The Effects of A-76 Cost Comparisons on DoD Civilian Education and Training

Abstract : The Department of Defense (DoD) has made considerable use of the Office of Management and Budget's Circular A-76 cost comparison process (Executive Office of the President, May 29, 2003), under which government employees compete with contractors over who will perform a commercial activity, and there are plans for considerably more A-76 comparisons in the DoD. A-76 has also been used in other parts of the federal government; other levels of government also sometimes conduct public-private competitions. In light of the large and potentially growing importance of A-76, the DoD Office of the Chancellor for Education and Professional Development asked the RAND Corporation to examine the effects of A-76 competitions on DoD education and training. However, while the research was ongoing, the Chancellor's office was absorbed into the Defense Leadership and Management Program division of the DoD Civilian Personnel Management Service (CPMS). The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Civilian Personnel Policy became the sponsor of this research with CPMS as the project monitor. Most of the research herein was conducted under the auspices of the Chancellor's office. At the request of the new sponsoring organization, this research was truncated before reaching definitive policy conclusions. Hence, this research should be viewed as background to support a future investigation of the effects of outsourcing on education and training activities. The research discussed herein was primarily undertaken during the spring and summer of 2003. In this documented briefing, we discuss the effects of A-76 on DoD educational institutions, the effects of A-76 cost comparisons involving education and training functions, and the effects of any type of A-76 competition on demand for civilian education and training.