DANTES Online College and Career Planning Tool

Performance Work Statement (PWS)

To provide military members with self-paced, online counseling assistance to create customized career and education pathways.

• Provide an online resource for career and education planning.

• Assist Service members in assessing interests, skills, and work values to identify career options.

• Offer education pathways for selected careers and facilitate job search processes.

• Integrate up-to-date information on state and national colleges, scholarships, labor, and occupational resources.

• Ensure the tool is available online 24/7/365 for all active, reserve, and National Guard military members.

• Users who establish an account during the subscription period will have lifetime access to their portfolio.

• Minimum system availability of 98 percent measured monthly.

• Technical support inquiries responded to within 24 hours during business hours (Mon-Fri, 7 AM - 6 PM CT).

• Quarterly usage reports required.

• Not explicitly stated, but implies ongoing service.

• Performance can be at contractor facilities or designated military bases.

• Web-based access via a dedicated URL.

• User registration, account set-up, and login functionality.

• Tutorials, videos, and text-based information for users and administrators.

• Self-paced and unrestricted use.

• Ability for users to exit and re-enter, saving progress.

• Detailed self-interest assessment.

• Personal career plan generation.

• Customized career and education pathways.

• Exploration of related career, occupational, and educational information.

• Guidance for military personnel transition to civilian workforce (resume writing, interview skills, job searching).

• Search capability for civilian occupations by Military Occupation Specialty (MOS).

• Capability to align Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) scores with civilian occupations.

• Links to education and financial aid information, accredited post-secondary schools, and labor outlook information.

• Links to military-friendly employers.

• Job search tool with various search methods.

• Secure electronic portfolio for each user.

• Contractor-provided promotional and marketing materials.

• Webinar training (max 1 per month).

• Compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

• Strict adherence to security requirements, including personnel background investigations (Tier 1, Tier 3, or Tier 5 as applicable) and handling of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

• Contractor shall not anticipate travel, but may be required to modify contract if necessary.

Solicitation / RFP / RFQ

This solicitation seeks proposals for a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract to provide an Online College and Career Planning Tool Support for the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES). The tool will offer self-paced counseling assistance to U.S. Armed Services members, creating customized career and education pathways.

• Provide a commercially available online college and career planning tool.

• Ensure the online product is ready to use upon award.

• The tool must be available to all members of the U.S. Armed Services.

• Specific requirements for Availability and Functionality are detailed in Section 4.1 of the PWS.

• Reporting on the tool's effectiveness and return on investment is required as per Section 4.4 of the PWS.

• Contract Type: Firm Fixed Price (FFP)

• Period of Performance: One base year plus four one-year option periods, totaling approximately 5 years (29 August 2026 – 28 August 2031).

• Option to Extend Services (FAR 52.217-8) for 6 months will be evaluated as part of the price.

• Quotations must be submitted electronically via email by the deadline.

• Proposals are to be submitted in four volumes: Business Information, Technical Capability, Past Performance, and Price.

• Evaluation Factors: Technical Capability (Approach/Methodology and Reporting), Past Performance, and Price.

• Technical Capability is considered more important than Past Performance, and both are approximately equal to Price.

• Key Deadlines:

  • Questions Due Date: 10 June 2026 by 1300 Eastern
  • Solicitation Response Date: 29 June 2026 by 1300 Eastern
  • Estimated Award Date: 29 July 2026

• This requirement is a 100% small business set-aside.

• NAICS Code: 611710 - Educational Support Services, with a size standard of $24,000,000.

• This is a combined synopsis/solicitation; no separate written solicitation will be issued.

• Offerors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM).

• Partial or incomplete quotations will be deemed noncompliant and will not be evaluated.

• The Government reserves the right to cancel the RFQ.

• The Performance Work Statement (PWS) is attached.