Enrollment management services

Coastal Carolina University, through the State of South Carolina's Division of Procurement Services, is seeking comprehensive enrollment management services to support student recruitment and engagement strategies. The Request for Proposal (RFP) solicits vendors with expertise in search management, inquiry management, application cultivation, and financial aid optimization for competitive admissions environments. The university aims to engage 200,000 to 250,000 high school student records annually through personalized multichannel strategies, including digital advertising, direct mail, parent engagement platforms, and applicant marketing campaigns. Key deliverables include inquiry qualification, targeted marketing, and financial aid optimization modeling. The non-mandatory virtual pre-proposal conference is scheduled for November 5, 2021, at 10:00 AM, with questions due by November 15, 2021, at 3:00 PM. Proposals are due December 1, 2021, at 11:00 AM, with electronic submission required through the state's online bidding system. The evaluation criteria prioritize technical proposal completeness, experience and qualifications, and business proposal pricing, with award notification planned for January 26, 2022.

The procurement does not include specific set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises, and no evaluation points are awarded for using small business subcontractors. Offerors must be registered as South Carolina vendors and comply with comprehensive data security requirements, including mandatory encryption, role-based access controls, and compliance with FERPA, HIPAA, GDPR, and the Graham-Bliley Act. The contract requires integration capabilities with Ellucian Colleague ERP systems and FirstData/SunTrust payment processing, with all data to be stored within the continental United States. The contract term is one year with four optional one-year renewal periods, creating a potential maximum contract duration of five years from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2027. While specific budget information is not disclosed, the university's historical enrollment data shows first-year enrollment ranging from 2,056 to 2,519 students and transfer enrollment between 652 and 744 students from Fall 2018 to 2021. Offerors must provide business continuity and disaster recovery plans, along with annual PCI-DSS compliance attestations, demonstrating a robust approach to service delivery.