U.S. Department of Education, Grants and Contracts Services, 7th & D Streets, SW, Room 3633, ROB Washington, D.C. 20202-4446

D -- PRIVATE SECTOR COLLECTION ACTIVITY IN SUPPORT OF ED OFFICE OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION SOL RFP-96-011 DUE 040196 POC Yolanda Abney, 202-708-8191, or Contract Specialist, Christianita Testamark, 202-708-8419. This solicitation is for Private Sector Collection Activity for Student Related Debts. The contract shall have a base period of approximately 24 months. An additional three option periods may be exercised. The total possible period of performance of the contract is 60 months. The Private Sector Collection contractors perform large scale nationwide skiptracing and collection of Federal Government debts in support of the Title IV Student Aid Programs. The contractors locate and contact borrowers to demand payment of their debts to the Federal Government, either by immediate repayment in full of the outstanding balance, or by establishing a repayment schedule which is satisfactory to the Department of Education. RFP-96-011 will issued on or about February 22, 1996. It is anticipated that the closing date for receipt of proposals will be on or about April 1, 1996. Request for copies of the RFP may be made by telephone, mail, telegram, or in person. All verbal requests should be placed by calling (202) 708-6498 or 6499. Written requests should be sent to the address given above. Copies may be picked up in person on the date of RFP issuance at the same address. The Draft Statement of Work will be available through the ED Bulletin Board on or about Friday, February 2, 1996. Comments on the draft materials are due no later than Wednesday, February 7, 1996. The final version of all materials will be made available on the Bulletin Board at the time of RFP issue. The ED Bulletin Board is accessible to all callers. There are no pre-registration requirements or user charges (except for long distance telephone costs). The telephone number is (202) 260-9950. There are four 14,400 bps modems with settings of 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity. After connecting with the BBS, enter your First Name, Last Name, Location, and Password (New users can create a password when logging on). After logging on: (1) proceed to the Main Menu; (2) on the BBS Main Menu, select the ''Private Sector Collection Activity Statement of Work'' submenu; (3) follow the instructions on the sub-menu, for downloading the files. Both compressed and uncompressed files are available. For Bulletin Board problems, call Terri Wood or George Wagner at (202) 708-9804 (0057)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0022 19960227\D-0001.SOL)