NCI battles non-profit for $111M contract

NCI Inc. is battling a non-profit organization to keep a contract where it helps manage millions of dollars in scholarships for the Defense Department.

NCI and the American Society of Engineering Education managed different parts of the Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation Scholarship-for Service program known as SMART. The Defense Department program was mandated by Congress in 2005 to increase training in science, technology, engineering and math education, known as STEM.

The American Society of Engineering Education won the $111.5 million contract on Jan. 14. NCI filed its protest with the Government Accountability Office on Jan. 27. A decision is due back May 6.

According to Deltek, NCI and the society each had a piece of the previous contract with NCI providing program support and the society providing administrative support.

Apparently, the Defense Department consolidated the two contracts into one, but so far, NCI, the society nor the Defense Department are commenting on the contract or the protest.

It strikes me as odd that a non-profit organization such as the society competes with a for-profit private sector company. It seems to me that the non-profit must hold some sort of advantage given that it isn’t expected to have the same kind of profit motivation as a company.

As the lead contractor, the society will be responsible for a wide variety of services including building and maintaining a website, marketing the scholarship program and collecting and processing applications.

The group has been doing at least part of this work for some time. The website includes the society’s domain name and includes information on eligibility and benefits of the program. The site also can connect applicants to participating schools and universities.

In 2015, 207 people received scholarships, which is about 11 percent of applicants. Their average grade point average is 3.7, according to the site.

Scholarships have gone to those studying in fields such as aeronautical engineering, biosciences, chemical engineering, computer science, and information sciences. In all, there are 19 fields of study listed on the web page.