Office of College & University Evaluation (OCUE) Modernization

UPDATE (09/21/2026) -- The due date for bids has been extended to October 27, 2026 (from Oct. 13). The Q&A posting date has also been extended to October 6, 2026 (from Sept. 22). The RFP, Submission Documents, Cost Proposal form, and several attachments for bidders' information will be posted to NYSED's Funding Opportunities webpage. The New York State Education Department (NYSED) Office of College and University Evaluation is seeking proposals for a Software as a Service (SaaS), Low-Code, Cloud-based, Forms Management Platform. NYSED is in the midst of a digital modernization movement. Driving the movement is the need to automate business processes, improve records management, and replace a more than forty-year-old Unisys mainframe. This mainframe serves as a primary system for major program offices, including the Office of College and University Evaluation (OCUE) within the Office of Higher Education (OHE) and the Professional Education Program Review (PEPR) unit within the Office of the Professions (OP). All the existing components (Access databases, web pages, mainframe, network storage) used to process applications and administer program and institutional data must be integrated and migrated to a modern system. Additionally, the system must be able to interface and share information with multiple systems both internal and external to NYSED. Subcontracting will be limited to thirty percent (30%) of the total contract budget. Subcontracting is defined as non-employee direct personal services and related incidental expenses, including travel. NYSED will award one (1) contract pursuant to this RFP. The contract resulting from this RFP will be for a term anticipated to begin January 1, 2027, and to end August 31, 2032. Bidders are required to comply with NYSED’s Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBE) participation goals for this RFP through one of three methods. Compliance methods are discussed in detail in the Minority/Women-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) Participation Goals section below. Business enterprises awarded an identical or substantially similar procurement contract within the past five years: OutSystems Inc.Sparkling Logic Inc.Thundercat TechnologyNew York State Technology Enterprise Corp. Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB) SDVOB Goal: 6.00% Minority / Women Business Enterprise contracting goals (MWBE) MBE Goal: 17.00% WBE Goal: 13.00%