Pearson Government Solutions History
1953 through present
2006
We acquired
Blueprint Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise
architecture and iterative development solutions and services.
Pearson Blueprint Technologies
becomes an operating business unit of
Pearson Government Solutions and is led by Blueprint
Technologies' President, CEO and co-founder Jeanne O'Kelley. The
acquisition strengthens Pearson's platform of Design and Build
consulting services.
2005
Building on our longstanding relationship with the Department of
Education, we are awarded the FSA Front-End Business Integration (FEBI)
contract, now known as ADvance. Pearson Government Solutions' execution of the FEBI
program will exemplify our abilities to provide full-spectrum
solutions, from designing to integrating to operating. Our approach
to FEBI, like all programs, demonstrates our dedication to the
customer and continues to revolutionize the way government agencies
do business with their constituents.
2004
Pearson Government Solutions is awarded multiple customer
interaction center contracts throughout the year, including the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) National Contact
Center pilot and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's
(CDC) Consumer Response Services program. Our contact center designs
will enhance the government's level of customer service through the
delivery of multi-channel services that allow citizens and
government to effectively connect.
2003
Pearson Government Solutions continues its dramatic growth, opening
new facilities in Corbin, KY, Coralville, IA, and Phoenix, AZ.
Pearson
Performance Solutions, which develops award-winning professional and
technical learning solutions across all major markets,
becomes part
of Government Solutions. One of Washington Technology's "Top 100
Federal Prime Contractors," Pearson Government Solutions has more
than 3,000 employees worldwide.
2002
As part of the largest peacetime mobilization in U.S. history, NCS
Pearson recruits, screens, and hires more than 45,000 federal
passenger screeners for the newly formed Transportation Security
Administration (TSA). In the fall, we are awarded two major federal
contact center contracts: the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS) National Customer Service Center, and
the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 1-800-MEDICARE
Helpline. The Oakdale facility opens in Coralville, IA. By year's
end, NCS Pearson's government division becomes a separate business
within the Pearson Education family of companies, known as Pearson
Government Solutions and led by President and CEO Mac Curtis.
2001
We acquire Kajax Engineering, Inc., an Arlington-based Department of
Defense contractor, renaming the new subsidiary "KEI Pearson "
(now know as Pearson Analytic Solutions). With
KEI Pearson, we are awarded the Navy College Program for Afloat
College Education (NCPACE), becoming leaders in e-learning. NCS
Pearson's International division also becomes part of Government
Solutions, serving global governments, the commercial data
management market, and the telecommunications industry worldwide.
2000
For the 2000 U.S. Census, we operate one of three outsourced Data
Capture Centers, establishing an operation facility in Phoenix,
AZ, and
successfully processing 46 million census forms in 120 days. In
September 2000, NCS is acquired by London-based Pearson plc, a $6
billion international media company, and becomes NCS Pearson;
Government Services becomes Government Solutions.
1999
GSD headquarters moves to Arlington, VA, and in September 1999, Mac
Curtis becomes Vice President and General Manager of GSD.
1998
NCS is awarded a major contract with the U.S. Department of Labor
to
develop and operate the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
Filing Acceptance System (EFAST, helping to protect the employee
benefit plans of some 200 million plan participants and
beneficiaries.
1997
We become pioneers in electronic government with the design,
development, and implementation of FAFSA (Free Application for
Federal Student Aid) on the Web, allowing students to apply for
financial aid via a secure Web site, 24x7. FOTW is the first
successful Federal Web site to collect privacy data in a secured
environment. FOTW wins numerous
industry awards, including the E-Gov "Pioneer" and "Explorer"
awards. We also begin our relationship with the NECA,
helping schools, libraries, and rural health providers receive funds
to modernize their telecommunication and information services
through the FCC's E-rate program.
1994-95
With the award of ED's Public Inquiry Contract (PIC), we become a
major provider of federal contact center services. Under this
contract, we operate call center, correspondence, and fulfillment
services as the "voice of the government" in responding to public
inquiries regarding the federal student aid programs, eventually
responding to more than 9 million telephone and 200,000 written
inquiries annually. As a result of dramatic growth in our business,
we open a new contact center and program delivery facility in
Lawrence, KS.
1989
The Pell Grant Application Processing System (PGAPS) evolves into
the Central Processing System (CPS), the hub of the federal student
aid delivery system. Under this contract, we process more than 10
million financial aid applications annually and determine
eligibility for $60 billion in student aid.
1987-1988
Growth in the government business leads to the creation of a
separate division, the Information Technology Division (ITD), to
focus on the government market, and the opening of an office in
Arlington, VA, to facilitate federal client relationships. ITD changes its name to Government Services Division (GSD).
1985
We conduct a successful pilot project to transmit student data to
colleges and universities electronically; this begins the conversion of the
federal student aid delivery system from paper-based to electronic.
This pilot evolves into the Title IV Wide Area Network (WAN), which
later evolves into the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG).
1984
With the award of the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB)
Annuitant Open Season contract, we begin our relationship with the
U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Each year, we help 1.8
million retired federal employees choose their health care plans. On
the state government side, we begin determining eligibility for the
Illinois Student Assistance Commission's Monetary Assistance Program
(MAP).
1983
ED awards Westinghouse a $29 million, 3-year data processing contract for its
Pell Grant Application Processing System (PGAP), the largest single contract ever awarded by the
Department. This is our first major prime contractor role for the
federal government and establishes our first call center. Later in the year,
the Iowa City-based Westinghouse organization is
purchased by Minneapolis-based National Computer Systems (NCS).
1973
As part of Westinghouse Learning Corporation, we begin our long
relationship with the U.S. Department of Education (ED), processing
student financial aid applications under the Basic Educational
Opportunity Grant (BEOG) program, as a subcontractor to ACT. We
receive, microfilm, and key-enter hardcopy application forms,
perform eligibility calculations, print student reports, and send
hard-copy results to colleges and universities.
First-year volumes total 165,000, with a turnaround standard of 4
weeks.
1968
MRC realizes astonishing growth and is forced to continually develop
more diverse and sophisticated products. By 1968, MRC gains the
status of the world's largest processor of education tests,
scoring more than 26 million documents per year.
Westinghouse
Learning Corporation, a subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric
Corporation, acquires MRC. The sale allows MRC to
expand its offering into educational data services, consulting,
opinion surveys, and computer-managed-instruction setting the
stage for its successful entrance into the government solutions
market.
1955
Growing scoring demands prompt Dr. Lindquist to search for more
efficient methods of scoring and tabulating results. After
exhaustive research and design, the first electronic scoring machine,
engineered by MRC,
begins scanning test in March of this year.
1953
Dr. E. F. Lindquist,
Director of the Iowa Testing Programs at The
University of Iowa, founds the Measurement Research Center (MRC).
This private, non-profit test scoring center, housed in Old East
Hall, is chartered to score the increasingly popular Iowa Test of
Basic Skills (ITBS) and Iowa Test of Educational Development (ITED). MRC becomes the foundation for what is known today as Pearson
Government Solutions.
