REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
TO SERVE AS
UNDERWRITER
FOR
STUDENT LOAN REVENUE BONDS
A Division Of
SPECIAL NOTE: YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION IS CALLED TO SECTION I.C. YOU NEED TO SEND TO US AN E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR TRANSMISSION OF NOTICES OF INQUIRIES.
January 22, 2026
Arkansas Development Finance Authority
#1 Commerce Way, Suite 602
Little Rock, AR 72202
(501) 682-5900
SECTION I: INSTRUCTIONS TO PROPOSER/ GENERAL INFORMATION
A. PROGRAM INFORMATION. The Arkansas Student Loan Authority (“ASLA”) is a division of the Arkansas Development Finance Authority (“ADFA”), an instrumentality of the state of Arkansas (ASLA and ADFA referred to collectively herein as the “Authority”). The Authority is requesting proposals from investment banking firms to serve as underwriter for the Authority’s Student Loan Revenue Bonds. It is our current intention to engage a bond underwriting firm who will market bonds to fund the Authority’s student loan program for a period of three (3) years beginning on July 1, 2026. The term can be extended for additional two (2) year terms at the discretion of the ADFA Board.
The Authority does not currently have outstanding student loan bond debt. The Authority currently holds approximately $32 million in private student loans on its balance sheet. Under ADFA’s management and supervision, ASLA offers three types of student loan financings, primarily for Arkansas families: (i) the Student Loan originated under the student’s name; (ii) the Family Loan originated under a family member’s name on behalf of a student; and (iii) the Refinancing Loan to refinance a borrower’s federal and/or private student loan debt. All loans require a credit-worthy borrower or credit-worthy cosigner.
Available tax-exempt volume cap for the student loan program in 2026 will be approximately $40,000,000. The Authority anticipates executing a financing transaction in the fall of 2026 in the approximate amount of $40,000,000.
The Authority hopes to obtain proposals which are designed to contribute to the following major goals of the Program:
1. To make private student loans available for Arkansas families at notably lower rates than those offered by for-profit lenders.
2. To access low-cost funds through broadening investor base, creative financing structures, expanded disclosure reporting and high retail participation.
3. Provide financing options considered attractive to the Authority’s clients and agents which include students, parents of students, higher education institutions, bond holders, elected officials, government agencies, etc.
4. Minimize the Authority’s financial contribution.
5. Design a program that generates income to the Authority and is manageable by the Authority staff.
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Proposers may submit any number of financing strategies or other program ideas they deem appropriate to accomplish the goals of the Authority. Nevertheless, the objective of this selection process is to select a financing team, not a financing structure. ADFA will seek underwriter input as to effective and sellable structures to the investor community. Ultimately, after the selection of the Program team, further strategy sessions may be conducted where financing structures and other aspects will be evaluated and pursued as appropriate.
Any investment banking firm selected pursuant to this RFP shall serve at the pleasure of ADFA, and the professional services of any firm selected may be terminated at the sole discretion of ADFA, upon delivery of written notice of such termination to the selected firms.
Authority for this Program is contained in Arkansas Development Finance Authority Act, consisting of Arkansas Code Annotated § 15-5-101 et seq
B. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS. Written proposals responding to the questions and requests for information in the manner specified in this Request For Proposal (“RFP”) should be submitted to the following:
To be considered, one (1) electronic copy of the proposal should be delivered to ADFA not later than March 25, 2026, by 12:00 p.m. (CDT), via email. ADFA reserves the right to reject any or all proposals.
C. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. It is the responsibility of the proposer to inquire about and clarify any aspect of the RFP. Questions should be submitted by email to:
Substantive questions and answers will be sent by electronic mail to all proposers who provide the Authority with an e-mail address. IN ORDER TO BE ON THE DISTRIBUTION LIST FOR RESPONSES TO INQUIRIES, YOU MUST ADVISE ADFA OF THE E-MAIL ADDRESS TO WHICH YOU WANT SUCH TRANSMISSIONS SENT.
D. PROPERTY OF ADFA. Any information or materials submitted as a response to this RFP shall become the property of ADFA and will not be returned. All submitted materials will be available for public review.
E. RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. Investment banking firms wishing to respond to this RFP may submit inquiries to the email address provided above however, NO CONTACT WITH ADFA BOARD MEMBERS IS ALLOWED AND ANY SUCH CONTACT WILL BE GROUNDS FOR IMMEDIATE REJECTION OF A FIRM’S PROPOSAL.
F. SELECTION TIMETABLE.
January 22, 2026 Request for Proposal Issued
March 18, 2026 Proposals Due
TBD Oral Presentations, if necessary
April 16, 2026 Board Action (Appoint/ratify appointment of underwriter, authorizes the President of ADFA to negotiate fees)
G. SELECTION PROCESS. The ADFA Staff Professional Selection Committee will review the submitted proposals. Proposals will be evaluated based on responses to specifics outlined in the Proposal Format section of this RFP and based upon the selection criteria. From this review, firms may be chosen for oral presentations. All proposing firms will be advised of the firms selected for oral interviews. After conducting oral interviews, if necessary, the Board Professional Selection Committee will make its decision on a recommendation for selection which will be reported to the Board of Directors of the Authority at its regular meeting. The final selection will be made by a vote of Board members.
ADFA may at any time prior to the selection of underwriter reject any and all proposals and cancel this RFP, without liability therefore, upon finding that there is good cause for rejecting all proposals and that it would be in its interest to cancel the solicitation. Further, regardless of the number and quality of proposals submitted, ADFA shall under no circumstances be responsible for any proposer costs and expenses incurred in submitting a response to this RFP. Each proposer who submits a response does so solely at the proposer’s cost, risk and expense. ADFA accepts no responsibility for the return of successful or unsuccessful proposals. This RFP in no way obligates ADFA to select a firm.
Any firm selected will be required to complete a disclosure form in compliance with Governor’s Executive Order 98-04.
H. SELECTION CRITERIA. The proposals will be reviewed by the Staff Professional Selection Committee composed of selected members of ADFA staff. The committee generally will use the following criteria to evaluate all acceptable proposals and to develop recommendations to be presented to the ADFA Board Professional Selection Committee; however, ADFA reserves the right to evaluate proposals based on factors beyond the criteria listed below.
- Qualifications of the underwriter;
- Current commitment to municipal finance and, specifically, student loans
- Prior experience with student loan revenue bond issues including size, number, complexity and success of prior bond programs
- Qualifications of staff assigned to the student loan program and the team members’ demonstrated ability, years and type of experience
- Demonstrated marketing ability and resources, particularly in selling student loan backed tax-exempt bonds
- Net capital of firm and application of that capital to ensure placement and takedown of bonds
- Merits of any proposed financing structures or other program initiatives including their creativity and cost effectiveness for the program
- Responsiveness of written proposals to the scope of services
4. Proposed management fee, if any, and expected takedown by maturity
The Authority reserves the right to award the contract to the firm which will best meet the qualifications required the Authority. The firm selected may or may not be the firm with the lowest proposed fee structure. The Authority also reserves the right to reject any and all proposals prior to execution of the contract with no penalty or cost the Authority.
SECTION II: SCOPE OF SERVICES AND REQUIREMENTS
The selected firm will be expected to perform all normal duties associated with the underwriting and sale of the bonds in a negotiated mode including but not limited to:
1. Work with the Authority and its Financial Advisor to develop a structure which is marketable and provides the lowest cost of funds to the Program;
2. Advise the Authority concerning market conditions and the timing of the sale;
3. Obtain an underwriter’s counsel (subject to the approval of the Authority);
- Prepare supplemental documents related to each bond issue. This will include, but not be limited to, a detailed cost of issuance at closing (format to be distributed to selected firm prior to closing), and an analysis of each bond issue which compares it with similar bonds sold within the same time frame;
- Develop a sale strategy and marketing plan;
- Coordinate information with selling group and financial advisor;
- Manage the syndicate prior to, during, and after the bond sale;
- Conduct pre-sale briefings and information sessions;
- Conduct the bond sale including “running the books” and, if necessary, underwriting;
- Provide normal administrative services such as procurement of CUSIP number, establishment of account with DTC, etc.;
- Prepare a summary analysis of the bond sale (format to be distributed to selected firm prior to closing);
- Review, comment and assist in the refinement of the student loan program and the financing plan for the loan program;
- Cooperate with the Authority and its engaged professionals in the calculation of arbitrage rebate and in solving any problems connected with any bond issue in the Single Family program on an as-needed basis.
SECTION III: PROPOSAL FORMAT
- TRANSMITTAL LETTER. A one-page transmittal letter prepared on the proposer’s business stationery should accompany the proposal.
B. PROPOSAL. The proposal should be labeled “Proposal to serve as Underwriter for ADFA Student Loan Revenue Bonds”. The submission must contain sufficient information to enable the ADFA Staff and Board Professional Selection Committees to evaluate the proposal. It should be prepared in a clear and concise manner and should address each of the following subsections (complete proposal responses should be limited to no more than 25 pages):
1. Investment Banking Firm Experience and Personnel. Please address the following questions or issues:
a. Identify your firm’s experience with student loan revenue bonds, including a list of state agencies and not-for-profit state-based student loan providers for which your firm serves as senior manager or co-manager. Please provide a listing of student loan revenue bonds issues on which your firm has served as lead underwriter during the last five (5) years, including issuer name, issue caption, par amount, tax status, debt type, and pricing date.
b. Identify the individual who will manage this financing on a day-to-day basis. Indicate the degree to which he or she will be able to commit the firm’s resources to ADFA. What is this person’s availability for this financing and what other commitments does he or she have?
c. Identify other professionals at your firm who will be assigned to work on this project, their roles and responsibilities. What are some relevant aspects of their background?
- Provide your firm’s net capital and your firm’s philosophy in applying that capital to ensure the placement and takedown of bond issues.
- Comments on Scope of Services. Elaborate on the services you propose to perform as underwriter for the proposed financing. In what way do you expect the scope of services to differ from those listed in Section II?
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4. Rationale for Appointment and Recent Experience. This section of the proposal should be used to present the case for your selection to the position, describing how your qualifications and experience in structuring, underwriting and distributing securities are relevant to serving as ADFA’s underwriter. Select one past deal where your firm served as senior managing underwriter (indicating the date of issue, issuer, credit description, size and method of sale) and summarize its similarity to ADFA’s program and its successfulness. You may want to compare it with other deals of similar size and purpose that were sold at the same time.
5. Marketing of the Authority’s Student Loan Revenue Bonds. Please respond briefly to the following:
- a. Describe your firm’s retail and institutional marketing network for municipal bonds generally and student loan revenue bonds in particular, emphasizing your ability to market the Authority’s student loan revenue bonds.
- b. Describe your philosophy of and procedure for establishing bond sale prices. What is your strategy to attract multiple institutional investors to a deal?
- How will your firm make an active secondary market for our bonds?
6. Fee Proposal. Recognizing that the takedown and certain expenses can vary from issue to issue, we expect to negotiate with our senior managing underwriter for each issue, in advance, a budget for these items. However, we would request a fee proposal for the following services:
- Management fee, if any, for Book Running Senior Manager services. The Authority anticipates that its Financial Advisor will structure the bonds and run all ratings agency analytics to achieve the bond ratings. Please quote your Management Fee with this assumption. If you wish, you may also separately quote a Management Fee that assumes your firm structures the bonds and does the ratings agency work, rather than the Authority’s Financial Advisor.
- Describe how you plan to allocate management fee with any co-managers or management group members
- Provide expected takedown/total underwriting spread
Your fees should be based on what is listed in the Scope of Services and Requirements in Section II of this Request for Proposal. Please state any other services not listed in the Scope of Services and Requirements and how they would change the amount of your proposed fee. Any fees or expenses not included/disclosed will come directly out of the Underwriters Discount.
7. Equal Opportunity Statement. Please submit your Equal Opportunity Policy to ADFA in accordance with Arkansas Act 2157 of 2005. This act requires any firm wishing to respond to an RFP or submit a proposal or statement of qualifications to provide ADFA with your Equal Opportunity Policy.
8. Acceptance. Submission of proposals, in response to this Request for Proposal, constitutes acceptance of all conditions, requirements and limitations described in this document.
INVESTMENT BANKING FEE PROPOSAL
Student Loan Revenue Bonds
Management Fee $____________________/$1000 (Financial Advisor Structures)
Management Fee $____________________/$1000 (Underwriter Structures)
Average Takedown $____________________/$1000
Underwriters’ Expenses $____________________/$1000
| TOTAL – UNDERWRITER SPREAD $____________________/$1000 Gross Spread |
| Expense Breakdown | (Maximum not to be exceeded) |
| Clearance | $ |
| Computer | $ |
| Travel | $ |
| Syndication | $ |
| Advertising | $ |
| U/W Printing | $ |
| Transaction Fees (MSRB, PSA, etc.) | $ |
| Freight & Communications | $ |
| Closing Expenses | $ |
| Underwriter’s Counsel Cost | $ |
| Other (please specify) | |
| ___________________________________ | $ |
| ___________________________________ | $ |
| TOTAL | $ |
ADFA expects to receive funds due at closing in the form of a wire transfer and plans to deposit those funds into their account the day of closing. Therefore, if the manager plans to charge for same day funds, the cost should be included as an expense item in this proposal. If it is not included, ADFA will assume there will be no charge for same day funds.
Any fees or expenses not included/disclosed will come directly out of the Underwriters Discount.