Request_Capability_Statements_v3.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

CAPABILITY STATEMENT INSTRUCTIONS

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) is conducting market research to determine if sufficient interest and capability exists in the marketplace for the anticipated 2019-20 National

Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:20) and Postsecondary Surveys contract. This notice is NOT a request of proposals, but is an invitation for potential offerors to express interest and provide information regarding their relevant knowledge, skills and capabilities. Information submitted in response to this Request for Information (RFI) may be used to assist the Department in finalizing its acquisition strategy. Submission of Capability Statements, while strongly encouraged, is NOT a pre-requisite for a prospective vendor being able to submit proposals when the 2019-20 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:20) and Postsecondary Surveys solicitation is released for competition.

Disclaimer: The Department will not pay for the provision of any information nor will it compensate any respondents for providing this information. This notice in no way obligates the

Government to award any contract to any interested party. Feedback will not be provided to any interested party who submits information to the Department in response to this notice.

Capability Statement Submission Deadline

The deadline for submitting Capability Statements is June 20, 2017 by 12:00 noon Eastern Time

(ET) via e-mail to the following: Erik.Robertson@ed.gov and cc: Brenda.Jefferson@ed.gov.

Primary Point of Contact:

Erik Robertson

Contract Specialist

Erik.Robertson@ed.gov

Phone: (202) 245-6407

Fax: 202-245-6297

Secondary Point of Contact:

Brenda Jefferson

Contract Specialist

Brenda.Jefferson@ed.gov

Phone: (202) 245-6180

Additional Point of Contact:

Deila Johnson

Contracting Officer

Deila.Johnson@ed.gov

Phone: (202) 245-6183

Capability Statement Instructions

In response to the attached Draft 2019-20 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study

(NPSAS:20) & Postsecondary Surveys Performance Work Statement (PWS), the Department hereby solicits capability statements from eligible, interested parties. Capability Statements shall be no longer than 4 pages (single-spaced, with a minimum of one-inch margins and 12 point font). Vendors shall provide responses for the content areas noted below. This information does

NOT count against the 4 page Capability Statement page limitation.

BASIC INFORMATION

a. Please state your business/company name and address. Include contact information such as a corporate email address and website URL.

b. Please provide your business/company DUNS Number.

c. Please state your business size status (i.e. large or small) in the stated North American

Industry Classification System (NAICS) code of 541720. Also provide all socio-economic categories for your company and the corresponding NAICS code.

d. State whether or not 541720 is the most appropriate NAICS code for the 2019-20

National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:20) & Postsecondary Surveys. Why or why not?

e. State if the requirement should be set-aside for small business, and why (or why not)?

Provide the specific small business, socio-economic category in your response. Note that studies under this requirement are national large-scale complex surveys where the samples sizes range from approximately 30,000 for the longitudinal study and over

100,000 for the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study.

f. Provide a suggested contract type, or confirm that Cost Reimbursement (CR) is the appropriate contract type, and provide a brief, supporting statement.

g. Do you have any additional feedback to improve the draft Performance Work Statement or the competition?

CAPABILITY STATEMENT CONTENT AREAS

The capability statement should describe the qualifications and experience of key personnel, as well as related corporate experience and capacity, in each of the following areas:

1) Demonstrate qualifications, knowledge and experience of managing national large scale sample surveys.

2) Demonstrate successful experience in conducting large scale national surveys for postsecondary education institutions and individuals, as well as the key staff, consultants or subcontractors.

3) Provide documentation of past projects conducted of similar scale, scope, and complexity.

4) Demonstrate experience with administrative and student record collection (e.g., postsecondary transcripts and institutional records) and/or data systems to support collection of student data to reduce the burden of direct collection on students and institutions.

5) Demonstrate expertise in survey development including the use of cognitive testing to determine appropriate instrument wording and screen design.

6) Demonstrate willingness to leverage relations with postsecondary institutions and the higher education community built previously by NCES through outreach in order to (a) gain the cooperation of institutions that are randomly selected into the study, (b) optimize

NPSAS to answer the topical and timely research and policy questions of these groups, and (c) further grow NPSAS name recognition in the high education community.