FCC frees up $68M for schools and libraries

WASHINGTON – The Federal Communications Commission today announced it is committing more than $68 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program, which provides digital tools and services to support students in communities across the country. Today's funding commitment supports applications from the third application window, benefitting approximately 110,000 students nationwide, including students in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Indiana, Washington, Arizona, and New Mexico.

"A good night's sleep, a hearty breakfast, and access to digital tools are essential for a good day at school. That's why we're pleased to announce another round of funding to help close the Homework Gap as students begin the new school year," said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

Today's announcement will support 184 schools and school districts, 13 libraries and library systems, and 2 consortia. The funding can be used to support off-campus learning, such as nightly homework, and summer online learning programs to ensure students across the country have the necessary support to keep up with their education. More details about which schools and libraries have received funding commitments can be found at https://www.fcc.gov/emergency-connectivity-fund.

Launched in 2021, the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program has provided schools and libraries three different "application windows" to apply for support. Approximately $6.93 billion in funding commitments have been approved to date, approximately $4.14 billion is supporting applications from Window 1; $834 million from Window 2; and $1.95 billion from Window 3. To date, the funding has provided support to approximately 18 million students, 11,100 schools, 1050 libraries, and 120 consortia, and provided approximately 13 million connected devices and over 8 million broadband connections.

As a long-term solution to the Homework Gap, Chairwoman Rosenworcel recently announced her new initiative "Learn Without Limits" to modernize the E-Rate program to allow for Wi-Fi on school buses and for permanent support to loan out Wi-Fi hotspots. For more information see: https://www.fcc.gov/document/chairwoman-rosenworcel-announces-learn-without-limits- initiative.

Read the full press release here.

FCC