USAID E3/ED RFI HE Partnerships | RFI OAA 18 00831

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFI OAA 18 00831

The USAID E3/ED RFI HE Partnerships opportunity (Funding Opportunity Title: "USAID E3/ED RFI HE Partnerships," Funding Opportunity Number: RFI OAA 18 00831) is a Request for Information (RFI) issued by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), specifically through the Bureau for Economic Growth, Education, and Environment (E3) and its Office of Education. Rather than offering grant funding or announcing a traditional competitive award, this notice is designed to gather practical input from the public to help USAID shape and refine a future programming portfolio focused on higher education (HE) partnerships. In other words, USAID is asking stakeholders to contribute ideas and recommendations that can inform how USAID designs, structures, and prioritizes higher education partnership activities going forward.

The core purpose of the RFI is consultative: USAID is seeking ideas, comments, and information that will help the Office of Education develop programming that most effectively meets the objectives referenced in the RFI. While the summary provided here does not list those objectives in detail, the intent is clear that the Office of Education is exploring approaches to higher education partnerships and wants external perspectives to improve program design choices, potential models, and implementation considerations. This is a common step agencies take before releasing a formal solicitation, because it allows them to test assumptions, identify promising partnership structures, and surface risks and opportunities from those working directly in higher education and international development.

USAID requests short written submissions that are less than four pages. These submissions should focus on recommendations or other information that is specifically relevant to the design of higher education partnerships. The emphasis on brevity suggests USAID is looking for clear, targeted input: actionable suggestions, concrete partnership models, lessons learned, or evidence-based perspectives that can help them decide what to fund, how to structure partnership mechanisms, and what implementation features increase the likelihood of success. The RFI also asks respondents to include identifying and contact details in their submission, including name, title, organization, and contact information, which helps USAID follow up with contributors if clarification or deeper discussion is needed.

To make responses easier to review and compare, USAID encourages the use of a response template referenced as ANNEX 1 in the RFI instructions, with an explicit note to refer to page 2 of the RFI for that guidance. Using the template is not presented here as mandatory, but it is clearly recommended as the preferred format, likely to ensure consistent organization across submissions and to help USAID efficiently extract key data points (for example, proposed partnership approaches, rationale, expected outcomes, and implementation considerations).

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is categorized as "Other" for both the opportunity category and funding instrument type, reinforcing that this is an information-gathering exercise and not a direct funding opportunity. The activity category is Education, and the listing includes CFDA/Assistance Listing number 98.001, which corresponds to USAID foreign assistance programs. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning any interested party can provide input. This broad eligibility aligns with the purpose of an RFI, which is to collect diverse perspectives across academia, implementing partners, NGOs, private sector entities, research organizations, and other stakeholders who can speak to higher education partnerships in development contexts.

Key dates included in the notice indicate the RFI was created on August 31, 2018, with an original closing date of September 21, 2018. The award ceiling is listed as 0 and expected awards are not specified, which is consistent with an RFI that does not itself obligate funding or result in awards. The issuing agency is USAID (Agency for International Development).

Overall, this RFI is best understood as an early market and stakeholder engagement step. It is an invitation to help shape USAID thinking about how to build and manage higher education partnerships that advance development and education objectives. Organizations or individuals with relevant experience would respond by providing concise, well-structured recommendations (ideally using ANNEX 1) and including their full contact details, with the goal of influencing the design and direction of USAID's future higher education partnership programming rather than applying for immediate grant funding under this specific notice.

• The Agency for International Development in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "USAID E3/ED RFI HE Partnerships" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 98.001.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-08-31.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-09-21. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for RFI OAA 18 00831

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