REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

RFP14-098 DATE: March 7, 2014PURCHASING MANAGER: BRENDA CAZELPHONE: (816)271-4465

PROPOSALS MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN:Date: MARCH 31, 2014Time: 2:00pm CST Faxed or electronic submissions will not be accepted. RFP NUMBER MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED ON SEALED PROPOSAL.

Return Proposals To: Missouri Western State UniversityPurchasing Department, Popplewell Hall, Room 221 4525 Downs DriveSt. Joseph, MO 64507

All prospective respondents must submit this form along with their proposals.

PROPOSAL REQUESTED: DEFAULT AVERSION AND FINANCIAL LITERACY SERVICESPER ATTACHED PROPOSAL SPECIFICATIONS

Date of Submission Minority Vendor ______Yes No

________________________ Respondent E-Mail Address

_____________ ___________ Company Name of Respondent Respondent Telephone Respondent FAX Number

________ ______ Address of Respondent City/State Zip

______________ By (Signature of Authorized Agent) Title Printed Name of Signatory

I(We) received Addendum Number(s) _______________ (Fill in number(s) received, if none, write none.)

Unsigned Proposals May Be Considered Non-responsive.

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Proposal Specifications for RFP14-098DEFAULT AVERSION AND FINANCIAL LITERACY SERVICES

A. INTRODUCTION

Missouri Western State University is searching for a highly qualified, professional Default Aversion and Financial Literacy Services organization to provide assistance to our federal student loan borrowers. This document constitutes a request for competitive, sealed proposals from qualified individuals and organizations to perform services in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth herein.

The successful Respondent will work with borrowers to ensure successful loan repayment by:

providing information and tools to build financial literacy; helping borrowers navigate the complexities of the student loan repayment process; providing borrowers with repayment options including income based repayment, deferment and

forbearance; assisting borrowers in completing required applications; providing effective counseling to borrowers - emphasizing the benefits of successful loan repayment

and the negative consequences of delinquency and default; serving as a liaison between the borrower and the federal loan servicer; assisting in the retention of the borrower (i.e. explaining the benefits degree completion); and maintaining a “borrow centered approach” (i.e. acting in the best interest of the borrower).

B. BACKGROUND

Missouri Western State University is a four-year public institution providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The University offers associate, baccalaureate and graduate degrees, as well as, certificate and graduate certificate programs and has an enrollment of approximately 5,800 students.

C. SCOPE OF SERVICES

General Requirements

The Respondent shall provide products and services to Missouri Western State University to promote successful loan repayment (reduce delinquency and default) and provide financial literacy tools to ensure the current and future financial wellbeing of our students.

Specific Requirements To be considered, the Respondent’s products and services are expected to meet the minimum requirements below.

Administrative Requirements 1. Provide information regarding size of current client institutions by FTE.

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2. Provide information regarding type of current client institutions (i.e. public, private, 2 year, 4 year, graduate, etc.)

3. Provide a detailed explanation of the per-borrower pricing, load fees, cure fees, etc.4. Delineate costs of each component in proposed product.5. Demonstrate a record of success with current and former clients.6. Provide an in-person evaluation of current default aversion activities.

Default Aversion Program Requirements

7. Perform analysis and provide an overall default management plan.8. Provide an online financial literacy tool for currently enrolled and former students.9. Provide a detailed explanation of types of contact, frequency of contact, and skip tracing strategies for

delinquent borrowers.10. Conduct multiple default aversion and delinquency contacts (and follow ups) with borrowers including,

but not limited to, the following: a) email and postal mail;b) telephone outreach; and c) late stage calling for severely delinquent accounts.

11. Cure delinquent accounts (beginning with the 2012 cohort of borrowers nearing default.)

Technical Requirements

12. Possess direct access (via agreement with NSLDS) to student loan records.13. Provide a customized web page with institution specific information.14. Provide required technical assistance.

Analytical Requirements

15. Ability to project future default rate based upon current student loan information in NSLDS.16. Provide overall call center contact results.17. Provide detailed in-repayment portfolio and delinquency information.18. Provide a report of success for each initiative in default aversion plan – more than a reduced default

rate.19. Provide time sensitive data as borrowers complete financial literacy program components.

Company Personnel, Background and Service Requirements

1. The Respondent will operate independently of Missouri Western State University and will not have any relationship other than to provide the requested services.

2. Employees of Missouri Western State University will not have any business ownership or relationship with the Respondent nor can employees of the Respondent have any business relationship with Missouri Western State University other than what is required to provide the requested services.

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3. The Respondent must employ only those individuals legally eligible for employment in the United States and must certify that it meets this requirement.

4. The Respondent is required, and must continue, to have staffing sufficient to provide the services and/or products offered and purchased.

Company Background and Profile

1. In an effort to assess your company’s overall stability, please provide a history of ownership from inception to present, including any and all company name changes, the dates of any strategic equity investments, mergers, buyouts and/or potential buyouts, bankruptcies, downsizing, and processing center relocations.

2. How long has your company been providing student loan default management services to higher education institutions?

3. How many higher education institutions does your company provide student loan default management services to?

4. Of the higher education institutions currently receiving your default management services, what is the percentage of institutions in each sector (public 4-year, public 2-year, private non-profit, proprietary)?

5. How many borrowers are currently being serviced through your student loan default management services?

6. How many employees are dedicated to default management services?

7. Describe your company’s approach to student loan default aversion and repayment management.

8. Considering your overall portfolio:a. How many borrowers change to a repayment plan they can afford?b. How many borrowers are in a forbearance status?c. How many defaulted borrowers have rehabilitated their loans and are no longer considered in

default in the CDR?d. How many borrowers revert back into delinquency and what is your recidivism rate?e. How many actual contacts (not attempt) are made on an annual basis?f. Is your staff contacting borrowers until they are no longer in the cohort period?

9. Provide a summary of how your company uses the following mediums in its default prevention and repayment efforts (telephonic, letter, e-mail, skip-tracing, social media, other).

10. What services does your company provide during grace-period?

11. What services does your company provide during repayment and delinquency periods?

12. What statistics can your company provide that would reflect the success of your efforts with delinquent borrowers and bringing them back into good standing?

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13. Does your organization provide detailed monthly borrower delinquency reports; delinquency reports that contain servicer information, borrower demographics and to-date outreach activities performed?

14. How does your company collect student level data from the institution? (Method and frequency)

15. How much IT support will the institution be required to provide in transferring data to your company?

16. Does your company provide institutions with information on the historical risk profile of student borrowers at the institution?

17. Does your company employ different techniques based upon the characteristics of the borrower?

18. What is the average timeline for implementation?

19. Describe the security your company uses to protect student level data.

20. Provide the total number of student loan default management servicing clients your company has lost within the past five (5) years.

21. Provide the total number of new student loan default management servicing clients your company has added within the past five (5) years.

22. Describe the services or technology your company offers that is different from your competitors.

Customer Service

1. What are the hours of operation when either institution representatives or borrowers can contact you?

2. Is there a dedicated phone number institution representatives can call to receive assistance?

3. Would our institution have a dedicated representative?

4. Does your company provide training to institutional staff? What kind of training is offered? How is the training offered?

Financial Literacy Services

1. Describe the financial literacy services offered by your company?

D. CONTRACT AND PRICING

Contract

The initial contract period shall be for one (1) year, with two (2) additional one-year options. The pricing for the initial contract period must be fixed for the initial contract period; the renewal pricing for the additional one-year options may be made by agreement of both parties.

Pricing

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1. Provide proposed pricing for your default management and financial literacy services. Identify pricing for different levels of service or packages an institution may select.

2. Provide information regarding the flexibility offered with pricing based upon the default management and/or financial literacy services.

E. SUBMISSION AND EVALUATION OF PROPOSAL

Submission of Proposals

1. Proposals must be signed and sealed in mailing envelopes with the Respondent’s name and address clearly written on the outside. The Request for Proposal Number (RFP14-098) shall also be clearly marked on the outside of the envelope or package. The completed Cover Sheet shall be incorporated into the Respondent’s proposal and shall be signed in ink by an authorized officer of the company. All costs incurred by the Respondent in replying to this RFP shall be borne by the Resondent. Proposals are to be mailed or hand delivered to Missouri Western State University, Purchasing Department, Room 221, 4525 Downs Drive, St. Joseph MO 64507, prior to 2:00 p.m. CST, Monday, March 31, 2014. Questions and/or requests for clarification should be submitted via email to the Purchasing Manager, Brenda Cazel at bcazel@missouriwestern.edu. All questions and/or clarifications can be sent at any time regarding this RFP to the Purchasing Department until the end of business on Wednesday, March 19, 2014. Questions received after this date may not be answered.

2. Respondent shall submit an original document, plus five (5) copies for a total of six (6) hard copy documents. ELECTRONIC AND/OR FAXED COPIES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

3. The Respondent must respond to this RFP by submitting all required data in order for the proposal to be evaluated and considered for award. Failure to submit such data shall be deemed sufficient cause for disqualification of a proposal from further consideration for award. To facilitate evaluation of the proposals, it is required that the proposals be organized to respond to each Part of the RFP, particularly, utilize the same numbering arrangement for each item in the specifications. Applicants will not respond to Parts A, B and E, but will provide a detailed response to Parts C and D. Do not refer solely to attached sales literature as a response. The University reserves the right to declare a proposal as non-responsive if an Applicant fails to respond properly to any part of this RFP.

4. The Respondent must address each paragraph and subparagraph in Part C Scope of Work, General Requirements and Part D Contract and Pricing sections. When a paragraph or subparagraph provides only information, the Applicant must acknowledge the paragraph or subparagraph with the word “Acknowledged”, “Agreed” or “Concur”. Applicants that fail to address all the Scope of Work General

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Service Requirements and Contract and Pricing with a response may be considered as non-responsive.

5. Any and all communication with respect to this solicitation shall be made to Brenda Cazel, Purchasing Manager, as the Missouri Western State University Contact Person, in writing via email. No Respondent shall attempt to communicate with the Missouri Western State University Board of Governors, Administration, staff or other university employees during the competitive procurement and evaluation processes. Any Respondent found to be in violation of the communication expectations of MWSU will be subject to disqualification.

6. The Respondent is advised that the only official position of the University is that position which is stated in writing and issued by the Purchasing Department as a Request for Proposal and any addenda thereto. No other means of communication, whether oral or written, shall be construed as a formal or official response or statement.

Evaluation Process

1. After an initial screening process, a technical question and answer conference or interview may be conducted, if deemed necessary by the University, to clarify or verify the Respondent’s offer and to develop a comprehensive assessment of the proposal. The University reserves the right to samples, tests, and previews of the services offered to the University prior to contract award. Any expenses incurred shall be the responsibility of the Respondent.

2. After determining that a proposal satisfies the mandatory requirements stated in the Request for Proposal, the comparative assessment of the relative benefits and deficiencies of the proposal in relationship to the published evaluation criteria shall be made by using subjective judgment. The award of this contract shall be based on the best proposal received in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated below:

Proposed Method of Performance Experience and Reliability Fee Proposal Previous Project Success and References Qualifications

3. An award will not necessarily be made based upon the vendor submitting the lowest cost proposal. Therefore, a complete and detailed proposal is required for this RFP.

4. In the event that only one proposal is received in response to this RFP, the University’s Purchasing Department reserves the right to negotiate the terms and conditions, including the price, as proposed by the sole respondent. This may include requiring supporting cost, pricing and other data from the respondent to determine the reasonableness and acceptability of the proposal.

F. OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS

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1. The vendor must comply with all Federal, State and Local regulations and laws.

2. Proposals received after the deadline will not be accepted or considered.

3. Missouri Western State University reserves the right to reject any and all proposals received in response to this RFP and to waive any minor irregularity or informality.

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