College Cost Estimator Tool

The vendor required to provide college cost estimator tool to complement the federally mandated net price calculator (NPC).
- Solution into the financial aid website, providing prospective students and families with a simplified, fast, and accessible way to estimate the net cost of attendance using basic financial information. 
- The tool should require minimal technical setup and operate independently of internal systems.
- Business goals
•    Provide prospective students and their families with an easy-to-use, accurate cost estimation tool that complements and significantly reduces the time required for the existing net price calculator, improving clarity in financial planning. 
•    Deliver a solution that reduces barriers for all prospective students, encouraging early exploration and informed decision making. 
•    Support improvements in inquiry-to-application conversion rates by offering a tool that fosters confidence and trust in the affordability of the college. 
•    Minimize it involvement by implementing a hosted solution that requires minimal integration and maintenance.
- Functional requirements
1. Estimation capabilities
•    The solution must provide institution-specific net price estimates. 
•    The solution must allow prospective students to receive an estimate without requiring tax or financial documents. 
•    The solution must allow prospective students to receive an estimate without requiring them to create an account. 
•    The solution must deliver results in under five minutes for a standard estimation process. 
•    The solution shall offer multiple estimation options, with no more than 11 questions.
2. Application integration
•    The solution must be embeddable via hyperlink on the college’s financial aid website.
•    The solution must allow periodic updates to institutional data. 
•    The solution must operate independently of ERP or sis systems (e.g., banner) with no direct integration required.
3. User accommodations
•    The solution must operate without requiring users to create accounts or upload sensitive documents. 
•    The solution must provide a mobile-friendly, responsive interface compatible with major browsers. 
•    The solution shall support multiple languages or provide language customization options. 
•    The solution shall include clear instructions and tooltips to guide users through the estimation process.
4. Reporting
•    The solution must provide usage analytics, including the number of sessions, completion rates, and time spent on the tool. 
•    The solution shall include dashboards for real-time monitoring of engagement metrics. 
•    The solution must allow export of reports in common formats (csv, excel).
- Non-functional requirements
1. Auditability
•    The solution must ensure that audit logs for all user interactions and system changes are maintained and accessible to the college within the application.
•    The solution shall retain a detailed record of change activity for all student records, including changes made by both users and automated processes.
2. Availability
•    The solution shall remain available at a 99% uptime rate for 24 hours each day of the year, excluding scheduled maintenance periods.
3. Branding
•    The solution must accommodate the customization of user-facing components via the display of the college identifying information. 
•    If the product can be branded, it must follow the guidelines in our branding manual.
4. Compatibility (interoperability)
•    If the solution is browser-based, it must be accessible on multiple browsers across operating systems.
•    If the solution is desktop-installed, it shall support both macOS and windows operating systems.

- Contract Period/Term: 1 year
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: February 17, 2026