Sole Source Public Review - One Million Degrees

This is a sole source procurement by City Colleges of Chicago (CCC), a jurisdiction within Cook County, Illinois, for comprehensive student support services from One Million Degrees (OMD). The procured services include professional coaching, skill-building workshops, emergency financial assistance, and career navigation services delivered through a proprietary, cohort-based holistic support model designed to enhance student retention, persistence, and completion across multiple CCC campuses. The program serves over 2,000 CCC students annually and is designed to remove barriers to student success through integrated wraparound support services that are directly embedded within CCC's advising workflows and student support systems. Key deliverables include academic coaching, professional development programming, financial stipends for eligible students, and career navigation support tailored specifically to community college populations. The evaluation and justification for sole source procurement is based on OMD's unique qualifications, including proprietary curriculum that cannot be replicated by other vendors, an established volunteer coach network with specialized training, existing on-site relationships and operational infrastructure across multiple CCC campuses, demonstrated effectiveness supported by University of Chicago research showing students in OMD's program earned 3.2 times more credits and were 2.6 times more likely to persist than comparison groups, and full integration into CCC's existing data-sharing protocols and advising systems that would be disrupted by vendor replacement. The public hearing for objections to the sole source determination is scheduled for Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. CDT via Zoom, with registration required by March 13, 2026, by contacting William Moore at (773) 487-6958 or Wmoore48@ccc.edu; the overall due date for the procurement is March 27, 2026.

This procurement carries a sole source designation with no competitive bidding process, restricting award eligibility to One Million Degrees as the exclusive provider. The justification documents establish that no other nonprofit or commercial providers, either regionally or elsewhere, possess the combination of proprietary curriculum, established volunteer infrastructure, and integrated relationships necessary to deliver equivalent services without access to OMD's proprietary systems. One Million Degrees is a nonprofit organization and the current incumbent contractor with existing service delivery infrastructure already operational across CCC campuses, with staff trained in CCC processes and established systems integration in place. The contract value is $25,000,000 for the initial five-year term, with potential for additional renewals, and payment is due by June 30, 2026, via ACH transfer to OMD's account at JPMorgan Chase Bank. Any interested vendors who believe they can provide the same or similar services at a price equal to or below the quoted amount may submit a signed statement demonstrating capability and request a hearing to object to the sole source determination through the procedural mechanism established by CCC's Business and Procurement Services office at 3901 S. State Street, Room 102, Chicago, Illinois 60609, or via email at procurementservices@ccc.edu.