E-Rate Changes 2023

• Voice service support will be phased down over a 5 year period, including cell phone service.
• If you are a 90% school, in year 2015, you will get a 70% discount on Voice service
  2016 = 50%
  2017 = 30% and so on until you no longer get support on voice service.
• Your phased down discount percentage is determined by your actual discount percentage in the year that you apply

• Broadband services will still be supported

Will still comprise voice and internet services, while voice will be phased down over the next 5 years, and will be supported by $2.25 billion a year.
Category I services will still get first priority in E-Rate support

Will be supported by $1 billion a year from the FCC but will take secondary priority over Category I. This means that if demand for Category I exceeds their $2.25 billion then they will take whatever funds necessary from the Category II budget to fulfill that demand. On the other side of that, if demand for Category I services does not reach $2.25 billion, then that extra money can be rolled into the Category II budget. If there is any extra money from year to year it can be rolled over to the next funding year.

• The max discount for a Category II service is now 85%.

USAC has instituted budgeting for Category II services. Schools get $150 per student and libraries get $2.30 a square foot. These budgets are a 5 year budget and are all the Category II funding you will receive.

Examples:

• If you are a school with 1,000 students and you’re a 80% school you would get $120,000 in Category II support for a 5 year period
  • (1,000 * 150 = $150,000*.8=$120,000)
• If you are a 10,000 sq/ft library with an 80% discount you would get $18,400 in support for a 5 year period
  • (10,000 * 2.30 = 23,000 * .8 = $18,400)

For those schools with less than 61 students they receive minimum discount of $9,200, pre discount Example:

• If they are a 80% school they would receive $7,360 in support
  • (9,200 * .8 = $7,360)

• Both air cars and data plans are both still eligible, at your school or library site. However, you have to demonstrate how they are more cost effective than using your own Wi-Fi network.

• Tech plans are no longer required for any e-rate support

You can no longer extrapolate your Income Surveys. In years past you could send every family in your school an income survey and as long as you got back 50%, or more, you would be able to extrapolate your entire population. You can no longer do this. Now you have to send out a survey to all families and count only those surveys you receive back, no extrapolation. Example. If you have 100 students, you send out 100 surveys and get back 50. All 50 students qualify. In years past you could have extrapolated that all 100 students qualify for free and reduced lunch. Now, you can only state that 50 students out of your 100 qualify for free and reduced lunch and you would be a 80% E-Rate school.

You used to have to wait until July 1 or after before you could install your equipment. Now USAC is letting you install Category II equipment prior to your funding year. You can start installation on April 1. Example. If you are applying for funding for FY 2016, you can begin installation on April 1, 2016.

In years past, USAC used to keep this pricing information private. Now they are going to be publishing pricing information on their website in a move to drive down prices

• In years past, if you participated in CEP you could not use this information you had to revert back to the last time you participated in NSLP. Now you can use your CEP discount for E-rate purposes

USAC may come up with Preferred Master Contracts for equipment. These would be national contracts for use during your vendor selection.

• These may be exempt from Competitive bidding rules
• These may be mandatory for all bid evaluations, even it you don’t purchase off one of them

In years past, when a school or library filed a BEAR form the money would flow from USAC to the service provider then back to the school or library. Starting in funding year 2016, when you file a BEAR form the money will flow from USAC directly to the school or library. However, the school or library will be required to have their banking info on file with USAC because they will only use Electronic Funds Transfer.

• Now when you take E-Rate funding you must allow auditors, investigators, attorneys, and other appointed personnel to enter your premises to conduct E-Rate compliance inspections.

• The document retention requirement went from 5 years from the last day to receive service to 10 years from the last day to receive service.