Questions_and_Responses_Market_Research_final.pdf

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SCIENCES

NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

2019-20 NATIONAL POSTSECONDARY STUDENT AID STUDY (NPSAS:20) &

POSTSECONDARY SURVEYS

Questions Received Prior and During the NPSAS:20 Pre-solicitation Conference

Held on May 31, 2017

1) Will the contractor be responsible for establishing memoranda of agreement and data use agreements with agencies that will provide Administrative Data matching?

RESPONSE: It depends, for matching with other federal Agencies, NCES will establish those agreements, but they may require support from the contractor. For non-Fed organizations, it is typically a three-person agreement that may be initiated by NCES or the contractor, but must be reviewed by all parties. Arrangements are already in place for matches to the Department’s data systems (such as the National Student Loan Data System).

2) The PWS and FAQs note that there is no B&B cohort in this solicitation. Will B&B continue to be supported in future NPSAS procurements?

RESPONSE: Yes. Alternating cycles of NPSAS, spin off either a BPS cohort or B&B cohort.

NPSAS:20 will spin off the BPS cohort, NPSAS:16 spun off the B&B:16 cohort. While this procurement does not provide for a B&B cohort, some work is included in the Performance

Work Statement (PWS) to maintain and answer questions about older B&B data sets.

3) The PWS specifies that the contractor should be prepared to fill approximately 25 external information requests per month. Are there other NCES surveys that maintain a similar system? Is the estimated number of requests comparable to 25 per month?

RESPONSE: Under the Postsecondary Education Analysis and Resources (PEAR) and

NPSAS:16 contracts, we have a system that tracks and responds to external requests. Hence, we know from experience, the average number of requests we expect.

4) Why are Tasks 5-13 designated as Optional?

RESPONSE: Many of these tasks occur up to seven years after the beginning of the contract.

It is difficult to anticipate the status of the budget and the circumstances so far into the future.

Including optional tasks, allows the government to assess the budget and respond to new requests from Congress. As of today, we will likely exercise many of the optional tasks consistent with the follow-up interviews conducted in the past.

5) I am inquiring about the requirement for 2019-20 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study

(NPSAS:20) & Postsecondary Surveys outlined under ED-IES-17-R-0028. I am wondering if this is similar to the requirement posted in the ED Forecast under tracking number:

IESE170219AP.

RESPONSE: Yes.

6) Also, I understand that this is a recompete of the contract held by Research Triangle Institute.

I am wondering if you could please provide the following incumbent details:

RESPONSE:

· Contract number: EDIES13C0070 (NPSAS:16)

· Value: $189,000,000

· Date of award: 09/30/2013

· Expiration date: 09/29/2023