U.S. Department of Education, Contracts and Purchasing Operations, CPO, 7th & D Streets SW, Room 3616, Washington, D.C. 20202-4443

D -- D-PUBLIC INQUIRY CONTRACT SOL PM 94002001 POC Contact,James Hairfield, 202/708-8529,Contracting Officer, John King, 202/708-8367 The U.S. Department of Education (ED) intends to issue a six-month sole source extension to Contract PM 94002001. The contractor is National Computer Systems, Inc., Iowa City, IA 52244. This contract provides prompt, thorough and accurate responses to telephone and written inquiries about post secondary student aid programs established under Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended, and about the policies and procedures related to those programs, the collection of defaulted program loans, as well as for related miscellaneous ancillary services. ED believes that National Computer Systems, Inc. is the only source possessing the necessary existing information, resources and expertise to meet this program requirement within the time required by ED. The statutory authority for other than full and open competition is 10 U.S.C. 2304 (c) (1). This contract action continues service to provide sufficient time to evaluate proposals as a result of RFP #ED-98-S-0020 for the follow-on service on a competitive basis. See Numbered Note 22. Posted 07/08/99 (I-SN351791). (0189)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0030 19990712\D-0002.SOL)