE Elements v 5.0.2 incl Monitoring ISS Tailored v2” and associated attachments for ISS requirements which identify the overall scope of work and other general operational principles.

A.1 Introduction

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA), is issuing this Request for Proposal to ensure continued servicing capabilities for FSA’s aid recipients using the same requirements applicable under the current Title IV Additional Servicers (TIVAS) and Not-For- Profit (NFP) Servicers (collectively “Legacy Servicers”) contracts, except as noted herein. This Interim Servicing Solution (ISS) will support loan servicing, servicing of grants (Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education “TEACH” Grants), loan consolidation origination and disbursement, servicing of specialty programs (Public Service Loan Forgiveness “PSLF”, Total Permanent Disability “TPD”), financial reporting, processing specialty claims (discharge, forgiveness, and cancellation) and complete fulfillment. ISS Contractors will support the transition to FSA’s Next Generation Financial Services Environment (Next Gen).

A.2 Contract Type

The Government will award two (2) contracts as a result of this solicitation.

The resulting award(s) will be a Multiple Award, Firm Fixed Priced (FFP), Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contract(s), with the ability to issue Fixed Unit Rate and Firm-Fixed Priced Task Orders at the sole discretion of the Government. The Government anticipates awarding a five-year Base Ordering Period, followed by five (5), one-year Optional Ordering Periods.

B. BACKGROUND, GOALS AND VISION

FSA plays a central and essential role in America’s post-secondary education community. Federal student aid programs implemented by FSA comprise the nation’s largest source of post-secondary education financing. FSA’s core mission is to ensure that all eligible customers benefit from Federal financial assistance – including grants, loans, work‐study programs – for education beyond high school.

FSA’s strategic goals:

• Enhance the quality of service for customers and partners across the entire student aid life cycle

• Improve the repayment experiences and outcomes of customers

• Reduce the cost of loan servicing and collections

• Expand FSA’s operational efficiency and flexibility

Information about FSA can be found in Figure 1 below, and in the 2019 Annual Report located at: https://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/2019report/fsa-report.pdf.

FIGURE 1: TODAY’S ENVIRONMENT ACROSS THE STUDENT AID LIFECYCLE

https://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/2019report/fsa-report.pdf

Figure 2 represents the Initial State for Servicing work that will be performed by the two (2) ISS Contractors. During this Initial State, and immediately after contract award, FSA and the ISS Contractors will work collaboratively to determine the final borrower migration plan. The migration plan priorities are listed below starting with the highest priority:

1. Customer Experience and Data integrity

2. Time Duration

ISS Contractors are required to complete their Authorization to Operate (ATO) artifacts and submit them to FSA to receive their ATO from the Government during ISS Initial State.

FIGURE 2: ISS ENVIRONMENT FOR PROCESSING AND SERVICING

Figure 3 represents the ISS Transitional State which incorporates FSA’s plans to add the Business Process Operations (BPO) Contractors to manage front-end contact center agent and back-office agent work necessary to deliver all servicing requirements.

The ISS Contractors will be responsible for facilitating the BPO Contractor’s connectivity to their loan servicing platform to enable loan servicing. Circuits and lines that are required to add the BPO Contractors will be provided by FSA. All other circuits and lines shall be provided by the ISS Contractors. FSA and ISS Contractors will work collaboratively to plan and execute the migration of contact center and back office work to the BPOs. Post BPO Contractors’ Go-live, ISS Contractors will continue to provide the loan servicing system capabilities, as well as the fulfillment of imaging, printing, and mailing processes.

FIGURE 3: BPO/ISS ENVIRONMENT FOR PROCESSING AND SERVICING

C. OBJECTIVES, REQUIREMENTS AND MILESTONES

C.1 Objectives

The Interim Servicing Solution will ensure continued servicing capabilities for FSA’s aid recipients and support the transition to Next Gen.

C.2 General Operating Requirements

The IISS shall satisfy these general requirements for all operating requirements identified in Section II, C.3, Operating Elements and Related Requirements:

a. Integration: Contractors shall integrate with existing FSA or third‐party solutions, and

Next Gen solutions, as necessary. FSA will provide integration requirements post-award via the Change Management Process, see Attachment “04 – BO Change Management Plan”.

b. Adaptability, Flexibility, and Ongoing Performance: Contractors shall adapt and adhere to changes in the FSA operating environment. Contractors shall adhere to the FSA’s Change Management Process. Contractors shall demonstrate their solution can easily scale to handle changes in account and transaction volumes. Performance testing results are a requirement of this effort. See Attachment “03 – IRPE Elements v 5.0.2 incl Monitoring ISS Tailored v2” – Section 5.3.

c. Customer Experience Focus: Contractors shall prioritize customer needs and preferences to deliver an improved customer experience throughout the ISS environment. Contractors shall implement an approach that minimizes risk and disruption for customers while deploying more efficient and effective solutions.

d. Monitoring and Adhering to Changes in Laws, Regulations, and other Policies:

Contractors shall meet existing Federal rules, laws, regulations, and agency guidelines or court mandates applicable to the FSA’s operating environment (including all accessibility elements such as 504/508 compliance). Contractors shall establish a process for monitoring new or pending changes to applicable laws and regulations, then notify and collaborate with FSA to determine the implications to technical design and/or operational procedures.

e. Cybersecurity, Hosting, and Middleware: Contractors shall ensure the Solution meets Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards. See Attachment “03 – IRPE Elements v 5.0.2 Incl Monitoring ISS Tailored v2”.

Note: If Contractors elects to use a cloud-hosted environment (not a requirement for this effort), the FedRAMP‐approved cloud shall require a Department/Agency‐level Authorization to Operate, followed by the FSA‐issued ATO for the system, which must be FISMA and/or FedRAMP‐approved at either a Federal Information Processing Standard Publication (FIPS)‐199 High level or Moderate level, depending on the proposed architecture and corresponding FIPS‐199 category of the system.

f. Financial Accuracy and Compliance: Contractors shall include measures for ensuring the compliance and accuracy of financial transactions and reporting in ISS.

Requirements for existing financial standards are included in Attachment “02 – Financial Technical Requirements v2” and associated attachments.

g. Business Operations Requirements: Contractors shall adhere to the requirements in

Attachment “01 – Business Operations Servicing Requirements v2” and associated attachments. These requirements are derived from existing laws, regulations, agency guidance, and business rules, and are subject to change based on acts of Congress, updates to Federal regulatory and non‐regulatory guidance, and FSA’s goals and operational decisions. Changes to requirements will follow the BO Change Management as listed in attachment “04 – BO Change Management Plan”.

- Specialty Servicing Programs: (e.g., PSLF, TEACH, TPD) and specialty claims

(e.g., discharge, forgiveness) require special handling as well as specific and unique processing rules that impact the ISS, along with other existing and future solutions, and often relate to multiple constraints/requirements. See Attachment “01A – Specialty Requirements v2”.

h. Trained Personnel: Contractors shall ensure personnel are trained and aware of pertinent changes in laws, regulations, programs, and FSA’s performance expectations. Development of training content and material shall be done in coordination with FSA and/or FSA’s designees; as required.

i. Performance Management: Contractors shall adhere to FSA’s Service Level Agreements and shall include performance management mechanisms that would enable improved and ongoing achievement of metrics. FSA will utilize the performance management framework outlined in Service Level Methodology to support ISS performance management and to document achievement of the established Service Level Agreements (SLAs). FSA has established common performance metrics that Contractors shall adhere to during the performance period of this contract. See Attachment “08 – ISS SLA Performance Measurements”.

Attachment “07 – Service Level Methodology Performance Metrics” explains the process by which the SLAs will be measured.

j. Quality Control: Contractors shall document, provide policies and procedures, and adhere to its quality management system to ensure quality is measured and managed on a consistent basis.

C.3 Operating Elements and Related Requirements

a. Customer Accounts Migration:

i. Contractors shall transfer historical and current customer loan and grant accounts from existing servicers to ISS. This includes both active and non-active borrowers.

Contractors are required to use its best efforts in cooperating with existing servicers in transferring accounts to ISS. Contractors should expect reasonable cooperation from existing servicers. Contractors are required to report disputes to FSA regarding transfer of accounts without delay.

ii. Contractors shall ensure that the transfer of customer loan and grant accounts successfully converts and maintains complete and accurate customer data, including, but not limited to: customer’s historical record of balances and transactions, loan consolidation, origination and disbursement records (e.g., underlying loan pay‐off, lender detail, funding histories), auto‐pay preferences, complete payment history, deferment and forbearance history, repayment plan history, contact preferences, and prior loan transfer imaged records.

iii. Contractors shall transfer loan/grant data and images from closed/inactive accounts from each non-default Legacy Servicer. Contractors must be able to reopen/ rebuild loans and grants and return them to active servicing.

iv. Contractors shall support the development and delivery of customer communications about the migration of customer accounts before, during, and after the migration per FSA instructions. Communications under this contract to customers being transferred cannot start until after Authorization to Operate has been granted.

v. Contractors shall convert Loan Consolidation Origination and Disbursement data.

Contractors shall convert all underlying loan detail and payoff information including all loan verification detail, loan summary statements, initial payoff information (including all financial and non‐financial transactions), and under and over payment detail from active Consolidation loan origination and disbursement systems. Contractors shall ensure the solution is able to process all under and over payment adjustments regardless of performing the actual origination of the consolidation loan.

vi. Contractors shall also have the capability to migrate customer accounts effectively and efficiently off their servicing solution with no degradation in servicing of the accounts.

b. Interim Servicing Solution:

i. Contractors shall ensure the solution can execute the full range of servicing functions as required by Attachment “01 – Business Operations Servicing Requirements” and associated attachments for the ISS portfolio. This includes, but is not limited to:

1. Contractors shall provide staff, either in-house or through subcontracting, who perform front-end contact center agent and back-office agent work necessary to deliver all servicing requirements.

2. Hours of operation at award will be Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM (EST) and Saturday 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM (EST).

When the BPO Contractors are added, FSA will modify these times to meet the BPO time requirements of 6:00 AM to 11:00 PM (EST), 7 days a week, excluding Federal holidays. Contactors agree this change is at no additional cost to the Government.

3. The Contractors’ Call Management System will be used to handle all inbound and outbound calls including required recording and reporting, as well as IVR capabilities. This system will also be used by the BPO Contractors as part of the Transitional State until such time as the DCC implementation can occur.

Circuits and lines that are required to add the BPO Contractors will be provided by FSA. All other circuits and lines shall be provided by ISS Contractors.

4. Contractors are responsible for the migration of all physical documentation, for borrowers assigned to them, from the existing locations to a central location per contractor. Contractors are required to use its best efforts in cooperating with existing servicers in transferring physical documentation to ISS. Contractors should expect reasonable cooperation from existing servicers. Contractors are required to report disputes to FSA regarding transfer of physical documentation without delay.

5. Contractors are responsible for providing loan servicing for all borrowers in all loan statuses and tracking borrowers through those statuses.

6. Contractors are responsible for setting up borrowers on traditional repayment plans (e.g., Standard, Graduated, and Extended) across Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL), Direct Loans, etc.

7. Contractors are responsible for determining and executing eligibility determination, annual recertification, and payment recalculation for Income‐ Driven Repayment (IDR) plans tied to a customer’s income, family situation, and other characteristics that may fluctuate. IDR plans include Income‐ Contingent, Income‐Based, Pay‐As‐You‐Earn, and Revised‐Pay‐As‐You‐Earn.

8. Contractors must process loan consolidation origination and disbursement, including application, pay off, booking new loans, maintaining account histories, performing all reconciliation and financial reporting, among other activities.

This includes the processing of under/over payment adjustments for

Legacy consolidation loans and any future decommissioned consolidation origination systems.

9. Contractors must be able to switch borrowers between repayment plans.

10. Contractors must be able to complete retroactive processing (e.g., retroactive application of deferments, forbearances, payments, manual adjustments etc.)

ii. Contractors shall perform all financial and portfolio level functions as outlined in Attachment “02 – Financial Technical Requirements v2” and associated attachments; to include manual intervention; if necessary. This includes, but is not limited to:

1. Payment processing, including receipt and applications of cash and non‐cash payments accounts, as well as research and resolution of lost or misapplied payments.

2. Interface support, including tracking Work in Process (WIP) and resolving rejected transactions from other FSA systems (e.g., NSLDS, Financial

Management System (FMS), Origination & Disbursement System).

3. Financial reporting, reconciliation, and variance research.

4. As needed support of audits {e.g., annual audit reports such as the Service

Organization Controls Type II Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE18)}.

5. Research and resolution of Treasury issues.

6. Comprehensive cash management including retroactive processing of manual adjustments and late disbursement and adjustments from the origination & disbursement system, other servicing systems and FSA.

7. Dynamic loan portfolio management.

8. Effective internal financial controls.

iii. Contractors shall ensure and maintain compliance with federal consumer protection laws and regulations (e.g., the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, the Truth in Lending Act, etc.), including the timely completion of processes related to these laws and regulations. Contractors shall review, investigate, and process error and dispute resolutions, including but not limited to:

1. Direct Disputes and disputes that the customer initiated/filed with Credit

Reporting Agencies (CRAs) for accounts assigned to the Contractors.

2. Contractors shall receive and process all disputes.

iv. Contractors shall conduct error and dispute resolution investigation and processing, including, but not limited to:

1. Account maintenance, including manual correction of errors identified through data integrity scans and manual adjustments as identified by FSA.

2. Payment and refund processing, including researching lost or misapplied payments and payment reapplication at the request of customers or FSA.

v. Contractors shall maintain data history, including retroactive processing (e.g., “as‐ was” vs “as‐is”), and tracing loans through consolidation payoff (initial payoff, under and over payments) transactions. This data shall be available and shared with other solutions and systems as directed by FSA.

vi. The ISS Contractors shall provide timely support for FSA’s future state processing solution from requirements gathering through development, including access to the ISS Contractors’ Subject Matter Experts and solution set (e.g. system code, workflows, processing tools and infrastructure/environment, etc.).

c. Imaging, Printing, and Mailing:

i. Contractors shall receive, image, index, and process physical mail. Contractors shall also provide tracking of and reporting on outbound mail items. Contractors shall identify cost efficiency opportunities and work with FSA to implement changes to processes and practices (e.g., statement or envelope design).

ii. Contractors shall generate and send all communications necessary for servicing all assigned accounts under the terms of this contract (physical and electronic). For all specialty programs not currently supported, Contractors shall create draft communications and provide to FSA for review and approval.

iii. Contractors shall enable customers, partners, and other relevant third parties to be able to fax materials to and tag the faxes upon receipt for tracking.

iv. Contractors shall image and index inbound correspondence, including physical checks, as well as materials received via fax. Contractors shall then provide access or visibility to the images.

v. Contractors shall provide Skip Tracing tools to identify updated contact information for bad postal mail and bad phone numbers.

vi. Contractors’ solution shall be integrated with Workflow Management, Imaging, Digital Platform, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM), among other solutions.

NOTE: Compliance with 504/508 requirements for fulfillment purposes will be performed under a separate contract initially; however, FSA may issue a task order for this work under the resulting IDIQ contract in the future.

d. Digital Engagement Layer:

i. Contractors shall provide a digital engagement (website and mobile application) solution for customers and partners to be able to interact with FSA and complete customer (e.g., view statements, and make payments) and partner tasks (e.g., view student loan history and download resources for students).

ii. Contractors shall provide an access portal to Title IV partners (e.g., schools, FSA, etc.) as described below:

1. The access shall provide customer account access to FSA, Schools, and other trading partners as approved by FSA. The portal shall display, at a minimum, customer demographic detail, loan and grant detail, loan and grant disbursement detail, and access to images (bills, repayment plans, applications, communications etc.).

2. The portal shall include a Loan Holder Services website that Guarantee Agencies (GA) and Lenders will use for loan consolidation application processing.

3. The portal shall be updated to include TPD, TEACH, and PSLF loan and grant data that will be accessed by FSA, schools, and other trading partners when these capabilities are brought up in the Contractor’s system.

4. The portal shall allow FSA and other trading partners (Schools will not access this data) access to the FSA Image Repository, Decommissioned Servicer data, and Legacy Consolidation Support data as outlined in Specialty Servicing Tasks 1, 2, and 3 below.

C.4 Specialty Servicing Tasks

Contractors are required to have a plan for providing all Specialty Servicing Tasks. See Section C.5.4 below. FSA may award Specialty Servicing Tasks to one (1) or both Contractors.

a. Specialty Servicing Task 1 - FSA Image Repository: Contractors shall transfer in, maintain, and provide access to an FSA image repository. The repository maintains all historical images from previously decommissioned servicing systems and ancillary systems. All images shall be accessed via the partner portal. See Attachment “01A – Specialty Requirements v2” - Series 11000.

b. Specialty Servicing Task 2 - Decommissioned Servicer Data Support and Payment Support Servicing Functions: This includes archived data that is stored for decommissioned servicers (ACS Education Servicing System (ACES), Direct Loan Servicing System (DLSS), and other decommissioned servicer data as identified).

Contractors shall provide FSA the ability to access pre‐defined queries, which will be provided after contract award, as well as perform ad‐hoc queries of the data.

i. Contractors shall provide FSA the ability to access pre‐defined queries, which will be provided after contract award, as well as perform ad‐hoc queries of the data.

ii. Contractors shall provide payment support services such as processing refunds, researching missing payments, providing check copies, etc.

iii. See Attachment “01A – Specialty Requirements v2” for more information.

c. Specialty Servicing Task 3 - Legacy Loan Consolidation Origination and

Disbursement Support Functions: This includes performing all manual adjustments received for underlying loans held by FFEL, GA, DMCS, and Direct Loans that were consolidated by a Legacy Loan Consolidation Vendor.

i. Contractors shall process all under/over payments received on Legacy Consolidation Loans.

ii. Contractors shall convert all data for all under/over payment adjustments that have been processed since the Legacy vendor was decommissioned.

iii. Contractors shall create updated Consolidation Origination Loan History Record’s for each adjustment processed and upload them to the FSA Image Repository.

iv. See Attachment “01A – Specialty Requirements v2” - Series 29000 for additional information regarding the creation of adjustment spreadsheets needed to complete the adjustment processing.

d. Specialty Servicing Task 4 - Specialty Program PSLF:

i. Contractors shall perform all requirements for the PSLF program as outlined in the regulations, and Attachment “01A – Specialty Requirements v2” and associated attachments.

e. Specialty Servicing Task 5 - Specialty Program TPD:

i. Contractors shall perform all requirements for the TPD program as outlined in the regulations, and Attachment “01A – Specialty Requirements v2” and associated

f. Specialty Servicing Task 6 - Specialty Program TEACH:

i. Contractors shall perform all requirements for the TEACH program as outlined in the regulations of Attachment “01A – Specialty Requirements v2” and associated

C.5 Milestones

C.5.1 ATO & Security Requirements – Contractors shall meet all requirements to achieve an ATO by no later than six (6) months after contract award. Contractors shall be able to meet FSA’s ATO requirements and be able to mitigate risks associated with the ATO. Contractors shall be ready to provide services in support of FSA’s Security Requirements by no later than six (6) months after contract award. If the 6-month time frame cannot be met due to FSA’s responsibilities, this time frame will be extended. The ATO and Security Requirements can be found in Attachment “03 – IRPE Elements v 5.0.2 incl Monitoring ISS Tailored v2” and associated attachments.

C.5.2 Business Operations Servicing Requirements – Contractors shall be ready to provide services in support of FSA’s Business Operations Servicing Requirements by no later than six (6) months after contract award. See Attachment “01 – Business Operations Servicing Requirements v2” and associated attachments.

C.5.3 Financial Technical Requirements – Contractors shall be ready to provide services in support of FSA’s Financial Technical Requirements by no later than six (6) months after contract award. See Attachment “02 – Financial Technical Requirements v2” and associated attachments.

C.5.4 Specialty Servicing Requirements – FSA ideally seeks solutions that provide all Specialty Servicing Requirements immediately after contract award and greatly prefers solutions that provide all Specialty Servicing by no later than December 14, 2021. However, FSA reserves the right to accept proposals that have implementation dates for Specialty Servicing later than December 31, 2021 in instances where those solutions are deemed beneficial to the Government.

In general, Offerors whose solutions can implement more Sspecialty Sservicing Rrequirements sooner will be of greater value to FSA, all other things equal. However, Offerors shall not propose any Specialty Servicing implementation dates later than December 31, 2022.

C.6 Deliverables

C.6.1 Format

Deliverables shall be provided electronically whenever possible. Electronic delivery via e-mail shall be acceptable, with the files delivered in both Acrobat (.pdf) and a current Microsoft Office format suitable for the report (Word or Excel) unless FSA requests a different format.

C.6.2 Delivery Points of Contact

Deliverables shall be submitted to the Contracting Officer, the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), Program Manager, and Project Manager via email.

C.6.3 Review Period

a. The Government shall review each deliverable and provide written notice of acceptance or rejection within ten (10) Business Days upon receipt.

b. Upon notice of formal written rejection from FSA’s CO, Contractors shall address all comments/changes and submit a revised deliverable within five (5) Business Days if the changes can be easily addressed and understood by both the Government and Contractors. If the deliverable is rejected and/or must be altered to significantly change the deliverable, Contractors will have seven (7) Business Days to resubmit from date of the Government’s notice. Contractors shall furnish deliverables specified herein in accordance with the delivery schedule and requirements, to the Delivery Point(s) specified above and in the table below. If a deliverable is due on a calendar day that falls on a weekend day or a Government holiday, the deliverable or report is due the following Business Day.

Contractors shall furnish deliverables specified herein in accordance with the delivery schedule and requirements, to the delivery point(s) specified in the table below. Unless other specified, the deliverables must be sent to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR).

FSA Deliverable Table Deliverable Description Due Date and

Frequency Acceptance

Criteria Project Kick‐Off Meeting Kick‐off meeting to begin discussions on detailed requirements and the project schedule.

• Presentation

• Meeting Minutes

Within five (5) Business Days after contract award

Meeting must be scheduled and occurs within five

(5) Business Days.

Project Management Plan Detailed project management plan and project schedule for the complete contract scope. Includes:

• Scope Management Plan

Three (3) weeks after contract award

Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of

Frequency Acceptance

Criteria

• Cost Management Plan

• Risk Management Plan

• Quality Control Management

Plan

• Resource Management Plan

• Schedule Management Plan

• Communication Management

Plan

• Performance Management Plan

• Performance Monitoring Plan the deliverable stated in the description.

Status Meetings and Status Reports

Status report on progress, performance metrics, schedule, incidents, action and issue log, and risk log/risk register.

Weekly Agendas for meeting must be sent at least 24 hours in advance.

Status reports that are returned with no FSA comments are considered accepted.

Integrated Master Project Schedule

Planned dates to start and complete tasks and milestones, including work to be done by FSA, as well as any vendors participating in the project.

Updated weekly The schedule must be sufficiently detailed to allow FSA to have confidence that all required tasks will be completed on or before the contractual milestones and completion dates.

Requirements Management Plan

Defines:

• How requirements will be elicited, structured, and prioritized

• How requirements will be recorded

• How requirements will be

• Initial plan to cover all system functionality within forty (60

40) Business dDays of contract award and final at

Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable

Frequency Acceptance

Criteria modified

• How requirements will be traced and reconciled.

• Plan addresses content of FSA Requirements Management Plan Template least five (5) Business Days prior to Requirements Stage Gate; plan updated as-needed on major changes to requirements management approach; and at least annually.

Requirements Documents

• High Level Requirements

• Detailed Requirements

• Product backlog

• Requirements Traceability Matrix

(RTM) – requirements mapped to test cases

• Requirements documents are able to be followed as a single set of unified requirements for the system implemented in production without having to read through each iteration of requirements changes per release.

• History of requirements changes is available and understandable to reviewers to reviewers.

• Initial documents to cover full system functionality at least five (5) Business Days prior to Requirements Stage gate and full set of requirements documents delivered annually thereafter covering all requirements that are implemented in production.

• Final version for each release delivered prior to Requirements

Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable

Frequency Acceptance

Criteria Stage Gate

Data Migration Plan Defines processes associated with completion of data migration effort, including conversion/migration strategies, data mapping requirements, data clean up, and testing.

• Created for each release that includes a data migration activity.

• Final version for each applicable release delivered prior to Requirements Stage Gate

Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable stated in the description.

Solution Architecture and Detailed Design Document

Combines both a high‐level and detailed view of the solution architecture

• Includes description and diagrams of infrastructure, network, security, data, and application architectures

• Addresses all Technical Quality Control (TQC) factors and sub‐ factors identified as applicable and in scope

• Includes mitigation strategies for all risks identified in the Technical Quality Control reviews

• Includes Interface Control Documents (ICDs) to document all interfaces between systems and subsystems, including Application Programming Interfaces (API), data required, data returned, error handling, and communications, etc.

• Initial documents to Initial documents to cover full system functionality, at least five (5) Business Days prior to Design Stage Gate and annually thereafter.

Lifecycle Management Methodology (LMM) section is linked here:

https://studentai d.ed.gov/sa/sites /default/files/fsa wg/static/gw/do cs/ciolibrary/L

Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/fsawg/static/gw/docs/ciolibrary/LMM_Process_Guide.pdf https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/fsawg/static/gw/docs/ciolibrary/LMM_Process_Guide.pdf https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/fsawg/static/gw/docs/ciolibrary/LMM_Process_Guide.pdf https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/fsawg/static/gw/docs/ciolibrary/LMM_Process_Guide.pdf https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/fsawg/static/gw/docs/ciolibrary/LMM_Process_Guide.pdf

Frequency Acceptance

Criteria

• All design documents will be submitted to FSA for review and comment prior to delivery.

The Offeror shall schedule the pre-views so that FSA can discuss deliverable findings and the Offeror can correct those finding prior to delivery.

Offerors should be prepared to walk through deliverables with FSA as part of the preview process.

• Conveys detail necessary to allow coders to develop the system, and to support critical design reviews before beginning development

MM_Process_G uide.pdf

• Final version for each release delivered at least five (5) Business Days prior to Design Stage Gate

Developers’ Integration Guide

• Documents how internal and external parties will integrate with and consume the APIs/services that are exposed.

• Developers’ Integration Guide will be submitted to FSA for review and comment prior to delivery. The Offeror shall schedule the pre-views so that FSA can discuss deliverable findings and the Offeror can correct those finding prior to delivery. Offerors should be prepared to walk through deliverables with FSA as part of the preview process.

• Initial document to cover full integrations at least five (5) Business days prior to Design Stage Gate and annually thereafter

• Final version for each release delivered at least five (5) Business Days prior to Design Stage Gate

Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/fsawg/static/gw/docs/ciolibrary/LMM_Process_Guide.pdf https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/fsawg/static/gw/docs/ciolibrary/LMM_Process_Guide.pdf

Frequency Acceptance

Criteria Configuration Management Plan

• An overview of the organization, activities, overall tasks, and objectives of configuration management.

Addresses: baseline work products, describes the mechanism to track and control changes/change requests, and the mechanism to establish and maintain baseline integrity.

• Plan addresses content of FSA Enterprise Configuration Management Plan Template

• Initial plan to cover full system functionality in conjunction with schedule to support receiving ATO and updated as needed to maintain ATO.

• Updated on major changes to configuration management approach and at least annually after initial delivery.

Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable

Master Test Plan • Details high level and overall test planning and test management

• Includes System, User Acceptance, Performance, Inter‐ system, etc. test plans

• Master Test Plan includes objectives for the security control assessment and procedures for testing each

• Security control

• Address content described in

FSA Master Test Plan Template and FSA Enterprise Test Management Standards

• Initial test plan to cover full system functionality at least five (5) Business Days prior to Test Readiness Review

• Final version for each release delivered prior to Test Readiness Review

Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable

Release Test Plan • Includes all the testing that will be performed for the release, the timelines, and participants

• Final version for each release delivered prior

Deliverable must be submitted

Frequency Acceptance

Criteria to first Test Readiness Review for the release.

• Updated for subsequent Test Readiness Reviews if needed.

the objective(s) of the deliverable

Test Suites • Test scenarios, test cases and test scripts for a component or system under test

• Delivered prior to each Test Readiness Review (System and UAT) for each release and updated as needed to support comprehensive testing of the system.

Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable

Testing Documentation

• User Acceptance Test Summary Report

• System Test Summary Report

• Defect Management Reports

• QA and QC records

• Post Implementation Validation

Plan – identifies the testing that will be completed during go‐live or after go‐live to validate that the functions of the system or changes to it are correctly working

• Delivered after each phase of testing:

• System Test Summary Report after System Test;

• UAT Summary Report after

UAT

• Defect management report maintained throughout the test phase for

Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable

Frequency Acceptance

Criteria the release (delivered daily and final report due at end of each test phase)

• PIV Plan delivered prior to the PRR

• Final versions of test documentation for each release delivered prior to Production Readiness Review (PRR)

Database detail • Data Dictionary: Field name, field definition (in simple to understand terms), valid values for the content, field format/length for data stored in the servicing system (i.e., databases, access databases, tables, and spreadsheets)

• Dictionary includes: Historical transactional data for all actions (financial and non‐financial) taken on an account including but not limited to payments, refunds, schedule histories, credit reporting, and communication (Paper, email, fax, etc.) data

• Volume of Data

• Procedures and Training

Materials (Catalog and actual documents.

• Data dictionary/ documentation twenty (20) Business Days after contract award and yearly thereafter to include volume of data or Upon Request

• Procedures and training materials prior to Initial Test Readiness Review, prior to each release Test readiness review, annually

Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable

Frequency Acceptance

Criteria thereafter

Implementation Documentation

• Release Version Description Document

• Solution User Manual

• Implementation Plan: includes an hour‐by‐hour schedule for all tasks to accomplish implementation and possible roll‐back

• Transition Management Plan

• Training Plan

• Operations and Maintenance

Plan: includes a full description of how the system will be monitored, maintained, and managed if incidents occur.

Also includes capacity management, incident and problem management, and daily production reporting.

• Standard Operating Procedures

• Production Readiness Review

(PRR)

For the initial deliverable, prior to receiving Authorization to Operate. For subsequent reviews and revisions, prior to the PRR for the next release.

Deliverable must timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable

Lessons Learned Reports

All aspects of the project or project stage are analyzed, and results and opportunities for improvement are

Documented

Within ten (10) Business Days after each release

Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable stated in the description.

System Security and Privacy Documentation

Privacy Artifacts:

• Privacy Threshold Analysis

(PTA)

• Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)

Prior to receiving Authorization to Operate. Then revised annually or when changes

The details to the ATO requirements are described in Section 4 of Attachment “03 –

Frequency Acceptance

Criteria

• System of Records Notice

(SORN)

External Data Exchange Artifacts:

• Memorandum(s) of Understanding

• (MOUs)

• Computer Matching Agreement(s)

• Interconnection Security

Agreement(s) (ISA)

Continuity of Services Artifacts:

• Business Impact Assessment (BIA)

• IT Contingency Plan (Includes

Test Plan)

• Disaster Recovery Plan

System Security Documentation Artifacts:

• Categorization Worksheet

• System Authorization Boundary

• System Security Plan (SSP)

• Incident Response Plan (IRP)

• Breach Notification Policy and

Response Plan

Security Risk Assessment Artifacts:

• Security Assessment Plan

• System Security Documentation

Checklists

• Security Assessment Report

• Plans of Actions and Milestones

(POAM)

• Data Retention Schedule to the security posture of the system requires it.

IRPE Elements V

5.0.2 incl Monitoring ISS Tailored v2”.

Security Documentation Post‐ATO

Property Management Plan

• FISMA Metrics Report

• Annual Self‐Assessment (if not in

OSA program)

Updated as changes occur or directed by FSA

The details to the ATO requirements are described in Section 4 of

Frequency Acceptance

Criteria

• Incident Response Test Plan and

Test Report

• Contingency Test Plan and Test

Report

• Standard Operation Procedures

• System Retirement Plan and

System Disposal Plan

Attachment “03 – IRPE Elements V

5.0.2 incl Monitoring ISS Tailored v2”.

Continuous Monitoring Plan

Includes continuous monitoring of all security requirements and delineates all the ATO deliverables.

At initial ATO, for each release, and annually

The details to the ATO requirements are described in Section 4 of Attachment “03 – IRPE Elements V

5.0.2 incl Monitoring ISS Tailored v2”

Transition Support (Phase‐Out)

Phase‐Out Plan Completed within one (1) year of contract award and updated annually

Timely submittal of detailed descriptions of how data will be migrated to include financial balancing and data accuracy reporting and a timeline for the full migration.

Security Reports • CyberScope Report Monthly The details for this report are described in Attachment G;

requirement

1002.1200 of Attachment “03 – IRPE Elements V

5.0.2 incl Monitoring ISS Tailored v2”.

Frequency Acceptance

Criteria Contractors’ PIV and PIV‐I Card Deliverable

Monthly Vendor Employee Report (FAR 35‐9 deliverable)

First Business Day after the close of each month

The details to the ATO requirements are described in Section 3 of Attachment “03 – IRPE Elements V

5.0.2 incl Monitoring ISS Tailored v2”.

Contractors’ Solution Development Processes

• Contractors’ System Development Life cycle

• Contractors’ Software Development Life cycle

• Contractors’ Software Engineering Handbook

• Alignment to FSA Lifecycle Management Methodology (LMM), including technical stage gates, is explained.

• Lifecycle supports incremental delivery of software (at least every six months)

• Supports security controls required for ATO; including but not limited to SA-3: System Development Lifecycle

Initial delivery prior to first design stage gate and upon request thereafter.

Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable stated in the description.

Technology Business Management (TBM) Data Report

Completed TBM Data Report Template in accordance with the instructions in the annual A‐11 OMB Circular on the Budget Submission Requirement, specifically in the section containing the Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC) for IT Investments.

Quarterly Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable stated in the description.

Operational and Financial Reports

Completed reports delivered as outlined in theAttachment “01 - Business Operations Servicing

Daily, weekly, monthly as required for each individual

Deliverable must

Frequency Acceptance

Criteria Requirements v2”, Attachment “01A

– Specialty Requirements v2” and Attachment “02 – Financial Technical Requirements v2” report the objective(s) of the deliverable stated in the description.

Metrics and Invoice Reports

Completed reports to support performance metrics and invoicing

Monthly Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable stated in the description.

Labor Category Worksheet

Excel worksheet to include the following:

• List of direct, indirect, and overhead labor categories,

• Labor rates by category for the 10‐ year period of performance

• Labor category descriptions

• Security Designations

• Work performed by labor category

Annually ‐ Updated with any changes or additions to labor categories, rates, descriptions, and type of work performed

Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable stated in the description.

NIST Cost Capabilities Report

Completed NIST Cost Capabilities Report Template. Percentage of total cost associated with each selected NIST Capabilities Cost. The total of the percentages must be 100% of the Security and Compliance Cost Tower in the TBM Data Report deliverables.

First report due ten

(10) Business Days after contract award. Afterward, reports due twice a year in August and February

Deliverable must be submitted timely and meet the objective(s) of the deliverable

C.7 Expected Volumes (For Informational Purposes)

FSA expects that many of the customer and partner engagement figures will significantly change in the future as new solutions are implemented (e.g., a digital platform with greater self‐service functionality will create less need for inbound calls and outbound postal mailings). The volumes presented below are illustrative and not comprehensive of all activities across the full life cycle of student financing. This information does not guarantee the level of work or volume in the future.

C.7.1 Overall Size of Business:

• Approximately 33 million non-default customers being serviced in the FSA environment

• Customer base projected to grow approximately 21% between 2019 and 2028

• Lending portfolio that exceeds $1 trillion in outstanding principal

• Over 18 million loans assigned to servicers last year with a significant portion (58%) assigned between August and October

• ~43 million online accounts accessed each month, of which 30 million access via desktop and 12 million via mobile or tablet

• ~6,000 Partners plus state agencies, accreditors, States Attorneys General, and other relevant entities that support Title IV disbursement, administration, and compliance/enforcement

• In November of 2019 there were 12.77 million closed borrower accounts

• Number of loans per borrower is ~5.2

C.7.2 Student Aid Servicing:

• >200 million payment transactions are processed annually

• >5 million annual re‐certifications for an income‐driven repayment plan submitted annually

• ~4 million loans closed or discharged annually due to death, disability, payment in full, or other reasons (not including consolidation)

• ~840,000 loans consolidated annually, impacting an average of five loans per borrower

• ~3 million repayment plan changes annually, impacting the status of ~16 million loans

• >4 million loans transferred from servicers to FSA’s Debt Management and Collection

System (DMCS) each month

• ~900,000 TEACH grant certifications submitted annually

• ~420,000 PSLF certifications submitted annually

• ~178,000 TPD certifications submitted annually

• ~48 million inbound calls received annually, with an average handle time of ~7 minutes for those calls handled by an agent

C.7.3 Volumes for TPD, TEACH, and PSLF (FY2020 Totals):

• PSLF

- PSLF Approvals: 528,866

- PSLF Denials: 192,537

- PSLF Approved Application: 3,329

- PSLF Denied Application: 84,644

- PSLF Write-Off/Completed Application: 2,584

- PSLF Email: 26,220

- PSLF Calls Received: 1,006,292

- PSLF Reconsideration: 16,899

- PSLF IDR Payment Calculation: 3,444

- PSLF Payment Review: 3,345

- PSLF Help Tools Call: 20,881

- PSLF/ECF Applications on Hold: 603

• TEACH

- Certifications: 941,811

TPD

- TPD Application: 117,204

- Monitoring Borrowers in TPD Avg per month: 354,925

- Revised TPD Letter: 47,002

III. ADDITIONAL CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS

A. TYPE OF CONTRACT

The Government will award two (2) contracts as a result of this solicitation. The resulting contracts will be a Multiple Award, Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contracts with the ability to issue Fixed Unit Rate and Firm-Fixed Priced Task Orders at the sole discretion of the Government under NAICS Code 522390 (Other Activities Related to Credit Intermediation) which will be used to provide commercial services for FSA. The Government anticipates awarding a five-year Base Ordering Period, followed by five (5), one-year Optional Ordering Periods.

A.1. Task Orders

Task Orders shall be issued based on the terms and conditions of the resulting contract(s). FSA will implement ISS through the issuance of Task Orders. These Task Orders will be priced based upon the terms and conditions of the resulting contracts including the established common pricing and pricing for Implementation Costs. See Section I, Pricing.

B. CONSIDERATION AND PAYMENT

During the contract period, the Government shall place orders totaling a minimum of $15,000,000.00 per contract holder. This reflects the contract minimum for the entire period of performance, including any options. The contract maximum for the entire period of performance, including any options, shall be for the placement of orders totaling a maximum of $5,000,000,000.00.

B.1 Payment of Operation &…