Diplomatic Security RFI - Education Verification Support Services

This is a Sources Sought notice for capability statements Only. This is Not a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. This Sources Sought Notice is issued for information and planning purposes only as part of U.S. Department of State market research and in itself does not itself constitute an RFP. This requirement is covered under NAICS code: 611710 – Education Support Services.

                                                                          Education Verifications

Technical Requirements: Performing education record checks to confirm academic qualifications, including degrees obtained, institutions attended, and dates of attendance. The checks shall deliver comprehensive and reliable reports, ensuring the safeguarding of Personal Identifying Information (PII) using HTTPS encryption at a minimum. These reports shall include the name, educational institution(s) attended, dates of enrollment, and degree(s) awarded. The check is expected to provide electronic results for each applicant or student, all enrollment data or degree verification services as frequently and accurately as possible.  The security requirements for this transmission are preferred to meet, at a minimum, Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2. The Department currently utilizes a Virtual Private Network (VPN) Connection with File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

Current Vendor: National Student Clearinghouse

*THIS NOTICE IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. This notice is for information and planning purposes only and does not commit the Government to any contractual agreement. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use the information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is not obligated to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents concerning any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published on SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

CONFIDENTIALITY. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).