Employment_Certification_Form_RFI.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

Employment Certification Form (ECF) Database Solution

Description

This Request for Information is issued for informational and planning purposes only and should not be construed as a formal solicitation. It does not commit the Government to reply to information received or to later release a solicitation, or to award a contract based on this information.

Background/Overview

The College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) of 2007 created the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program for Direct Loan borrowers who make 120 separate, on-time qualifying payments. These payments must be made after October 1, 2007 and the borrower must be employed in certain public service jobs, as defined in the regulations, during the time the payments are made and at the time forgiveness is requested and granted. Once the Government determines whether all of the requirements for eligibility have been fulfilled, the balance of principal and interest due on the borrower’s eligible Direct Loans is forgiven.

Purpose

Federal Student Aid (FSA) has a need for contractor support for the implementation, operation and maintenance of an Employment Certification Form (ECF) database to track borrowers and employers in the PSLF program.

The purpose of this RFI is to identify and obtain information from responsible sources and interested parties who could offer services to meet the requirement.

Response Requirements

Interested vendors are hereby requested to provide the following information:

1. Indicate whether your company can fulfill the objectives listed in the Statement of Objectives, as well as a Capability Statement

2. Provide any alternative means of accomplishing the objectives

3. Provide the company’s point of contact

All submissions become the property of the Government and will not be returned. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this RFI or any follow-up information request.

Submission Instructions

Response shall not exceed five (5), single-spaced pages. NO MARKETING MATERIALS ARE ALLOWED AS PART OF THIS RFI. The Government will not review any marketing materials if they are submitted as part of this RFI. Please submit responses to Mr. Elvis Taylor at elvis.taylor@ed.gov. Interested parties should respond no later than May 1, 2018 at 2:00 pm EST in either MS Word (or be compatible with) or pdf file formats.

Statement of Objectives

Performance Objectives

The contractor shall provide a system that meets the following objectives:

1. An ECF database that tracks employers, who may or may not be designated as certified under the terms and conditions of ED’s PSLF program. Updates will be no less than quarterly but can be as frequently as the IRS updates, which is on a monthly basis.

2. The ability to communicate with borrowers, via the ECF database, using emails, letters and/or texts based on a hierarchy or the borrower’s expressed preference.

3. An FSA-approved co-signer flow that does not use the FSA ID as a method of authentication to permit an “authorized official” of the borrower’s employer to certify employment.

Operating Constraints

The ECF database shall:

1. Include a pre-screening process of employers based on borrower input and a solution that is partially updated automatically by the contractor from pre-approved sources. These updates shall be on an ad-hoc but regular basis, upon approval and the delivery of data from Federal Student Aid (FSA).

2. Use a skip-logic-based ECF/Application which asks the user questions that are necessary for employment to be certified, and pre-populates the ECF/Application with information the borrower provided to FSA using the pre-screening process identified in constraint #1.

3. Incorporate logic from new data work stream between NSLDS and Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) which indicates to the borrower whether he or she is on the appropriate repayment plan and/or; has the appropriate loan type(s); and displays prior information about approved ECFs if available, and, if not, allows the borrower to bundle the ECF/Application into an IDR or Consolidation application, as appropriate. For Consolidation, only ineligible loans (non-Direct Loans) would be automatically selected for consolidation.

4. Create a pre-populated PDF either prior to or after completion of the co-signer flow (described in performance objective #2).

mailto:elvis.taylor@ed.gov

5. Send a completed ECF/Application (or “bundle”) to the appropriate loan servicer.

6. Send reminder notices to borrowers who have not certified in the past year.

7. Be capable of sending notifications to borrowers with an approved ECF when an approved employer is later determined to no longer be considered a certified employer.

8. Be capable of informing FSA if a borrower no longer works in qualifying employment, and sending notice to the appropriate loan servicer.

Period of Performance

It is anticipated that the period of performance will be no less than one year with the possibility of four (4) one year option periods.

Place of Performance

It is anticipated that all work will be performed at the Contractor’s facility.