BPO RFI_Final Revised_10152025 .pdf

U.S. Department of Education (ED) | Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) Business Process Operations (BPO)

Request for Information (RFI)

1. Introduction

This Request for Information (RFI) is for planning purposes only and for the U.S. Department of Education (ED), Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) to determine available technology, sources or providers, and those providers’ capability and interest to deliver Customer Contact Center Services to include Contact Center Operations and/or Back-Office Processing Support as described herein.

This RFI is issued in accordance with FAR 15.201(e). This RFI does not constitute a solicitation, and it is not an indication the Government will contract for any of the items and services discussed in this notice. However, the Government will use information furnished in response to this RFI to inform and support planning and development of any potential solicitation and contract.

Submission of a response to this RFI is entirely voluntary. The voluntary submission of answers to this RFI does not obligate FSA to pay or entitle the submitter of information to claim any direct or indirect costs, charges, or other compensation.

Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, restricted or competition sensitive information contained in their response. Any information considered proprietary should be noted via appropriate markings. Classified information and concepts shall not be submitted in response to this RFI.

There is a 35-page limit for this RFI response. The Government will not review any information or attachments included exceeding the 35-page limit. NO MARKETING MATERIALS ARE ALLOWED AS PART OF THIS RFI. Generic or non-specific capability statements will not be reviewed.

Respondents must conform to this RFI’s stated submission guidelines and specifications;

however, FSA welcomes responses limited in scope to topics/areas in which a vendor holds expertise or experience. Overall, responses should be comprehensive enough such that FSA can ascertain the vendor’s capability to deliver the services or capabilities described herein.

2. Background

FSA administers all phases of the Federal student financial aid program from a student’s submission of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) through retirement of student loan debt. FSA manages a loan portfolio of more than $1.6 trillion, serving over 45 million student customers. In Fiscal Year 2024, FSA delivered over $114.9 billion in financial aid to more than 10.025 million students attending approximately 5,600 postsecondary institutions.

Vendors may acquire more information at the following link:

https://studentaid.gov/about

To manage this scale, FSA implemented the Business Process Operations (BPO) Program in June of 2020 to support FSA’s overall strategic goal to provide a more efficient and effective customer experience to the students, parents, and borrowers FSA serves. FSA executes the BPO Program through a multiple-award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contract that provides contact center operations and back-office processing activities. The current IDIQ contracts expire in June of 2026.

BPO vendors currently perform three core functions under individual Task Orders:

• Contact Center Operations

• Back-Office Processing

• Contact Center support associated with Fulfillment Services

This RFI seeks input on the feasibility, capacity and demonstrated Contact Center industry proficiencies needed to effectively deliver services for:

• Contact Center Operations

• Back-Office Processing

• A combined service delivery approach that includes both, and/or

• Fulfillment Services

In addition, since the contract award, both contact center operations and technology have changed and will continue to evolve especially with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Therefore, FSA is also looking for vendor partners that understand the dynamic contact center environment at a deep level and can help FSA in that evolution of providing superior customer service.

3. Objective

The objective of this RFI is to gather feedback from potential vendors on contact center service capabilities (e.g., human capital, hiring, onboarding and retention, etc.), operational execution and performance management models, cost structures, and potential strategies to enable profitable and consistent performance-based contact center execution.

FSA is seeking insight into process strategies and operational models that leverage existing technologies to provide a streamlined and simplified path to successful customer transactions. This includes approaches that improve agent efficiency, reduce customer effort, and enable data-driven decision-making to support continuous improvement and cost-effective service delivery.

https://studentaid.gov/about

4. BPO Service Delivery

BPO service delivery is accomplished through the following types of vendor engagement.

FSA is requesting input from vendors on their interest – or preference – in supporting the following engagement types. Respondents may address Service Delivery Option A, Option B, Option C (i.e., both) and/ or Option D:

• Service Delivery – Option A: Contact Center Services Only o Multi-channel support (calls, webform/email, chat) o Multilingual support (English/Spanish required) o Peak Period and Extended Hours Support o Use of FSA-provided Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Solution Set

(i.e., Telephony, Workforce Management, Training, and Quality, etc.)

o Performance tracking and adherence to Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Service Delivery - Option B: Back-Office Processing Only o Processing of applications, certifications, verifications, deferments, appeals o Manual eligibility determinations o Data corrections, account maintenance, reconciliation o Support for Title IV disbursement activities and school interfaces o Handling of all written correspondence, including intake, research, review, and response coordination across channels, stakeholders, and systems

• Service Delivery - Option C: Combined Contact Center and Back-Office Services o Integrated delivery of customer interactions and operational processing o Unified quality control systems and reporting

• Service Delivery - Option D: Fulfillment Services o Receiving, scanning/imaging, data capture/validation, to include destroying documentation once scanned, and routing physical mail to the appropriate destination.

o Printing and processing outbound mail correspondence to customers. This includes acquiring and maintaining postage meters or comparable tools used to send non-controlled mail written responses by U.S. Postal Mail.

o Tracking and reporting inbound and outbound mail items, identifying cost efficiency opportunities, and working with FSA and/or other business partners to implement changes to processes and practices.

For vendor awareness, the current BPO Contact Center Hours of Operation (HOO) are as follows:

Hours of Operation Monday 8AM-9PM EST Tuesday and Wednesday 8AM-8PM EST Thursday and Friday 8AM-6PM EST

Vendor responses should include a narrative on your organization’s contact center’s ability to meet or exceed the following requirements relative to the specific engagement type(s) your organization expresses interest (or a preference) to support:

• Effectively handle customer demand and maintain high service quality while ensuring cost-effectiveness. Operate a contact center that consistently provides agent capacity sufficient to meet or exceed contractual Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in environments with fluctuating workloads. These fluctuations include both calendar-based cycles (e.g., seasonal peak periods) and non-cyclical events or deadlines (e.g., White House or Department initiatives).

• Recruit, hire, train, coach, and retain seasoned, high performing, skilled agents, (vendor employees or subcontractor personnel) at market-competitive compensation. FSA is interested in receiving feedback from industry regarding any philosophies or “best practices” leveraged to invest in high-performing talent or support, including your view of labor costs and how that translates to operating a competitive, competent, and profitable customer contact center. For example, your response should include a narrative on your organization’s approach to (or view of) investing in human capital (i.e., CSRs/Agents) and any expected return on those Agent labor investments. Note: Pricing information should not be submitted.

• Ensure compliance with FSA's cybersecurity, data protection, and record retention standards.

• Provide responsive, reliable, and outcome-focused omni-channel Customer Contact Center services (i.e., Calls, Chats, Webform/Email, Text/SMS, and Back- Office Processing) that enhance the customer experience while supporting government efficiency and accountability.

5. Scope Overview

The anticipated scope of work (i.e., tasks) to be performed is detailed below:

• (Contact Center): Handle inbound and outbound customer communications across multiple contact channels (phone, webform/email, chat, text/SMS).

• (Contact Center): Assist with FAFSA and Specialty Program applications and respond to a variety of general and program-specific inquiries. Specialty Programs include Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF), Total and Permanent Disability (TPD), and the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH).

• (Back Office): Perform data validation, process documentation, and support resolution of borrower disputes, appeals, or discrepancies. Handle written correspondence, including intake, research, review, and response coordination across channels, stakeholders, and systems.

• (Contact Center & Back Office) Document Interactions: After speaking with a customer or completing a task, the Customer Service Representative (CSR) annotates in the CRM the nature and description of the interaction case type (e.g., inbound call, outbound call, chat, back-office request, etc.), a discussion summary, and the resolution or next steps.

• (Contact Center & Back Office) Update Borrower Customer Contact Information: If a customer provides a new phone number, mailing address, or email address, the CSR must update those fields in the system to ensure all future communications are sent to the correct location.

• (Contact Center & Back Office) Log Case Status: When working on a specific case (e.g., a PSLF form), forbearance request, or Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) application), the CSR updates the description for the case status (e.g., received, in review, or completed), along with any notes or follow-up actions required.

• (Contact Center & Back Office) Add Internal Notes: The CSR may enter internal comments to provide context for future servicing interactions. These notes help ensure continuity of service, especially if the customer contacts the center again.

• (Contact Center & Back Office) Escalate Issues: If an issue needs to be reviewed by a specialist or escalated, the CSR initiates the escalation and notes this in the CRM, tagging the appropriate team and/or queue.

• (Fulfillment) - Receive, scan, index, print and mail outbound correspondence (i.e., USPS mail), and receive faxes. Create cases in the FSA-provided CRM and utilize Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to enable digitization – for easier editing/searching/storage – per Federal regulations, to support various Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and automation of records within the CRM.

6. Hybrid Work Environment

Respondents should provide details on their ability to support a hybrid workforce model.

Expectations include:

• A minimum target of 50% + of in-office/on-site (not remote) agent work

• Secured facilities and an Agent/support staff Access/Desktop Solution infrastructure required for accessing and handling sensitive federal data

• Workforce management and compliance operational controls that support hybrid operations

Respondents should provide information on current or prior experience, lessons learned, outcomes, and/or industry best practices utilized to operate a customer contact center in an in-person on-site, remote, and/or hybrid environment. Provide any corresponding data/analytics and a summary narrative on incremental cost or savings implications associated with the various locational models.

7. Feedback Solicited and Vendor Response Guidelines

Overall, with this RFI, FSA seeks industry feedback, information and recommendations on the feasibility, capacity and demonstrated Contact Center industry proficiencies needed to effectively deliver Contact Center Operations and Back-Office Processing.

RFI responses shall provide the following information:

1. Demographic information about your company to include:

a. Company Name

b. Company Physical Address and Website

c. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)

d. Points of Contact (POC), including email and phone number

e. Based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)

Codes listed below, state whether your company is classified in any small business category including Small Business, Woman-Owned Small Business, Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, 8(a), HUBZone, and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business. Please also identify any other federal classification(s) and size standards that your company engages in that are related to the scope of work identified herein but not specifically listed below.

NAICS Code NAICS Code Description Size Standard

522320 Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities

$47 million (average annual receipts)

561422 Telemarketing Bureaus and Other Contact Centers $23.5 million (average annual receipts)

518210 Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services

$40 million (average annual receipts)

f. A description of your company’s primary business product/service line.

g. Are your services available on the General Services Administration’s

(GSA) Federal Supply Schedule? If yes, provide the contract number(s) and corresponding NAICS Code(s).

h. Are your services available through any other Government contract vehicles?

If yes, provide the contract name, number(s) and corresponding NAICS Code(s).

2. A statement that clearly indicates which service delivery option(s) your organization is responding to (i.e., A, B, C, and/or D as noted above).

3. A capability statement (detailed narrative) highlighting experience relevant to the chosen option(s).

4. A high-level summary of industry best practices for

a. Cost Management

b. Staffing Considerations, to include:

i. Recruiting, hiring, training, coaching and retention practices

ii. Agent performance

iii. Flexible/adaptable capacity management capabilities

c. Hybrid Work Environment Models

d. Overall Contact Center Performance Management, including support roles.

Note: Support roles include any resource who supports contact center operations by enabling, managing, or optimizing frontline agent performance without directly interacting with customers.

5. Any financial or operational perspective(s) or concerns related to performing the anticipated scope detailed herein under a common, Firm Fixed Price (FFP), per task, pricing model. Vendors should not submit any pricing information in response to this RFI; however, FSA is interested in receiving recommendations for pricing (e.g., FFP per agent, hybrid model, etc.). Note: The term “common” denotes a contractual model whereby all vendors perform under common (identical) pricing and performance standards.

6. Feedback or recommendations on scope improvements, innovation opportunities, and enterprise-level integration.

7. Feedback or recommendations on acquisition considerations (e.g., cost and pricing drivers, contract structure, etc.) that might shape or influence the acquisition strategies for anticipated future solicitations and contracts for Customer Contact Center Services.

8. An indication as to whether this RFI provides sufficient detail about the BPO Program for purposes of response. If the respondent’s reply is “No”, FSA requests the respondent briefly elaborate on what elements, documentation, or contextual information could be modified or provided so FSA may facilitate or influence accurate, efficient, and meaningful response submissions for any future solicitations.

Technical Questions

Respondents should use the following technical questions to direct their responses to this

RFI:

a. What strategies do you use to maintain workforce readiness and minimize attrition in high-volume, high-variability contact center environments?

b. How do you ensure consistency and quality across all channels and interaction types?

c. What is your experience supporting back-office functions such as application processing, eligibility determinations, and account maintenance?

d. What is your approach to quickly scaling staffing levels in response to non-cyclical, high-volume periods? What processes, partnerships, or talent pools do you leverage to meet urgent demand?

e. What proactive strategies do you use to prepare for unpredictable spikes in volume (e.g., cross-training, standby pools, flexible scheduling)?

8. RFI Response Format

• Responses shall be no more than 35 pages (Times New Roman, 12-point font minimum). Any pages that exceed the 35-page limit will not be reviewed.

• Responses shall be submitted in Adobe PDF format.

• Graphics and tables are allowed but count toward the page limit.

• Do not include additional appendices.

9. Submission Deadline and Contact Information

Please refer any questions or comments to the individuals listed below:

Tricia Jackson-Harris Executive Business Advisor/Contracting Officer Email: Tricia.Jackson-Harris@ed.gov

Gabrielle Panyard Sr. Contract Specialist/Contracting Officer Email: Gabrielle.Panyard@ed.gov

ED/FSA Headquarters Address:

Lyndon Baines Johnson Building 400 Maryland Ave., SW Washington, DC 20202 mailto:Tricia.Jackson-Harris@ed.gov mailto:Gabrielle.Panyard@ed.gov

Questions about RFI content are due no later than (NLT) 12:00 PM EDT on Wednesday, October 1, 2025. All questions shall be submitted, via email, to the individuals listed above.

The required subject line is “RFI Questions BPO Customer Contact Center.”

RFI Responses are due no later than (NLT) 4:00 PM EDT on Friday, October 24, 2025.

Wednesday, October 22, 2025. Submit responses via email to:

• Tricia Jackson-Harris, Contracting Officer: Tricia.Jackson-Harris@ed.gov

• Gabrielle Panyard, Sr. Contract Specialist: Gabrielle.Panyard@ed.gov

The required subject line is “RFI BPO Customer Contact Center.”

We thank you for your interest and look forward to your response.

U.S. Department of Education – Federal Student Aid mailto:Tricia.Jackson-Harris@ed.gov mailto:Gabrielle.Panyard@ed.gov