Sole Source Public Review - College English Placement Testing

City Colleges of Chicago is conducting a sole-source public review for a proprietary online platform to administer, manage, and score the RTW 2.0 English Placement Assessment, with a public hearing scheduled for June 15, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. CDT via Zoom. The city intends to award to Vantage Learning (DC), LLC. Interested vendors may register to testify or submit capability statements by the hearing date; formal objection using the provided template is available through June 15, 2026.

CCC determined that Vantage Learning is the sole source because the platform is fully customized to support six standard RTW 2.0 assessment forms plus twelve accommodation-specific forms, dual faculty scoring workflows with CCC-specific rubrics, automated discrepancy resolution through a designated Chief Scorer, role-based access controls (Site Administrators, Proctors, Reporters, Faculty Scorers, Chief Scorers, Institution-Level Administrators), and automated form rotation schedules. The platform configuration, assessment forms, and scoring workflows are proprietary and not transferable to competing vendors without complete redevelopment, making competitive solicitation infeasible.

The contract value is $94,500 for fiscal year 2026–27, based on 63,000 College Success Units at $1.50 per unit, plus $12,000 annually for online browser lockdown services. The contract term runs from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. CCC has procured from Vantage Learning continuously since 2016, with prior RFP-based contracts valued at $360,000 annually (2021–2024) and ranging from $125,000 to $375,000 annually (2016–2019). Educational funds are the identified source. A public hearing will be held only if CCC receives a timely request to testify or a vendor submits a signed capability statement demonstrating ability to provide equivalent services at or below $94,500. Following the hearing, CCC will determine whether the sole-source determination is appropriate.