E-Rate: The Benefits of the Program

Lower Costs and Increased Modernization

Overall, bandwidth costs have dropped from $22 per megabits per second in 2013 to $7 in 2016, according to the “2016 State of the States” report by EducationSuperHighway. Several factors related to the E-rate modernization effort contributed to the lower bandwidth costs. Those factors include increased competition; new options for broadband service, including the ability to lease dark fiber and to build broadband facilities; and pricing transparency, says Brian Stephens, senior compliance analyst at Funds for Learning, an E-rate consulting firm. 

Since the E-rate modernization effort, school districts have increased access to high-speed broadband and reduced per-megabit costs for school districts, according to EducationSuperHighway. The amount E-rate fund recipients pay for services and technology is now publicly available, allowing schools and districts to negotiate better prices. The national average in discounts is 74 percent, according to the FCC. That frees up funds for applicants to spend in other areas, such as more teachers or additional technology. 

Digital Classrooms and Mobile Learning

With high-speed broadband and a robust Wi-Fi network, schools can take advantage of mobile devices, such as Chromebooks, notebooks and tablets. The technology can make learning more interactive and help students develop important technical and modern soft skills such as creativity, collaboration and problem-solving, which prepares them for college and their future careers.

In fact, according to the Consortium for School Networking’s “2017 K–12 IT Leadership Survey Report,” mobile learning is the top priority for school IT leaders, followed by broadband and network capacity. The two priorities go hand in hand. 

A mobile, digital curriculum allows for: 

• New instructional models. Educators can move away from traditional lectures toward more innovative, personalized instruction that includes project-based learning, blended learning and flipped classrooms. The latter involves instruction by video at home, while class time is devoted to exercises, projects and discussion. Curricula enhanced by connected technology also allows instructors to place a greater emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, which will prepare students for tomorrow’s jobs.
  
  
• Adoption of digital content. Students gain greater access to educational content and learning tools, from e-books to educational videos. Through learning management systems and cloud-based tools, students can converse and collaborate with their classmates and teachers digitally, even outside the classroom. Teachers can set up online class pages and create assignments with due dates, which students can work on and upload from anywhere.
  
  Adoption of digital content increases every year. In fact, 88 percent of IT leaders expect instructional materials to be at least 50 percent digital in the next three years, according to CoSN’s “2016 K–12 IT Leadership Survey Report.”

Equitable Distribution of Resources

Because of the FCC’s recent changes, E-rate funds for Wi-Fi are now distributed more equally among rural and urban schools and to a greater number of schools, says Amy Passow, business development manager for K–12 at CDW. 

In the years before modernization, little or no E-rate funds were spent on Wi-Fi. The funding limitations created a disparity between urban and rural schools, with rural schools on average receiving 25 percent less Wi-Fi support per student and 50 percent less Wi-Fi funding per school, according to a 2014 FCC report.  

Now, with at least $1 billion earmarked for Wi-Fi and networking equipment, all Wi-Fi funding requests by schools and districts that met eligibility requirements were funded in 2015 and 2016, Stephens says.

As a result, the number of schools that say they have sufficient Wi-Fi in their classrooms has more than tripled, from 25 percent in 2013 to 83 percent in 2016, according to the report.

The FCC modernization effort is also improving broadband access in rural schools by allowing them to use E-rate funds to build their own fiber networks and by establishing a state matching-funds program to help pay for construction, according to EducationSuperHighway. Today, 79 percent of schools that don’t have fiber connections are in rural or small communities, and that’s largely because of the high cost of fiber construction, the organization says.

Through the matching-funds program, E-rate will provide schools an additional 10 percent in discounts for building broadband facilities if states contribute 10 percent of the costs of construction.