Central Repository

REQUEST FOR APPLICATION # 6100066135
Central Repository for Academic Records
TECHNICAL SUBMITTAL
The State Board of Private Licensed Schools (the PLS Board) and the State Board of Higher
Education (SBHE) seeks to contract with a vendor to serve as the central repository for student
transcripts. The PLS Board and the SBHE hereafter collectively referred to as the Boards. The
Division of Postsecondary Proprietary Training, and the Division of Higher Education, Access,
and Equity, within the Pennsylvania Department of Education (Department), will serve as the
points of contact for this contract.
Private Licensed Schools, schools licensed/registered by the PLS Board, are mandated to store
records for a period of 50 years. The vendor will serve as the central repository for Private
Licensed Schools to store and service the records for students of such schools.
The central repository will accept, safeguard, and service transcripts for students attending
Private Licensed Schools for the past 50 years, including the transcripts of schools that have
closed during this time. The current central repository holds approximately 940,000 transcripts
belonging to students at closed private licensed schools for the past 50 years and transcripts
belonging to students who have attended open private licensed schools in the past 5 years. There
are currently 186 open private licensed schools. The number of open private licensed schools
may vary over the term of the contract. Open private licensed schools who have been operating
for longer than 5 years will be submitting historical records over the next year, with an
anticipated addition of 300,000 transcripts. The repository will store the then-current student
records for the 186 open Private Licensed Schools. It is estimated that open private licensed
schools will upload an additional 65,000 transcripts per year.
Open private licensed schools have begun to upload transcripts of current students to the central
repository as of September 2025. Open private licensed schools are required to only store
transcripts with the central repository but have the option to have the central repository also
service the transcripts for the school. All closed school transcripts are to be stored and serviced
by the central repository.
Institutions of higher education, through the SBHE, may also elect to use the services of the
central repository to store and service student transcripts at any time. Institutions of higher
education would include: community colleges; Universities in the State System of Higher
Education; Lincoln University; Penn State University; Temple University; University of
Pittsburgh; Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology; Rural Regional College of Northern
Pennsylvania; all independent colleges, universities and seminaries located in Pennsylvania; and
out-of-state institutions of higher education authorized by the Pennsylvania Department of
Education to operate as an Education Enterprise in Pennsylvania. Institutions of higher education
which close and fail to place student records in a readily available depository will be directed by
SBHE to submit student records to the central repository. It is unknown when and if any
institutions of higher education may close, whether any institution may elect to use the services

of the central repository, and the volume of records that would be required to be stored and
serviced for any such institutions of higher education.
The central repository is responsible for ingesting paper records and PDF documents. Paper
transcripts may require extra care if the paper stock has aged or has otherwise been damaged.
PDF documents may contain numerous student records. In both instances there may be
unnecessary documents that may need to be purged. There is no required template format for
transcripts so each school may have its own unique template. Each school may also present
transcripts under former or alternative names, as well as in different formats. Historical
transcripts may also lack common unique student identifiers, such as student identification
number or date of birth. Transcripts may also have faded graphics or text that is otherwise
difficult to read. Transcripts may also be handwritten.
The central repository is responsible for tracking the ingestion of transcripts by school, by
student, and by academic year. This is to enable Department staff to track the historical and on-
going required school submissions.
The central repository is responsible for establishing the required protocol for schools to upload
transcripts. The repository shall clearly communicate the upload requirements and provide
necessary technical support directly to schools.
The central repository is responsible for providing a process for students to be able to request
their transcripts. The repository is also responsible for providing a process to facilitate third-
party transcript requests and education verifications. The process must provide for the student's
identity verification and authorization and a secure and timely delivery method.
The central repository is responsible for establishing a broadly accepted method for payment of
the fee for obtaining a copy of a student's transcript. The central repository will establish the
fees of identity verification, transcript request, third-party request, and education verifications.
However, at no time should the fees exceed the average fees reasonably charged by similar
transcript service providers. Any changes in the fees being charged are to be reported to the
Department with 60 days' prior written notice.
The central repository will operate at no cost to the Commonwealth, the Department, or
the Boards. Rather, the central repository will earn revenue from the fees for providing
services to the schools, students and third parties. The proposal should include a five-year
budget plan that demonstrates how the central repository will recover the costs of this
work and the itemized fees to be charged to students, schools, and third parties. The plan
should further identify the costs expected to be incurred for collecting records, ingesting
records, implementing processes and protocols, software coding and development,
storage and security, and servicing of the records for the length of the contract. The
Selected vendor will be held to the prices it submits through the RFP process for the first
two years of the fully executed contract. Thereafter, the vendor may implement a change
in its fees with 60 days' prior written notice to the Department, such fees not to exceed
the average fees reasonably charged by similar transcript service providers as determined
by the Department in its sole discretion.

The central repository must provide to the Department itemized financial and service reporting
every six months that demonstrates: 1) a breakdown of costs incurred; 2) income related to
services provided under the contract; 3) number of requests by name of school broken down by
the number of requests that were successfully serviced and the number of requests that were not
able to be successfully serviced; 4) a breakdown by name of the schools ingested and the total
number of records for each by academic year; and 5) the fees associated with each school broken
down by the type of fees.
The central repository must refer students and third parties to the Department when a student or
third party requests a record and it is not found.
The central repository must provide a secure storage system with an appropriate backup method
to safeguard student records in full compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act (FERPA) and all applicable federal and state laws and regulations regarding privacy, records
and data breach protection. The central repository must develop and maintain a plan to safeguard
the storage of the records in its custody in the case of a catastrophic event, bankruptcy, or
dissolution. This plan is to be shared with the Department. If the current plan changes, the
Department is to be provided with a copy of the revised plan at least 60 days in advance.
The central repository must maintain adequate security to protect student data and prevent
unauthorized access or data breaches. The central repository will monitor, prevent and deter
unauthorized system access. The central repository shall comply with state and federal data
breach notification laws and regulations and shall promptly report security incidents to the
Department. The Offeror's response must include a third-party review of the Offeror's existing
security protocols. All contract-related data and information is to be maintained and stored in the
United States.
The central repository must provide responsive technical support for: schools seeking to upload
transcripts; Department staff seeking to confirm information; and students and third-party
services requesting transcripts. Tech support will be sufficiently staffed and trained to provide
timely support within 1-2 business days.
The central repository must provide a means for Department staff to search and review student-
level transcripts and related information. Additionally, Department staff must be able to review
the number of records uploaded for each school by academic year. Department staff must be able
to view school contact and user information and school account activity.
The contract with the central repository shall be valid for five years. The central repository must
develop and maintain a plan for transition to another vendor in the case of termination or non-
renewal of the contract. This plan is to be approved by the Department. If the plan changes, the
Department must be provided with a copy of the revised plan at least 60-days in advance for
approval.
I-1. Statement of the Project. State in succinct terms your understanding of the project
presented, or the service required by this RFA.
Offeror Response

I-2. Qualifications.
A. Company Overview. A minimum of two years of experience serving as a
transcript storage and service provider with demonstrated positive customer
service experiences.
Offeror Response
B. Prior Experience. Demonstrated experience protecting, storing, and servicing of
over one million transcripts. Demonstrate not only the company's achievements,
but also the work done by the individuals assigned to this project. Information
should demonstrate the actual customer, including their name, address, and
contact information.
Offeror Response
C. Personnel. Describe in narrative form the number of executive and professional
personnel who will be engaged in the work and indicate where these personnel
will be physically located during the time they are engaged in the Project. For key
personnel, including the project leadership team and those assigned to this project,
provide the employee's name, and through a resume or similar document, the
employee's education and experience in safeguarding, storing, and servicing
student transcripts. Additionally, indicate the responsibilities each employee will
have on the project, their working position title, and how long they have been
with your company.
Offeror Response
D. Subcontractors: Provide a subcontracting plan for all subcontractors, including
small diverse business and small business subcontractors, who will be assigned to
the Project. The selected Offeror is prohibited from subcontracting or outsourcing
any part of this Project without the express written approval from the
Commonwealth. Upon awarding the contract resulting from this RFA,
subcontractors included in the proposal submission are deemed approved. For
each position included in your subcontracting plan provide:
1. Name of subcontractor;
2. Primary contact name and email;
3. Address of subcontractor;
4. Description of services to be performed;
5. Number of employees by job category assigned to this project; and

6. Resumes (if appropriate and available).
Offeror Response
E. Budget: The central repository will operate at no cost to the Commonwealth, the
Department, or the Boards. Rather, the central repository will earn revenue from
the fees charged to the schools, students and third parties. The proposal should
include a five-year budget plan that demonstrates how the central repository will
recover the costs of this work and the itemized fees to be charged to students,
schools, and third parties. However, at no time should the fees exceed the average
fees reasonably charged by similar transcript service providers. The Selected
vendor will be held to the prices it submits through the RFP process for the first
two years of the fully executed contract. Thereafter, the vendor may implement a
change in its fees with 60 days' prior written notice to the Department, such fees
not to exceed the average fees reasonably charged by similar transcript service
providers as determined by the Department in its sole discretion. The plan should
further identify the costs expected to be incurred for collecting records, ingesting
records, implementing processes and protocols, software coding and
development, storage and security, and servicing of the records for the length of
the contract.
5-Year Budget Plan
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
Revenue Item(s)
Revenue Item(s)
Revenue Item(s)
Total Revenue
Expense Item(s)
Expense Item(s)
Expense Item(s)
Total Expenses
The central repository must provide itemized financial and service reporting every
six months that demonstrates: 1) a breakdown of costs incurred; 2) income related
to services provided under the contract; 3) number of requests by name of school
broken down by the number of requests that were successfully serviced and the
number of requests that were not able to be successfully serviced; 4) a breakdown
by name of the schools ingested and the total number of records for each by
academic year; and 5) the request fees associated with each school broken down
by the type of fees.
6-Month Financial and Service Reporting
Revenue Item(s)
Revenue Item(s)
Revenue Item(s)

Total Revenue
Expense Item(s)
Expense Item(s)
Expense Item(s)
Total Expenses
Number of Requests
Number of Successful Requests
Newly ingested school + number of records
Total number of transcripts ingested/available
Offeror Response
I-3. Training. If appropriate, indicate recommended training for Department staff and school
personnel. Include recommendations for training by assigned responsibility, the number
to be trained, duration of the training, place of the training, curricula, training materials to
be used, number and frequency of sessions, and number and level of instructors
recommended.
Offeror Response
I-4. Financial Capability. Describe your company's financial stability and economic
capability to fulfill the contract requirements. Include the company's 2023, 2024 and
2025 (if available) audited financial statements, along with a year-to-date income
statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. Disclose whether the company or the
principals have filed for personal bankruptcy or served as an officer in a company or
business that has filed for bankruptcy. Disclose whether any of the principal officers or
the project manager have been employed by Pennsylvania institution of higher education
that has closed. The Commonwealth reserves the right to request additional information
to evaluate an Offeror's financial capability.
Offeror Response
I-5. Tasks. Describe in narrative form your technical plan for accomplishing the work using
the task descriptions set forth below as your reference point. Modifications of the task
descriptions are permitted; however, reasons for changes should be fully explained.
Indicate the number of personnel hours allocated to each task. Include a Program
Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) or similar type display, time related, showing
each event. If more than one approach is apparent, comment on why you chose this
approach.
1. The central repository will receive and ingest electronic records, paper records and PDF
documents from open and closed Private Licensed Schools and institutions of higher
education. The processes for ingestion must allow for potential poor quality or extraneous
documents to be included. The process for ingestion must allow for varied transcript
formatting.
2. Ingestion, Storage, and Service

a. Store and service over 940,000 existing closed Private Licensed Schools
transcripts.
b. Receive and ingest all historical transcripts for open Private Licensed Schools.
c. Receive and ingest transcripts for open Private Licensed Schools each year for
then current students.
d. Store historical and future transcripts for open Private Licensed Schools.
e. Service open Private Licensed Schools transcripts upon school request.
f. Receive, ingest, store, and service transcripts of closed institutions of higher
education, upon request from such institutions.
3. The central repository will track all transcripts received by awarding school name and
location, as well as academic year.
4. The central repository is responsible for the process in which schools upload PDF
documents directly to the repository for ingestion. The central repository is responsible
for establishing the required protocol for schools to upload transcripts. The repository
shall clearly communicate the upload requirements and provide necessary technical
support directly to schools.
5. The central repository will implement a process in which schools may upload a more
current transcript and have the old transcript overwritten.
6. The central repository will receive annual transcript uploads from open Private Licensed
Schools, generally between July 1 and September 30.
7. The central repository is responsible for the process and system development necessary in
which students and third parties may request transcripts.
a. The process must provide for the student's identity verification and authorization.
b. The process must provide for secure delivery of the transcript.
c. Broadly accepted methods of payment must be offered.
d. The Selected vendor will be held to the prices they submit through the RFP
process for the first two years of the fully executed contract. Thereafter, the
vendor may implement a change in its fees with 60 days' prior written notice to
the Department, such fees not to exceed the average fees reasonably charged by
similar transcript service providers. The repository will provide transcripts within
5 business days of the date of transcript request and payment of fees.
e. The repository will refer all unsuccessful searches to the Department for further
assistance.
8. The central repository will safeguard, store, and service transcripts for 50 years following
the date of the student's graduation or withdrawal or until the records are transferred to a
successor repository.
9. The central repository will implement a secure procedure for destroying transcripts after
50 years following the date of graduation or withdrawal.

10. The central repository will provide a secure storage system with an appropriate backup
method to safeguard student records in full compliance with the Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and all applicable federal and state laws and regulations
regarding privacy, records and data breach protection. All contract-related data and
information is to be maintained and stored in the United States.
11. The central repository will provide a plan to safeguard the storage of the records in its
custody in the case of a catastrophic event, bankruptcy, or dissolution. This plan is to be
shared with the Department. If the current plan changes, the Department is to be provided
with a copy of the revised plan at least 60 days in advance.
12. The central repository will maintain adequate security to protect student data and prevent
unauthorized access or data breaches. The central repository will monitor, prevent and
deter unauthorized system access. All known data breach attempts must be reported to
the Department within two (2) business days. The repository shall comply with state and
federal data breach notification laws and regulations and shall promptly report security
incidents to the Department.
13. The central repository will provide responsive technical support for schools seeking to
upload transcripts, Department staff seeking to confirm information, and students and
third-party services requesting transcripts. Tech support will be sufficiently staffed and
trained to provide support within two (2) business days.
14. The central repository will provide a means for Department staff to search for and review
student-level transcripts and related information. Additionally, Department staff must be
able to review the number of records uploaded for each school, by academic year.
Department staff must be able to view school contact and user information, as well as
school account activity.
15. The repository will provide a minimum of two years' notice prior to discontinuing this
service.
16. The repository will maintain a service website for receiving and sending transcripts that
is ADA compliant.
17. Transition:
a. The selected Offeror shall assume full responsibility of the work from the incumbent
repository within sixty (60) days of the effective date of the contract. The selected
Offeror shall submit a draft Transition Plan with its proposal which includes all
activities necessary to transition services from the incumbent repository to the
selected Offeror without disruption of services.
The selected Offeror shall meet with the PDE to review the draft Transition Plan and
gather any additional details required to finalize the plan. A finalized Transition Plan
shall be submitted to PDE within ten (10) calendar days of receiving the notice to
proceed. PDE requires ten (10) business days to review the proposed plan and

comment. A final plan, revised based on PDE feedback, shall be delivered to PDE
within five (5) business days of receiving PDE feedback. The plan shall be updated
throughout implementation as requested by PDE.
b. At the end of the transition task, the selected Offeror shall prepare a final Transition
Report that documents the completion of the transition activities and provides the
status of each high-level task and activity that took place during the transition period.
The final Transition Report shall validate the selected Offeror has transitioned all
services.
Offeror Response
I-6. Reports and Project Control.
A. Status Report. The central repository will provide a written status report which
itemizes financial and service reporting every six (6) months to demonstrate: 1) a
breakdown of costs incurred; 2) income related to services provided under the contract;
3) number of requests by name of school broken down by the number of requests that
were successfully serviced and the number of requests that were not able to be
successfully serviced; 4) a breakdown by name of the schools ingested and the total
number of records for each by academic year; and 5) the fees associated with each school
broken down by the type of fees.
Offeror Response
B. Problem Identification Report. An "as required" report identifying problem
areas. The report should describe the problem and its impact on the project overall and
on each affected task. It should list possible courses of action with advantages and
disadvantages of each and include Offeror recommendations with supporting rationale.
Offeror Response
C. Final Report. In lieu of a final report itemized financial and service reporting
will be provided every six (6) months.
Offeror Response
I-7. Requirements. The central repository will receive, ingest, safeguard, and service
transcripts for all Private Licensed Schools and service-contracted operating Private
Licensed Schools and for closed institutions of higher education which elect to utilize the
services under the contract.
The central repository currently stores approximately 940,000 records, with additional
historical records forthcoming, as well as current and future transcripts to be uploaded. It
is estimated an additional 300,000 transcripts will be uploaded by 12/31/2027. The

repository will serve over 180 open Private Licensed Schools who served 126,900
students in the 23-24 SY.
The central repository must be able to receive and ingest both paper and PDF documents.
Transcript ingestion is to be tracked by school, student, and academic year. Student data
will be protected from unauthorized access, data breaches, catastrophic events,
bankruptcy, or dissolution. Technical support will be provided to schools and Department
staff. Department staff shall have access to school-level and student-level data.
The central repository will provide a means for students and third parties to request
transcripts. Transcripts will be transmitted securely to requestors. Student identity and
authorization will be confirmed prior to the release of transcripts. Technical support will
be provided to students and third-party requestors.
A. Emergency Preparedness. To support continuity of operations during an
emergency, including a pandemic, the Commonwealth needs a strategy for
maintaining operations for an extended period of time. One part of this strategy is
to ensure that essential contracts that provide critical business services to the
Commonwealth have planned for such an emergency and put contingencies in
place to provide the contracted goods and services.
1. Describe how you anticipate such a crisis will impact your operations.
2. Describe your emergency response continuity of operations plan. Please
attach a copy of your plan, or at a minimum, summarize how your plan
addresses the following aspects of pandemic preparedness:
a. Employee training (describe your organization's training plan, and
how frequently your plan will be shared with employees);
b. Identified essential business functions and key employees (within
your organization) necessary to carry them out;
c. Contingency plans for:
i. How your organization will handle staffing issues when a
portion of key employees are incapacitated due to illness;
and.
ii. How employees in your organization will carry out the
essential functions if contagion control measures prevent
them from coming to the primary workplace.
d. How your organization will communicate with staff and suppliers
when primary communications systems are overloaded or