NPSAS 2028 RFI Instructions_final.pdf

U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences

Request for Information (RFI) National Postsecondary Student Aid Study 2027-28 (NPSAS:28) January, 2026 Version 1

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) is conducting market research to determine if sufficient interest and capability exist in the marketplace for the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study 2027-28 (NPSAS:28).

This does not constitute a Request for Proposals (RFP), Request for Quotations (RFQ), Invitation for Bids (IFB), or a commitment on the part of the Government to conduct a solicitation in the future. All information provided is strictly voluntary and no reimbursement will be made by the Government for any costs associated with providing a response to this notice or otherwise participating in market research activities. Further, the U.S. Department of Education offers no assurance that a solicitation will result from this notice.

Please note the Performance Work Statement (PWS) provided is a DRAFT only and is subject to change. The final PWS will be issued with the solicitation.

1. Overview The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) intends to award a contract including a 60-month base period and optional tasks spanning a possible additional 60 months, to a qualified entity for the purpose of conducting NPSAS:28 and follow-ups in the NPSAS family of studies.

NPSAS is a cross-sectional study that provides information about the costs of postsecondary education and how students and their families pay for these costs. NPSAS is based on a nationally representative sample of undergraduate and graduate students attending all types of postsecondary institutions.

NPSAS serves as the base-year data collection for the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B) and the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS) in alternating administrations. The purpose of the B&B is to collect data on students’ education and work experiences after they complete a bachelor’s degree. The purpose of BPS is to track students’ pathways through postsecondary education, helping to answer questions related to undergraduates’ persistence and attainment outcomes.

The proposed DRAFT Performance Work Statement (PWS) continues the cycle with NPSAS:28 scheduled for the 2027-28 academic year. It includes the base contract to conduct a NPSAS study in 2027-28 that includes a student survey and extracts from administrative data sources (i.e., Department of Education’s databases, data from postsecondary institutions, and data from other administrative data sources). It also includes a series of optional tasks designed to:

• conduct an additional NPSAS study using administrative data only (Optional Task 5),

• add a state representative sample to NPSAS:28 (Optional Task 6),

• match administrative records for prior longitudinal cohorts (Optional Task 7),

• conduct follow-up B&B student interviews in NPSAS:24 in their fourth (Optional Task

8) and tenth years (Optional Task 11) after graduation, and

• conduct follow-up BPS student interviews begun in NPSAS:28 into their third (Optional

Task 9) and sixth (Optional Task 10) years.

2. Questions for RFI Response NCES is interested in offerors’ responses to some or all of the questions below for the purposes of strengthening the proposed requirement and determining vendor capability. Respondents MUST answer questions 7 thru 10 so a capability determination can be made. Specifically:

1. Is the draft PWS clear in communicating the goals of the requirement, including both the NPSAS:28 study as well as the optional longitudinal studies the PWS describes?

2. What changes might be made to the requirement that would maintain NCES quality standards while reducing its cost?

3. What changes might be made to the requirement that would maintain NCES quality standards while improving the timeliness of report and data releases?

4. What changes might be made to the requirement that would increase the utility of its data to federal, state, and institutional policymakers?

5. What changes might be made to the requirement, or what information might the Department need to make available to offerors, to improve offerors’ capacity to accurately price this requirement within the context of a fixed price contract?

6. What other changes would you make to the existing requirement to better achieve the program’s purpose?

7. Is your company capable of meeting all requirements detailed in the PWS? If so, please provide examples of where your company has provided the type of work contained in the PWS at a similar size scope and explain how it is similar to this requirement.

Explain the role your company played in the work and how it ties directly to this requirement.

8. Does your company possess, or is your company capable of obtaining and maintaining, an Authority to Operate a FIPS-Moderate computing environment from the U.S.

Department of Education? If so, please explain.

9. Is your business classified as a small business under the NAICS code that aligns with this requirement (anticipated to be 541720)?

a. If yes, is your business classified under any socioeconomic sub-factors such as Woman-Owned Small Business, HUBZone, Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, etc.?

10. Are the services available via any existing contract your company has? (EX: PRESTO, GSA MAS, etc)

3. Submission Instructions In response to the attached DRAFT Performance Work Statement (PWS) the Department hereby solicits capability statements from eligible, interested parties.

Capability Statements shall be no longer than 10 pages (single-spaced, with a minimum of one-inch margins and 12-point font). Interested Parties shall provide responses for all content areas noted below.

(a) Please state your entity name and address. Include contact information such as an Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), entity email address, and website URL.

(b) State if your entity believes that the DRAFT PWS contains any unduly restrictive language or content and, if so, why. Please cite specific examples and provide feedback.

All interested parties are invited to submit responses in a PDF and submit as an attachment via e-mail to Alyson Allman – Alyson.allman@ed.gov. Responses are due no later than January 30, 2026, 12:00PM Eastern Time.