State Financial Aid Software Support
The Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC), Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) is issuing this RFP to obtain software support for its state-level financial aid delivery system. This support involves providing financial aid application software maintenance and enhancements. The COBOL-based menu-driven product, Student Aid Financial Evaluation and Recordkeeping System or SAFERS, is one of three databases that handle student records from the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) through the awarding and accounting process. The other two databases are NEED and MENUMAN. All three databases are Hewlett Packard (HP) IMAGE databases that interface to perform specific state-level financial aid functions. These databases and associated application programs have been in operation at MHEC since the early 1990s and has undergone annual maintenance since then to ensure compliance with financial aid federal regulations and state requirements. In addition, many enhancements have been performed over the years to accommodate state mandated changes and to streamline the state-level financial aid delivery processes to improve overall customer service to students, institutions and legislators.
