Request For Proposal (RFP) #23-004b

Title: Funding for Public High School Equivalency (HSE) Test Administration

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) High School Equivalency Office is seeking proposals from qualified entities interested in receiving reimbursement for administering the New York State (NYS) approved High School Equivalency (HSE) exam. NYSED contracts with vendors for the development, delivery and scoring of the state’s HSE exam, which is the assessment used to earn a NYS HSE diploma. The GED® Test served as the state’s approved HSE exam from the 1940s-2013;  after which the state adopted the Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC Test™) from 2014-2021, when it was discontinued. Beginning in 2022, NYSED resumed contracting with GED Testing Service (GEDTS) for the provision of the exam.  The GED® Test is offered as a paper-based exam through GEDTS and as a computer-based exam through their testing partner, Pearson VUE.  NYS HSE exams are publicly funded and there is no cost to NYS residents to take the HSE exam.  

This application is for funding to reimburse approved HSE test centers for providing regularly scheduled HSE exams for eligible New York State residents, primarily through computer-based testing (CBT). Additional consideration will be given to sites that were previously approved to deliver paper-based testing (PBT) but have converted to providing CBT. The application should contain a reasonable projection informed by the proposed frequency of testing, capacity of seating and the approved staff available for administration of exams, as described below.

Test Service Areas (TSAs) are the statewide structure for the distribution of awards for this RFP and are delineated by workforce investment regions under the federal Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act (WIOA). To ensure greater geographic accessibility, New York City (NYC) is further divided into five TSAs, corresponding to its five counties: Bronx; Kings; New York; Queens; and Richmond. The Big Four Cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers, as defined by city limits, are each designated as a TSA Only test centers located in the TSAs listed in Chart 1 are eligible to apply. These are the TSAs for which there were no eligible submissions in response to RFP 23-004 or RFP23-004a.

A listing of the entities that meet eligibility criteria to apply for funding is provided in the Official Public HSE Test Center Eligibility Criteria section of this RFP. Contracts will only be awarded to those entities that will provide testing to the public at no cost to the examinee.

Public test centers must be located within the TSA for which they are applying.

Questions and Answers

Questions regarding this Request for Proposal must be submitted by e-mail to RFP23-004b@nysed.gov  no later than the close of business on May 11, 2023. Questions regarding this request should be identified as Program or Fiscal. A Question-and-Answer Summary will be posted on the ACCES website no later than close of business on May 17, 2023. The following are the designated contacts for this procurement.

Program Matters
Ruth Singer
RFP23-004b@nysed.gov

Fiscal Matters
Thomas McBride
RFP23-004b@nysed.gov 

Due Dates

Bidders are required to submit their bids electronically. The following documents should be submitted as detailed in the Submission section of the RFP, and must be received by email at cau@nysed.gov no later than 3:00 PM Eastern Time on May 31, 2023.

  1. Submission Documents labeled [name of bidder] Submission Documents RFP 23-004b
  2. Technical Proposal labeled [name of bidder] Technical ProposalRFP 23-004b

The email address for all documents is cau@nysed.gov.