RFI1.doc

Request for Information

Statement of Need

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, FEDERAL STUDENT AID

Financial and Consulting Support Services

1. Purpose

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to identify interested and viable small businesses, GSA schedule holders or other interested sources capable of delivering financial and consulting support services to the Department of Education, Federal Student Aid.

2. Background A. The School Eligibility Channel, Program Compliance Program Office, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education, is responsible for monitoring postsecondary schools that participate in the Federal Student Aid programs. Many of the participating schools are owned by large companies that have complex ownership structures and may be required to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Typically, the schools owned by these corporations enroll from 50,000 to 100,000 students annually and receive $100 million to upwards of a billion dollars in Federal Student Aid funding, which is mainly comprised of Federal Pell Grants and Federally sponsored loans. A substantial portion of the School Participation Channel’s monitoring efforts involve the analysis of the audited financial statements of these entities.

B. Federal Student Aid intends to conduct a competition among selective GSA schedule holders or other qualified and responsive sources to acquire the following Financial Analysis and Consulting Services on behalf of the Program Compliance Program Office, Federal Student Aid:

1. Program Management (PM) services include the coordination and integration of all activities as well as the timely submission to the government of all required deliverables in high quality and within budget. Coordination of activities will include the interface with the government Project Manager and all required entities to successfully complete the task associated with this project.

2. Analytical support services for the analysis of financial statements of proprietary institutions that provide post-secondary education. This will include the gathering, review, and analysis of financial statements, the financial and other information contained therein, integration, classification and assessment of financial and other related data, analysis of the business process models of the program participants or any other requests for high-level requirements necessary to conclude the analytical process. This task may require research and the application of a successful methodology that the contractor will propose to arrive at the required conclusions of the analysis process.

3. Market analysis and financial forecasting for post-secondary education providers.

4. Collection, review and analysis of information and data from an institutions’ financial statements for the purpose of identifying positive and negative trends, strengths and weaknesses, and any pattern of demise.

5. Enumerate, identify and compile anomalies discovered during the financial statements review that may be suggestive of fraud or misrepresentation of factual information. Organize and evaluate each case of indication of fraud or misrepresentation of facts in detail with supportive documentation to assist the government in understanding and identifying patterns and trends indicative of fraud or misrepresentation.

6. Consultation, education, and training of the Federal Student Aid staff of the results and outcomes of the conducted analysis.

C. Combined, when performed effectively, the above services provide effective tools for (1) collection, review, research and analysis of financial information and business processes of post-secondary educational institutions and entities, (2) management and integration of financial data and processes and capturing of the findings in a comprehensive and detailed manner, (3) market research and financial forecasting of post-secondary education providers, (4) identification of anomalies, misrepresentations, and fraud based on the review and analysis of financial statements, and (5) consultation and education of the Federal Student Aid staff on the outcomes and results of the conducted analysis. Essentially, the required financial and consultation services will enable the government to gain a better strategic focus of its oversight of its clients.

3. Summary Requirement

The selected contractor or consultant(s) would need to conduct data analysis on the specified sector of the industry and be able to explain to a small group of Federal Student Aid staff the results, how they were obtained, and impart an understanding on Federal Student Aid staff on how to identify these strengths, weaknesses, patterns of demise, misrepresentation or fraud. The contractor shall be required to integrate analysis and work processes and establish and/or refine management processes to assist involved Federal Student Aid Chief staff to understand the findings and support Federal Student Aid’s functions and other business units effectively to achieve their overall goals and objectives related to this project.

4. Pre-Qualifications Inputs

a. Capability: Each interested and capable small business, shall submit a 10 page or less summary describing its capabilities and capacity to deliver the Financial and Consulting services described in paragraphs 2 and 3 above. Also, indicate whether the contractor has the capability of delivering and completing the required services with a fast pace approach, that is on or before the end of September 30, 2009. Be very specific as to why the contractor believes that, given its expertise, overall capabilities and experiences is qualified to deliver the Financial and Consulting services described above. The content must be clear, concise, complete, accurate, and relevant.

b. Proven Experience: Provide 2-3 commercial references Financial and Consulting type contracts performed over the past 2-3 years. Also, highlight information on all Government contracts performed over the past 3 years that involved the required services. For commercial references, provide a brief description of the work provided, the total dollar value of the contract, and one or more points of contact. For Government references, provide the contract number and names of involved program manager, Contracting Officer Representative and Contracting Officer. For all contacts, provide a phone number and, if available, email address.

c. GSA Schedule Information: Provide GSA Schedule number and name and phone number of assigned Contracting Officer.

d. In total, the information in 4b and 4c shall be limited to 5 or less pages.

5. Submission

All submissions are due on or before 4:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, April 30, 2009 and shall be submitted by electronic mail to Amanda.Pafford@ed.gov or Dominique.Bataille@ed.gov.

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