Financial Aid Management Software

The vendor is required to provide financial aid management software to accessible and high-quality baccalaureate education, and our hallmarks are remarkably close relationships between students and faculty, the freedom of intellectual exploration, and the challenge of experiential learning all while keeping students at the center.
1. System functionality
•    Support financial aid packaging across federal, state, institutional, and external funding sources. 
•    Allow configuration of flexible packaging rules (e.g., need-based, merit-based, stackable aid, waivers, cost-of-attendance limits, and residency considerations). 
•    Generate electronic and printable award letters, shopping sheets, and notifications. 
•    Provide self-service functionality for students to view awards, complete required actions, and view institutional messages. 
•    Support professional judgment processes, including recalculations and overrides. 
•    Perform real-time compliance checks to prevent over-awards and ensure regulatory alignment. 
•    Support management of financial aid appeals, dependency overrides, and sap (satisfactory academic progress) evaluations. 
•    Import and process FAFSA and ISIR files in compliance with federal standards. 
•    Enable automated return to title iv (r2t4) calculations. 
•    Comply accessibility standards to support users with disabilities.
2. Integration requirements
•    Seamless integration with workday, slate, and perceptive content. 
•    Import and export of data in multiple formats (e.g., xml, csv). 
•    Real-time or near real-time synchronization with department of education platforms including COD, NSLDS, CPS, and partner portals. 
•    Compatibility with campus-wide single sign-on (SSO) protocols. 
•    Open APIs to enable custom integrations with existing campus systems.
3. Reporting and analytics
•    provide standard and customizable reports for federal and state compliance, audits, and internal review. 
•    support data exports for use in institutional research and retention reporting. 
•    allow configuration of data extracts to meet federal reporting cycles 
4. Compliance and security
•    Ensure full compliance with act, and all applicable state and federal financial aid regulations. 
•    Maintain audit trails of all financial aid packaging and awarding actions. 
•    Adhere to institutional and industry-standard data security protocols, including encryption, role-based access, and certification under soc 2, iso 27001, or equivalent. 
•    Provide configurable data retention, archiving, and deletion policies to support long-term institutional and legal requirements. 
•    Ensure data portability and full export capability in the event of vendor transition or contract termination.
5. Implementation and support
•    Provide a comprehensive implementation plan, including timelines, milestones, data migration steps, and testing protocols. 
•    Assign a dedicated implementation project manager to serve as the primary liaison throughout deployment. 
•    Deliver initial training for financial aid and information technology staff. 
•    Supply thorough documentation and user manuals for both staff and students. 
•    Provide a post-implementation support plan, including clearly defined service-level agreements (SLAs) for issue resolution and escalation paths. 
•    Deliver regular system updates, including regulatory compliance patches and security enhancements.
6. Performance expectations
•    Demonstrate reliable performance during peak processing times (e.g., beginning of academic terms). 
•    Show proven scalability and system reliability to accommodate institutional growth and future needs. 
•    Notify the institution promptly upon discovery of system defects, along with timelines for patch releases or fixes.

- Questions/Inquires Deadline: September 26, 2025