RFI: Federal Student Aid (FSA) Technology Modernization Initiative

UPDATES

08/25/2025 - Amendment #2 - 

Amendment 2 makes the following updates to the RFI:

1. August 27, 2025 @ 12:00 pm ET - Round 2 of Questions and Answers - Vendors  can submit additional questions and FSA will post the consolidated list of questions with answers. Individual answers will not be provided directly to the vendor.
2. September 5, 2025 - Round 2 Questions and Anwers - The consolidated list of vendor questions and FSA answers will be posted to SAM.gov.
3. September 22, 2025 @ 8:00 am ET - The Request for Information (RFI) repsonses are due. Please adhere to the submission guidelines listed in the RFI. Responses received after the deadline may not be reviewed. Socioeconomic status and government contract vehicle information should be included in the response.
4. Please see the following Amendment 2 - FSA's Technology Modernization Industry Day Link which is posted under the RFI's Link section.
5. Please see the following Amendment 2 attachments which have been uploaded under the RFI's Amendment section:
   1. Amendment 2- FSA's Technology Modernization Industry Day Thank You Notice
   2. Amendment 2 - Industry Day Presentation
   3. Amendment 2 - Revised Context Diagrams
   4. Amendment 2 - FSA Canonical Model_101624
   5. Amendment 2 - Industry Day Recording Transcript

08/15/2025 - Amendment #1 to this RFI included:

1. The upload of FSA's responses to vendor's questions under the Attachment section as Amendment 1 - FSA RFI Responses - Round One - 081525

2. The upload of the Invitation to the FSA Technology Modernization Initiaitive Virtual Industry Day to be held on Friday, August 22, 2025 at 10:00AM - 12:30PM ET, under the Attachments section as Amendment 1 - FSA Tech Mod Initiative Industry Day Invite - 082225 (also includes form registration link).

3. The FSA Technology Modernization Initiative Virtual Industry Day Registration Form Link has been added under the RFI's Link section.

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to gain a better understanding of--and potentially leverage current and emerging industry capabilities to modernize FSAs technology while enabling the successful implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. More specifically, FSA aims to gather insights from industry on solutions to achieve a modern, integrated, and secure FSA systems ecosystem that addresses the shortcomings of our current state of technology. To this end, FSA is seeking innovative approaches to:

 - Modernize or replace FSAs legacy systems;

 - Integrate siloed data across multiple systems;

 - Consolidate or coordinate disparate vendor solutions; and

 - Improve services to students and borrowers.

Additionally, FSA seeks input on whether a greenfield rebuild (i.e. developing a new system landscape from scratch); incremental improvements to existing systems; or a hybrid of both approaches will effectively meet the evolving demands and needs of students, parents, borrowers, and our partners.

It is important to note that lessons learned from past efforts and audit findings including the need for comprehensive planning, realistic cost/schedule estimates, robust testing, and strong oversight should inform FSAs appoaches. Hence FSA encourages Respondents to reference these findings and propose solutions that address the documented weaknesses in FSAs current technology environment.

Please see the following attachments:

1. FSA Modernization RFI
2. Attachment 1: Context Diagrams
3. Attachment 2: FSA Modernization RFI Questions and Answers

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to gain a better understanding of--and potentially leverage current and emerging industry capabilities to modernize FSAs technology while enabling the successful implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. More specifically, FSA aims to gather insights from industry on solutions to achieve a modern, integrated, and secure FSA systems ecosystem that addresses the shortcomings of our current state of technology. To this end, FSA is seeking innovative approaches to:

 - Modernize or replace FSAs legacy systems;

 - Integrate siloed data across multiple systems;

 - Consolidate or coordinate disparate vendor solutions; and

 - Improve services to students and borrowers.

Additionally, FSA seeks input on whether a greenfield rebuild (i.e. developing a new system landscape from scratch); incremental improvements to existing systems; or a hybrid of both approaches will effectively meet the evolving demands and needs of students, parents, borrowers, and our partners.

It is important to note that lessons learned from past efforts and audit findings including the need for comprehensive planning, realistic cost/schedule estimates, robust testing, and strong oversight should inform FSAs appoaches. Hence FSA encourages Respondents to reference these findings and propose solutions that address the documented weaknesses in FSAs current technology environment.

Please see the following attachments:

1. FSA Modernization RFI
2. Attachment 1: Context Diagrams
3. Attachment 2: FSA Modernization RFI Questions and Answers

08/15/2025 - Amendment #1 to this RFI included:

1. The upload of FSA's responses to vendor's questions under the Attachment section as Amendment 1 - FSA RFI Responses - Round One - 081525

2. The upload of the Invitation to the FSA Technology Modernization Initiaitive Virtual Industry Day to be held on Friday, August 22, 2025 at 10:00AM - 12:30PM ET, under the Attachments section as Amendment 1 - FSA Tech Mod Initiative Industry Day Invite - 082225 (also includes form registration link).

3. The FSA Technology Modernization Initiative Virtual Industry Day Registration Form Link has been added under the RFI's Link section.

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to gain a better understanding of--and potentially leverage current and emerging industry capabilities to modernize FSAs technology while enabling the successful implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. More specifically, FSA aims to gather insights from industry on solutions to achieve a modern, integrated, and secure FSA systems ecosystem that addresses the shortcomings of our current state of technology. To this end, FSA is seeking innovative approaches to:

 - Modernize or replace FSAs legacy systems;

 - Integrate siloed data across multiple systems;

 - Consolidate or coordinate disparate vendor solutions; and

 - Improve services to students and borrowers.

Additionally, FSA seeks input on whether a greenfield rebuild (i.e. developing a new system landscape from scratch); incremental improvements to existing systems; or a hybrid of both approaches will effectively meet the evolving demands and needs of students, parents, borrowers, and our partners.

It is important to note that lessons learned from past efforts and audit findings including the need for comprehensive planning, realistic cost/schedule estimates, robust testing, and strong oversight should inform FSAs appoaches. Hence FSA encourages Respondents to reference these findings and propose solutions that address the documented weaknesses in FSAs current technology environment.

Please see the following attachments:

1. FSA Modernization RFI
2. Attachment 1: Context Diagrams
3. Attachment 2: FSA Modernization RFI Questions and Answers

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to gain a better understanding of--and potentially leverage current and emerging industry capabilities to modernize FSA's technology while enabling the successful implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. More specifically, FSA aims to gather insights from industry on solutions to achieve a modern, integrated, and secure FSA systems ecosystem that addresses the shortcomings of our current state of technology. To this end, FSA is seeking innovative approaches to:

 - Modernize or replace FSA's legacy systems;

 - Integrate siloed data across multiple systems;

 - Consolidate or coordinate disparate vendor solutions; and

 - Improve services to students and borrowers.

Additionally, FSA seeks input on whether a "greenfield" rebuild (i.e. developing a new system landscape from scratch); incremental improvements to existing systems; or a hybrid of both approaches will effectively meet the evolving demands and needs of students, parents, borrowers, and our partners.

It is important to note that lessons learned from past efforts and audit findings including the need for comprehensive planning, realistic cost/schedule estimates, robust testing, and strong oversight should inform FSA's appoaches. Hence FSA encourages Respondents to reference these findings and propose solutions that address the documented weaknesses in FSA's current technology environment.

Please see the following attachments:

1. FSA Modernization RFI
2. Attachment 1: Context Diagrams
3. Attachment 2: FSA Modernization RFI Q&As

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to gain a better understanding of—and potentially leverage current and emerging industry capabilities to modernize FSA’s technology while enabling the successful implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. More specifically, FSA aims to gather insights from industry on solutions to achieve a modern, integrated, and secure FSA systems ecosystem that addresses the shortcomings of our current state of technology. To this end, FSA is seeking innovative approaches to:

· Modernize or replace FSA’s legacy systems;

· Integrate siloed data across multiple systems;

· Consolidate or coordinate disparate vendor solutions; and

· Improve services to students and borrowers.

Additionally, FSA seeks input on whether a “greenfield” rebuild (i.e. developing a new system landscape from scratch); incremental improvements to existing systems; or a hybrid of both approaches will effectively meet the evolving demands and needs of students, parents, borrowers, and our partners.

It is important to note that lessons learned from past efforts and audit findings including the need for comprehensive planning, realistic cost/schedule estimates, robust testing, and strong oversight should inform FSA’s approaches. Hence, FSA encourages Respondents to reference these findings and propose solutions that address the documented weaknesses in FSA’s current technology environment.

Please see the following attachments:

1. FSA Modernization RFI
2. Attachment 1: Context Diagrams
3. Attachment 2: FSA Modernization RFI Q&As