Education Week reports on the status of the E-Rate program…
In recent years, the program has experienced big changes, remarkable successes, and new perceived threats, all of which Education Week has covered in-depth.
The offer six big numbers to know about the program…
- The E-rate program continues to have extraordinary reach, impacting more than 118,000 school and library facilities across the U.S.
- Schools’ appetite for bandwidth continues to grow, with $2.5 billion in E-rate requests for data & internet service: By far, the biggest slice of the 2017 E-rate pie was for “data and internet service,” which accounted for more than half of program requests.
- Among surveyed applicants, 55 percent want voice services to remain E-rate-eligible.
- The average school site requesting E-rate funding now spends $32,576 on Wi-Fi equipment and services.
- Among surveyed applicants, 48 percent said the E-rate’s ‘self-provisioning’ option lowers bandwidth costs.
- Among surveyed applicants, 44 percent still don’t like the E-rate application process.