Education Scholarship Program

The City of Vista (City) is seeking a Request For Proposal (RFP) from organizations with established educational scholarship programs to partner with the City in providing academic and vocational scholarships for residents of the City.

For the current fiscal year, $80,775 in funding is available, with individual requests ranging from $10,000 to $30,000. The contract term is one year, aligned with the City of Vista’s fiscal year (July 1 – June 30). Funds must primarily cover tuition, equipment and other related educational costs, with up to 10% allowed for administrative expenses. Unspent funds must be returned at the end of the contract term.

Background

In 2023, the City of Vista launched this scholarship program with the intent to give back to the community by helping pave a way for the youth of the city who are in a lower income category to participate in programs that they otherwise might not be able to afford. The purpose of the program was to provide enrichment and recreational opportunities for those qualifying City of Vista residents. It has now expanded to include educational opportunities.

The City of Vista Scholarship Program is a program where the City of Vista uses cannabis sales tax revenue to provide educational and recreational scholarships to youths within the City of Vista. This program provides funds to help (1) pay registration fees for youth activities, and/or (2) purchase equipment or items needed by the youth in the City of Vista in order to participate in recreational or other enrichment activities.

In 2024, the City expanded the Scholarship Program to provide funds for education-based scholarships, which include academic and vocational opportunities.

Project Details

• Department: City Clerk
• Department Head: Kathy Valdez (City Clerk)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-05-19T00:30:00.000Z
• Answers Posted By: 2026-05-22T00:30:00.000Z

Evaluation Criteria

• Organizational Capacity (25 pts) —

  Demonstrated experience in administering scholarship programs, appropriate financial systems in place, designated and knowledgeable staff assigned to program.

• Project Proposal (25 pts) —

  Understanding of project objectives and scope of work as evidenced in the written narratives. Detailed plan to ensure funds are only used for residents of the City of Vista.

• Budget and Financials (25 pts) —

  Demonstrates financial capabilities, the availability of funds, and that the consultant will remain operational throughout the duration of the contract. Proposed budget demonstrates effective use of the funds.

• Past Record of Performance (25 pts) —

  Consultant's past record of performance in similar projects as demonstrated through letters of reference.

Submission Requirements

• Are You headquartered within the City of Vista? (required)
• Are you a nonprofit, educational, or vocational institution? (required)
• How many years of experience do you have in implementing scholarship programs? (required)
• Describe services (required) —

  Describe services required

• Length of agreement (required)
• NTE (required) —

  Enter not to exceed amount, EXAMPLE: $300,000

• IS PROJECT SUBJECT TO LITTLE BROOKS ACT? (required)
• Prevailing Wage (required) —

  Is prevailing wage required?

• Does Task Order Approach apply to this project? (required) —

  If you answer yes, the following clause will be included in the RFP:

  Discuss one generalized approach to time/budget management, documentation, requirements from the City, consideration for Consultant's workload at the time of the task order issuance, and quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) program.

• REFERENCES (required) —

  Are references required?

• #of references (required) —

  How many references are required?

  one (1), three (3), five (5).

• #pages (required) —

  Maximum number of pages allowed for consultants' individual resumes

  EXAMPLE:

  one (1), two (2), three (3)

• #cover pages (required) —

   

  Complete the following sentence:

  The cover letter shall be limited to:

  EXAMPLE: two (2) pages, three (3) pages, etc.

• #proposal pages (required) —

  How many pages shall the proposal be limited to?

  EXAMPLE:

  fifteen (15), twenty (20), etc.

• additional insured (required) —

  The insurance certificate shall include the City of Vista and Buena Sanitation District, its officers and employees as insured or additional insured.

• Supplemental Agreement (required) —

  Select the option that is required for this project.