RFI Finaicial Aid Leveraging.docx

SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY

1. The university is an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is exempt from any State tax or Federal excise tax

2. Unless otherwise stated, the unit price shall be the net price. Separate unit and total prices must be shown if applicable.

3. Unless otherwise stated, all quoted prices shall be FOB university address inside delivery.

Responses must be received on or before Monday, July 17, 2017 by 12:00 pm in the Purchasing Department, Salem State University, Administration Building, 2ND Floor, 352 Lafayette Street, Salem, MA 01970-5353, at which time there will be a public opening. Fax to 978-542-6164 or scanned copies will be accepted at ewilson@salemstate.edu

4. Submit one (1) original if mailing, Electronic submissions preferred, Fax submissions accepted

5. Salem State University reserves the right to waive informalities and to reject any and all bids; or to accept the bid deemed best for the Commonwealth

6. For additional information:

Evelyn Wilson, Director of Purchasing & Vendor Relations Salem, MA 01970 Phone: 978-542-7321 Email: ewilson@salemstate.edu

7. Responses must be submitted to:

Evelyn Wilson, C.P.M., Director of Purchasing Salem State University, 352 Lafayette Street, Administration Building, 2nd Floor, Salem MA 01970 Phone: 978-542-7321 Email: ewilson@salemstate.edu

8. Reference: RFI 2017-12 Financial Aid Leveraging

EQUAL OPPORTUNITYSPECIFICATIONS

UNIT PRICE

TOTAL PRICE

See Attached Specifications

The contractor agrees not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, sex, color, religious creed, national origin, and/or ancestry. The contractor agrees to post in conspicuous places notices to be provided by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination with respect to the Fair Employment Practice laws of the Commonwealth which are herein made of this contract reference.

Vendor Information

ADDRESS

CITY STATE ZIP TELEPHONE

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE

NAME TITLE

FEDERAL EMPLOYER’S ID CODE 9 DIGITs

COMPANY

1.1 Statement of Purpose

The University seeks to hire and partner with a firm to provide a financial aid optimization solution that uses historical enrollment, tuition, and award data to:

· Pinpoint factors that influence student enrollment

· Identify each student’s ability and willingness to pay

· Align enrollment goals with awarding strategies

· Manage and control enrollment yields, discounting, and net revenue

· Predict the impact of incremental tuition and aid changes on enrollment behavior

· Determine if the University is under- or over-awarding

· Provide enough aid to retain students so they can complete their educational goals

· Project enrollment and net revenue for the next four years To be considered, Proposer must be a full-service consulting firm that can meet all requirements stated herein without external subcontracting.

2.0 Key Dates/Milestones

3.0 Questions/Call

All questions related to the RFI will be addressed on a conference call on the date specified in section 2.0, and posted as an addenda to the RFI.

Teleconferencing Instructions: Instant Meeting account info: Dial (877) 493-9553 Participant Passcode- 9007975, followed by “#” Every participant will remain in a virtual waiting room until the leader has logged in.

Additional amendments and/or addenda will be issued for clarification as necessary.

4.0 Preparation & Submission Instructions

Emailed, electronic responses to this RFI will be accepted on or before 12:00 p.m. Eastern on Monday, July 17, 2017. All response documents must be in Adobe PDF format and sent to Salem State University, 352 Lafayette Street, Administration Building, 2nd Floor, Salem, MA 01970. Fax to 978-542-6164 or scanned copies will be accepted at ewilson@salemstate.edu.

If mailed or hand-delivered, one (1) complete copy of the response and one electronic copy (CD or thumb drive) must be submitted prior to the date and time stated in Section 2.0. All materials become the property of the University upon receipt. All proposal responses will be held in confidence by the University.

Any response received after the date and time specified in Section 2.0 will not be reviewed.

The University will not pay Proposer for costs associated with preparing or presenting any response to this request.

5.0 Budget

Funds allocated for this project will not exceed $50,000.

6.0 Contract

Depending on the results of the RFI, a contract may be executed for an initial term of approximately 120 days, ending December 15, 2017.

7.1 Scope of Work

The financial aid optimization results will be used to advise the University regarding the formulation and implementation of financial aid awarding and packaging strategies designed to support new undergraduate student enrollment and revenue goals. Deliverables must include:

· A historical analysis of student enrollment behavior, including need, academic credentials, population segments, and financial aid offers

· A competitor benchmarking study

· Analysis of first- to second-year undergraduate student retention factors and the role financial aid plays in undergraduate student attrition

· A review of data collection requirements and discussion to understand the University’s goals, current financial aid strategies and operations, and other related enrollment practices

· An econometric model to measure undergraduate student price sensitivity and the impact of current awarding strategies and other factors on enrollment behavior

· Revenue optimization and awarding simulation testing to explore the impact of alternative awarding strategies on enrollment behavior

· Admission/Financial aid goal setting and award strategy development, including recommendations for specific policy changes

· Enrollment and net revenue projections for the initially affected year and over a four-year period

8.0 Response Format

8.1 Proposer Profile

Describe the proposing organization, including size, relevant history, areas of specialization and expertise, client base, and any other pertinent information in such a manner that the evaluation committee may reasonably formulate a determination about the stability and strengths of the proposing organization.

8.2 Proposer Personnel

The University requires the following or substantially similar personnel structure:

· A financial aid consultant to guide the implementation of the strategic awarding process

· A statistician to construct an econometric model and identify key variables within the data that are fundamental to measuring each student’s ability and willingness to pay

· A data integrity analyst to provide expertise and assistance in collecting, cleaning, and analyzing data for the modeling process Using the structure above, include the names, titles, and resumes/detailed qualification of key Proposer staff who will be assigned to this project.

8.3 Project Approach & Methodology

Describe Proposer’s project approach and methodology to fulfill the requirements set forth in Section 7.0 Scope of Work.

8.4 References

Provide a list of at least three (3) contracts of a size and scope similar to the work described herein that Proposer has performed within the last three years. Include the name of contact person(s) directly involved in the project, along with an email address and phone number.

8.5 Cost

Identify all costs to be incurred for performing the tasks necessary to accomplish the Scope of Work.

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