A firm protested a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rejection of its bid for educational services, contending that the Corps improperly evaluated its proposal and only conducted discussions with the awardee. GAO held that the Corps: (1) improperly excluded the protester's low-priced quote from the competitive range and (2) conducted discussions with only the awardee. Accordingly, the protest was susta...

Where the protester's and awardee's quotes failed to satisfy the same solicitation requirements and the record did not support the agency's determination that the protester would not have had a realistic chance of receiving award if it had been afforded discussions. We sustain the protest. /1/ The RFQ was issued electronically as a combined synopsis and solicitation as a small business set-aside....