Request for Information - IPEDS.pdf

U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences

Request for Information (RFI) Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)

November 20, 2025

PLEASE NOTE: All information contained in this notice is preliminary in nature and subject to change. This notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes and 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.

1. Overview The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) possibly plans award of a new contract or task order for services described in the attached DRAFT Performance Work Statement (PWS) for the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System Web-based Data Collection and is seeking written information from vendors about their capability to define and carry out the work.

2. Description of the Requirement IPEDS is the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. It is a system of interrelated surveys conducted annually by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). IPEDS gathers information from every college, university, and technical and vocational institution that participates in the federal student financial aid programs. The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, requires that institutions that participate in federal student aid programs report data on enrollments, program completions, graduation rates, faculty and staff, finances, institutional prices, and student financial aid. These data are made available to students and parents through the College Navigator college search website and to researchers and others through the IPEDS Data Center.

IPEDS collects data on postsecondary education in the United States in eight areas: institutional characteristics; institutional prices; admissions; enrollment; student financial aid; degrees and certificates conferred; student persistence and success; and institutional resources including human, resources, and finance. To learn more about IPEDS Survey components, visit https://nces.ed.gov/Ipeds/use-the-data/survey-components.

Data are submitted at the aggregated-level from postsecondary institutions. Institutions submit data through interrelated survey components about general higher education topics for three reporting periods.

IPEDS provides basic data needed to describe — and analyze trends in — postsecondary education in the United States, in terms of the numbers of students enrolled, staff employed, dollars expended, and degrees earned. Congress, federal agencies, state governments, education providers, professional associations, private businesses, media, students and parents, and others rely on IPEDS data for this basic information on postsecondary institutions.

Through this RFI, we seek to identify those vendors capable of continuing to support the established IPEDS survey components while also advancing IPEDS data collection tool and ability to support data providers, collectors, and consumers. Please see requested information and https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/ questions below.

3. Information Requested

The National Center for Education Statistics is requesting responses to the questions below.

• Please provide a brief description of your organization’s prior experience in performing large complex data projects demonstrating capability to meet the data collection, processing, and publication requirements identified in the attached draft Performance Work Statement (PWS). For example, please provide information on past experiences related to using technology in data collection, operationalization and implementation of a help desk, conducting data quality processing, publishing data visualizations, etc.

• Please describe your organization’s prior experience with federal reporting including implementation of data collections adhering to federal requirements (e.g. Paperwork Reduction Act, Federal IT requirements, etc.) across an entire data lifecycle.

• Please describe your organization’s prior experiences with higher education data demonstrating capability to meet the requirements of the PWS. For example, please describe experiences that required a deep understanding of institutions of higher education necessary to interpret/compare descriptive data points, outcome measures, etc. across a wide range of different institutions.

• Does your company have past experiences with specific tools and/or methodologies within a data lifecycle process (e.g. data collection, data processing, etc.) that could improve the existing IPEDS data lifecycle process?

• Please provide any feedback or questions you may have related to this requirement and the draft Performance Work Statement.

• Please indicate whether the services/labor categories needed are available on an already existing ED contract that you are a contract holder of, or on your existing GSA Schedule.

Please provide the relevant contract number and your business size status at the time of award of the contract.

4. Submission Instructions Responses shall not exceed 8 pages. All responses are to be submitted via email to the POC listed below.

Clarification Questions about this RFI are due no later than 12pm ET, December 1, 2025.

Responses to the RFI are due no later than 12pm ET, December 17, 2025. Responses shall be submitted via email to the POC listed below.

5. Contact Information Contracting Office Address 550

12TH ST, SW WASHINGTON, DC

20002 USA

Points of Contact

Name Role Title E-mail

Primary Point of Contact

Alyson Allman Contract Specialist

Alyson.Allman@ed.gov mailto:Alyson.Allman@ed.gov