English for Heritage Language Speakers (EHLS) Program Support

The Defense Human Resources Activity is seeking contractor support for the English for Heritage Language Speakers (EHLS) Program, which aims to develop professional-level English language skills for U.S. citizens who are native speakers of critical foreign languages such as Arabic, Hausa, Kazakh, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Persian Farsi, Russian, Turkish, and Ukrainian. The program's core objectives include developing curriculum to help participants achieve Interagency Language Roundtable level 3 proficiency in English, conducting national recruiting campaigns, managing scholarship applications, and administering proficiency testing in partnership with institutions of higher education. Key contract requirements involve preparing students for government service through professional workplace skills training including oral presentations, research, analytical writing, email protocol, negotiation, and meeting management. The government has issued a Sources Sought Notice requesting 10-page capability statements from interested vendors to conduct market research and determine procurement strategy. Responses to this market research are due by October 7, 2025, and must be submitted by businesses registered in SAM.

This opportunity does not utilize any set-aside designations, though the government is particularly interested in responses from 8(a), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, HUBZone, and Women-Owned small businesses. The Center for Applied Linguistics currently performs this work under contract H98210-21-C-0006, and the government intends to award the contract on a sole source basis unless market research identifies alternative capable vendors. The program will provide 18 full scholarships annually, covering both tuition and living expenses for selected participants. The NAICS code 611430 (Professional and Management Development Training) applies with a $10 million size standard for small business classification. Scholars will be required to complete an open source research project and participate in a two-day symposium at the program's conclusion.