Nelnet- Product or Service 27NOIMP02

The Executive Office of Education of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, on behalf of the Department of Higher Education, is announcing its intent to extend its existing contract with NELNET Inc. for the State Financial Aid Processing Software System (FAPSS), with vendor responses due October 1, 2026 by 1:00 p.m. ET through the COMMBUYS portal. This is a sole-source extension under a Due Diligence Posting process, not a competitive procurement.

The FAPSS system processes financial aid for approximately 120,000 students annually across nearly 400 educational institutions through roughly 30 unique award programs, handling more than 300,000 unduplicated institutional student information records each award year. The system serves three user communities: Office of Student Financial Assistance staff, higher education institution financial aid office staff, and students. The proposed contract extension runs three additional years through June 30, 2030, following the completion of the original seven-year contract that began in May 2020 under RFR 20RTGEK1.

The Department has invested over $4.5 million to date in implementing, enhancing, and maintaining FAPSS. The Department justifies the sole-source extension on grounds of NELNET's satisfactory current performance, the mission-critical nature of the system, the significant investment already made, and the extensive procurement and project planning costs that would accompany system replacement.

Bidders must submit cost responses identifying all costs for the three-year extension period, with annual price increases not to exceed 3 percent. Interested vendors must provide documentation demonstrating their qualification and ability to provide the same proprietary product or service, and all required forms, certifications, and compliance documentation must be submitted electronically via COMMBUYS.