Rooted in history, focused on value, transforming education procurement.
On August 2, 1934, three visionary leaders, George Frank, Charles Wilmot, and E.E. Thompson, filed the Certificate of Incorporation for what would become the Educational and Institutional Cooperative Service (E&I). Their bold idea was to bring educational institutions together through cooperative purchasing. This approach allowed schools to buy smarter, lower costs, and tackle procurement challenges together.
From the beginning, E&I’s success has relied on its members. This spirit of collaboration still drives our organization today, helping over 6,200 institutions access competitively solicited contracts, reduce risk, and gain strategic procurement benefits. Over the decades, strong leadership and ongoing innovation have made E&I a powerful partner in procurement as the only nonprofit sourcing cooperative dedicated exclusively to education.
Catch our 90th anniversary podcast to hear how E&I’s cooperative model has grown and adapted to meet the evolving needs of education, then and now.
A Timeline of Impact & Innovation
The cooperative purchasing concept takes root with the Educational Buyers Association (EBA). Founding members each invested $5 for shares, and E&I’s headquarters is established in New York City.
Post-WWII expansion drives contracts into categories including office supplies and lab equipment. Membership grows to 600. EBA expands nationally as the National Association of Educational Buyers (NAEB).
E&I staff and services grow to meet increasing member needs. By 1969, member purchases reach $19.6 million, reflecting trust in the Cooperative’s competitive contracts and service.
Membership eligibility standards expanded, driving membership and contract spend. Offices move to Hauppauge, NY, as member purchases reach $50 million.
E&I grew to over 200 employees and formalizes its mission, delivering $366 million in member purchases and returning patronage dividends exceeding $866,000.
E&I embraces digital change, launches an improved bidding program, and expands into K12. More than 5,000 members collectively save $200 million annually through E&I contracts. Headquarters move to Jericho, NY.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, E&I quickly rolls out new contracts for PPE, testing, and contact tracing. Eric Frank becomes CEO and leads E&I into its “Next Chapter” as a valuable procurement partner.
During this time, E&I transitioned from being a trusted contract provider to a strategic procurement partner. Our Strategic Spend Assessments help members uncover hidden savings and improve contract usage. Customizable eProcurement solutions make sourcing easier and increase adoption. Membership grew to over 6,000 institutions, with total annual purchasing exceeding $3 billion.
In 2024, E&I celebrated 90 years of supporting educational institutions with a record 220+ competitively solicited contracts. Our EdPro® Hub serves as an active community for education procurement professionals. Our NextGen Leadership Program offers valuable
professional development opportunities. Members consistently see 4–10% economic benefit per contract by reducing the time spent on RFPs and taking advantage of financial incentives. This shows that with E&I, procurement is not just a cost center but a strategic
advantage.
E&I’s journey is based on the strength of partnership, a spirit of innovation, and a strong commitment to the education community. As procurement needs become more complex, we’re evolving with them and continuously rethinking what cooperative purchasing can provide for education.
Discover how E&I’s member-driven approach can transform your procurement strategy
When it comes to purchasing, procurement teams have a long list of goals. Among them are:
The checklist can be long, and it can feel overwhelming. Without proper procurement practices and oversight, colleges and universities can waste millions of dollars. While that kind of waste is never acceptable, it’s even more important to optimize spending in light of today’s financial landscape in higher ed.
A study by SPG Global showed that about half of private universities generate operating deficits. Increasing costs, declining enrollments, and an uncertain economy continue to take a toll. SPG Global rates more than twice as many colleges and universities with a negative outlook than a positive one. Fitch Ratings forecasts deteriorating financial conditions for higher ed in 2025.
Academic institutions are increasingly turning to Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) to help them overcome these challenges and relieve the pressure. By leveraging collective buying power and pre-negotiated contracts, procurement teams are meeting their goals and streamlining operations.
A GPO in procurement aggregates purchasing power across multiple organizations to negotiate better pricing and terms with suppliers. By consolidating demand, GPOs help members achieve cost savings and efficiencies.
Originally established in the healthcare sector to control supply costs, GPOs have since expanded into other industries, including government, manufacturing, and education. Their role in procurement continues to grow as institutions seek more efficient purchasing strategies.
In healthcare, organizations like Vizient and Premier help hospitals save on medical supplies. In the government sector, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) functions as a procurement hub for federal agencies.
The most recent count occurred in 2023. At that time, there were 587 group purchasing organizations in the U.S. and counting, according to IBIS World, which tracks market change. The number of GPOs has grown about 2% a year on average over the past five years.
Higher education GPO programs offer solutions that go beyond purchasing, including supplier diversity initiatives, sustainability programs, and compliance support. GPOs help meet competitive solicitation requirements and streamline procurement processes while ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations.
While there are many GPOs that offer services to schools, E&I Cooperative Services stands alone as the only member-owned nonprofit sourcing cooperative that focuses exclusively on the education sector. This intense focus produces cooperative agreements that meet the unique needs of higher education. With greater insight into procurement for colleges and universities, negotiated contracts contain tailored GPO provisions for higher education.
The benefits of partnering with a higher education GPO program include:
GPOs secure volume discounts and pre-negotiated contracts, helping you reduce procurement expenses. Many schools find they can lower costs by 10% to 15% or more.
By streamlining supplier selection and contract negotiation, you can save time and reduce the administrative workload for your procurement team.
Institutions gain access to a diverse pool of suppliers, providing you with more choices and helping you meet supplier diversity goals.
Navigating complex regulatory landscapes and ensuring contract compliance can be extremely time-consuming. By partnering with a GPO, institutions can leverage pre-negotiated contracts that already meet these compliance requirements, significantly reducing their administrative burden and risk.
Over the past few years, we’ve also seen the impact of supply chain disruptions. While concerns are easing, they’re not completely behind us. Moving forward, tariffs and strained global relations could have an even greater impact on higher education finances, resulting in further budget restraints.
Cooperative contracts help reduce risk. They aggregate demand across a large number of academic institutions. For suppliers, they’re big business. This gives them additional incentive to provide the highest level of service. They understand that if they cannot fulfill orders promptly under the terms they’re committed to, it can result in severe financial losses for their companies.
GPOs support green procurement efforts by offering eco-friendly products and services aligned with sustainability goals.
Sustainability is front and center for many institutions when selecting products, especially when it comes to construction projects. One recent survey showed that colleges and universities have put off capital needs for years. This has created a significant backlog of projects, totaling nearly a trillion dollars. As procurement teams evaluate capital investments, access to sustainable suppliers and services will be critical.
There are some downsides to GPOs, especially if you choose the wrong one. For example:
Some GPOs require members to use specific suppliers. However, E&I allows institutions to opt into cooperative agreements selectively.
Not all GPO contracts are a perfect fit. Institutions should evaluate agreements to ensure they meet specific procurement requirements.
Transparency in pricing structures varies among GPOs. You should assess all associated costs before partnering with a GPO.
Essentially, they are the same thing. “Purchasing organization” and “purchasing group” are interchangeable terms used to describe entities that facilitate group purchasing activities.
So, who pays GPO fees? While each GPO sets its own policies, they typically generate revenue through administrative fees paid by suppliers in exchange for access to member institutions. Some GPOs also charge membership fees, but E&I does not require institutions to pay for membership in order to utilize one of their contracts.
Group purchasing organizations may also offer consulting, data analytics, and procurement optimization services. E&I provides no-cost Strategic Spend Assessments (SSAs) to help institutions identify savings opportunities.
Finding the right partner for your procurement needs in higher education is critical to success. Procurement teams must evaluate whether a GPO aligns with their institution’s goals and procurement strategies.
Here are a few particular areas you will want to evaluate.
Make sure you understand any opt-in and opt-out GPO provisions for higher education. Institutions should ensure they retain the ability to enter and exit contracts without significant penalties or restrictions that could limit flexibility. While you want to leverage volume discounts, you also want the ability to purchase only the supplies and amounts you need.
A strong GPO should offer a diverse range of suppliers and contracts, across key procurement categories, that align with your core purchasing needs. For example, a GPO that partners with higher education should have cooperative agreements across the most common purchasing categories.
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES — HIGHER ED GROUP PURCHASING ORGANIZATIONS | |
Administrative Services | Food and Food Services |
Athletics | IT |
Emergency Preparedness | Logistics and Travel |
Facilities | Office and Classroom Furnishing |
Lab, Research, and Scientific | Professional and Consulting Services |
Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) | Safety and Wellness |
Financial Services | School Security |
Look for a sourcing cooperative that offers access to certified diverse suppliers and suppliers that can help meet your sustainability goals. Another advantage of partnering with E&I Cooperative Services is working with procurement professionals who understand your goals and tailor negotiations to meet them. This means sourcing and competitive solicitation of diverse and eco-friendly suppliers along with services for evolving needs. For example, when the team at E&I heard from members needing resources to manage changes to Title IX regulations, the procurement team negotiated cooperative agreements that included consulting, training services, compliance audits, case management, and adjudication services.
Modern GPOs provide advanced procurement analytics tools that help institutions track spending patterns, identify cost-saving opportunities, and optimize vendor selection. Procurement teams should evaluate whether a GPO offers such insights to enhance purchasing decisions.
E&I offers a free marketplace that can accommodate preferred supplier catalogs, and free Strategic Spend Assessments to uncover additional savings opportunities based on your current spending.
There’s a difference between for-profit and non-profit GPOs. For-profit entities can provide cost savings for members, but their primary goal is to provide a return for their owners or investors. Nonprofits exist to serve their members. As a nonprofit, E&I Cooperative Services works to minimize administrative expenses and returns proceeds to members in the form of patronage refunds based on their participation throughout the year.
Reviewing case studies and testimonials from peer institutions can provide insights into contract performance, customer service quality, and overall satisfaction. You should ask for references and assess the GPO’s impact on similar-sized organizations.
Maximizing value often results in a blended approach where colleges and universities integrate GPO agreements into their procurement process. When there are options for similar goods or services at lower prices, it makes sense to choose cooperative contracts. However, schools always retain the right to contract with whoever they choose.
Adopting cooperative agreements can free up time for procurement teams, who can focus more on strategy versus buying. Data provides the basis for strategic sourcing. Analyzing spending, market trends, and evaluating suppliers are often after-thoughts but can be the basis for performance improvements and significant cost reductions.
Another way to maximize your value is by being an active member of the GPO. Participating in advisory committees can help influence sourcing and contract negotiation. Working together to identify evolving needs helps guide the organization to ensure it is meeting the needs of its members.
Taking advantage of educational opportunities can help with professional development. E&I Cooperative Services offers:
What are the three biggest benefits of group purchasing organizations?
The three biggest benefits of GPOs are:
What are the three limitations of GPOs?
The three biggest limitations of GPOs are:
These limitations can vary greatly depending on the organization you choose and the specific GPO provisions for higher education contracts.
What is the largest GPO in the US?
The largest GPO in the US is Vizient, which works in healthcare. Other large GPOs include Premier Inc., HealthTrust Performance Group, and Cardinal Health—all of which also serve the healthcare industry. E&I is the only member-owned and nonprofit GPO dedicated exclusively to education.
The marketplace itself is massive. Companies spent more than $7 billion in 2024 with GPOs, and that number is forecast to grow to $12.8 billion by 2031.
Are GPO contracts legally binding?
Yes, GPO contracts are legally binding agreements. Institutions should review terms carefully before committing, although this typically applies more to suppliers than schools. In most cooperative agreements, sellers commit to goods, services, and volume discounts. Colleges and universities have the flexibility to choose what they want, often with tiered discounts based on purchasing volume.
If you are interested in leveraging E&I’s benefits, you can explore membership options or view available contracts. There is no cost for becoming an E&I member and no minimum purchasing obligation.