Modernizing E-Rate:
Providing 21
st
Century Wi-Fi Networks
For Schools and Libraries across America
Federal Communications Commission
July 1, 2014
“Eighteen years ago, the idea of a student-accessible computer in the school building 
was a revolutionary concept. Thanks to E-Rate that rarity became commonplace and 
computers moved into classrooms. Now with the next generation of E-Rate, we are 
harnessing innovation to put that power directly in front of the student.”
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler
National Digital Learning Day
February 5, 2014
1I. Modernizing E-Rate to Deliver Digital Learning Faster
Established in 1996, the FCC’s E-Rate program is the federal government’s largest educational 
technology program – supporting Internet connectivity and other communications services for 
schools and libraries. Despite the increasing need for wireless connectivity to support the latest 
digital learning tools like tablets and interactive textbooks, the E-Rate program currently 
provides limited support for Wi-Fi.
On July 11, 2014, the FCC will vote on an E-Rate modernization proposal that would 
dramatically increase support for Wi-Fi connections in schools and libraries. FCC Chairman Tom 
Wheeler put forward this proposal as the first step in comprehensively modernizing the 
program. The proposal has three goals:
? Close the Wi-Fi gap – get high-speed Internet to all classrooms and libraries by 
2019.
? Make the program rules fairer – ensure funding is available to the vast majority 
of schools and libraries, not just a few.
? Maximize existing funds – streamline the program and make it faster, simpler, 
more efficient for all schools and libraries 
The following analysis provides a state-by-state breakdown of the estimated number of 
additional students, schools, and libraries that would gain the funding needed for Wi-Fi 
upgrades under the pending proposal.
High-speed Internet: Transforming our schools and libraries
High-speed Internet connectivity is transforming almost every aspect of our economy and 
society. Few areas hold more potential for technology-driven improvements than our nation’s 
schools and libraries.
Connecting classrooms to the Internet connects students to a world of almost infinite 
information online. It makes it possible for students in the most rural and remote communities 
who cannot otherwise take AP Physics or Calculus to do so remotely at their own school. And 
more powerful and affordable computers and mobile devices, coupled with new software, are 
enabling new interactive educational content; tools for student collaboration, student-teacher 
communication, and lesson planning; and remote tutoring.
The use of modern online tools, powered by high-speed Internet access and Wi-Fi, is 
revolutionizing classroom instruction. Rather than delivering a one-size-fits-all lecture at the 
front of the classroom, teachers are using technology to assess their students’ work in real-time 
and offer more individually-focused instruction tailored to each student’s strengths and 
weaknesses. Online learning also helps to ensure that American students have the digital 
literacy skills they need to compete in the 21
st
Century global information economy.  
2High-speed Internet is also transforming the roles of our libraries as places of learning and hubs
of information. In community after community the library is the only place where students can 
go after school for free Internet access to complete homework assignments. And during the 
summer, libraries are the only place many students can go to continue their online exploration 
and learning. Many young adults rely on libraries to study for and take General Educational 
Development (GED) tests, as well as college and graduate-level courses. In addition, tens of 
millions of adult Americans use library computers to look for a job or learn new job skills, to 
apply for health insurance, or to access government services. 
The Educational Digital Divide
One essential ingredient for unlocking the potential of digital learning is high-speed wireless
connectivity in every classroom and every library workspace.  Bringing wireless connectivity,
through Wi-Fi, fundamentally changes the classroom from one that is static and restrictive to 
one that is dynamic and expansive, giving both teachers and students new ways to engage and 
learn. As the President said a year ago in announcing the ConnectED initiative, “[i]n a Nation 
where we expect free Wi-Fi with our coffee, why shouldn’t we have it in our schools?”
Yet, according to several studies, most schools and libraries lack robust Wi-Fi.  A survey of 
district technology leaders last year led by the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), found 
that only 43 percent of public school districts report that their internal connections are capable 
of supporting a one device (e.g., tablet, laptop) per student deployment.  
The CoSN survey also found that 50 percent of schools lack the internal wiring needed to
support the high-speed connections needed in today’s schools and that 28 percent of districts 
are using slower copper or wireless backbones in their school local area networks (LANs).  
While most public libraries offer some form of wireless local area network (WLAN) Internet 
access, libraries report that they are increasingly unable to meet growing demand.
Bringing E-Rate in to the 21
st
Century
The FCC’s E-Rate program has long been a vital source of support for communications services 
in schools and libraries. Yet it is not currently meeting the need for Wi-Fi, due in large part to 
the program’s structure. 
E-Rate funding is currently broken into two categories: 
? Priority 1 (telecommunications services, telecommunications, and Internet access 
services) and 
? Priority 2 (internal connections and basic maintenance of internal connections). 
Funding for Priority 2 is only available after all Priority 1 requests are funded. In Funding Year 
2012, only the Priority 2 requests from the most impoverished schools (those eligible for a 90
percent discount rate) were funded.  In Funding Year 2013, no funding was available for Priority 
2 requests.
3In addition, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, funding for internal connections has reached very 
few schools and libraries. From 2008 to 2013, E-Rate supported internal connections in just 4 to 
11 percent of the more than 100,000 schools participating in the program each year.   
Figure 1: E-Rate Funding for Internal Connections in Schools 2008-2013
For libraries, the situation is even worse. In each of the last five years, no more than 3 percent 
of public library locations received a funding commitment for internal connections support, and 
in recent years that funding was available, the number was just 1 percent. In other words, just 
100 to 200 libraries – out of almost 17,000 eligible libraries nationwide – received any E-rate 
funding at all for Wi-Fi.   
Figure 2: E-Rate Funding for Internal Connections in Libraries 2008-2013
4II. Closing the Wi-Fi Gap
Strategic adjustments in the operation of the E-Rate program can begin to quickly fill this Wi-Fi
gap. The FCC and the program administrator, the Universal Service Administrative Company 
(USAC), are in the midst of implementing improved financial management practices to more 
quickly put to use excess cash balances. These changes are on track to free up $2 billion of new 
funding over the next two years – a billion to be spent in each of 2015 and 2016 – that would 
be invested in Wi-Fi upgrades under the new proposal.  
Figure 3: Increase in E-Rate Funding for Wi-Fi in 2015 and 2016
Maximize existing funds
Funds for the following three years would come from two significant changes. First, the 
Commission would phase down support for non-broadband services, like pagers, email and, 
over a multi-year period, voice service. Those funds – nearly $1.2 billion in the E-Rate program 
today – would be repurposed to support Wi-Fi. Second, the Commission would drive significant 
cost savings for broadband services by making prices more transparent and facilitating greater
use of consortia-enabled bulk purchasing.
In addition, the FCC Chairman has proposed additional reforms that would allocate funding for 
Wi-Fi in a more equitable manner, helping schools and libraries gain access to critical network 
management services for today’s more complex networks, and bringing connectivity to millions 
of additional students and library patrons. As part of the Commission's ongoing modernization 
effort we will continue to assess long-term funding requirements.
5More Wi-Fi for Rural, Urban Schools and Libraries
Modernizing our rules to facilitate investment in Wi-Fi would result in a 75 percent increase in 
Wi-Fi funding for rural areas, which have been disproportionately shut out by the current 
system. Under existing rules rural schools on average receive 25 percent less Wi-Fi funding for 
every student, and 50 percent less funding for every school, compared to their non-rural peers, 
because the current rules often put them at the back of the line.
Figure 4: Projected Increase in Rural School Funding for Internal Connections 2015-2019
While increasing access to rural schools and libraries, the proposal would also dramatically 
increase Wi-Fi funding to non-rural schools. By the end of 2019, urban and suburban schools 
would see a 60 percent increase in funding compared to the last five years.
Figure 5: Projected Increase in Urban and Suburban School Funding for Internal Connections 2015-2019
6Maximizing current funds, connecting millions
This proposal, if adopted, would inject $2 billion dollars in new repurposed funding in 2015 and 
2016, and, combined with the associated programmatic reforms, would result in millions more 
students, tens of thousands of additional schools, and thousands of additional libraries getting 
support for badly needed Wi-Fi upgrades by 2019. These positive impacts would be felt in every 
state nationwide.
Figure 6: Projected increase in students at schools receiving funding for Wi-Fi upgrades by 2019.
State Impacts
Section III provides a state-by-state breakdown of the estimated additional students, schools, 
and libraries that would gain the funding needed for Wi-Fi upgrades under the Chairman’s 
proposal.  For each state, FCC staff compared the number of schools (all public and non-profit 
elementary and secondary schools in the state, except those with large private endowments) 
that received internal connections funding over the last five years to the number that would 
have guaranteed available Wi-Fi funding over the next five years under the proposed order. The 
table shows the increase in funded schools, as well as the number of students attending those 
schools.  It also shows the increase in funded libraries.  In each case, the table also shows the 
percentage increase—for example, if twice as many schools will receive funding over the next 
five years as received funding over the last five years, the table shows a 100% increase.
Wi-Fi upgrades are by no means the only piece of the puzzle when it comes to connecting all 
students to the benefits of digital learning and supporting all libraries in bringing robust
connectivity to their communities. But by acting now, the FCC can move forward on these 
critical program updates this summer, even as it continues to work on other aspects of 
modernizing this large, complex, but vital program for 21
st
Century learning.
7III. State by State Benefits of the Proposed E-Rate Modernization Order
Next 5 Years vs. Last 5 Years
State
Additional 
Students
% Change in 
Students Impact
Additional 
Schools
Additional
Libraries
Additional 
Schools 
& Libraries
% Change in 
Schools
& Libraries 
Funded
Alaska 124,619 1132% 449 107 556 479%
Alabama 476,864 150% 1,113 295 1,408 222%
Arkansas 408,286 427% 982 221 1,203 463%
Arizona 776,834 224% 1,834 198 2,032 320%
California 5,377,301 401% 10,755 1,083 11,838 467%
Colorado 740,583 506% 1,835 249 2,084 624%
Connecticut 572,479 1189% 1,384 242 1,626 1344%
District of Columbia 70,120 439% 245 0 245 310%
Delaware 146,404 3470% 323 32 355 4438%
Florida 2,156,550 285% 4,447 518 4,965 412%
Georgia 1,276,445 247% 2,138 380 2,518 288%
Hawaii 188,020 809% 367 51 418 889%
Iowa 467,711 856% 1,516 564 2,080 1612%
Idaho 259,187 961% 726 143 869 924%
Illinois 2,069,263 875% 5,210 793 6,003 1095%
Indiana 1,022,699 903% 2,345 431 2,776 1245%
Kansas 470,693 1006% 1,443 368 1,811 1215%
Kentucky 465,138 176% 1,100 199 1,299 207%
Louisiana 620,709 325% 1,360 272 1,632 306%
Massachusetts 967,510 987% 2,343 432 2,775 1101%
Maryland 856,452 739% 1,850 164 2,014 629%
Maine 180,211 914% 691 272 963 1376%
Michigan 1,468,497 712% 3,853 648 4,501 820%
Minnesota 833,540 1030% 2,470 360 2,830 1169%
Missouri 910,761 875% 2,577 345 2,922 984%
Mississippi 325,631 158% 649 184 833 159%
Montana 140,009 1487% 868 111 979 1659%
North Carolina 1,210,542 328% 2,296 379 2,675 331%
North Dakota 101,037 2210% 518 91 609 3806%
Nebraska 325,206 5082% 1,205 286 1,491 6777%
New Hampshire 209,174 4480% 736 235 971 6936%
New Jersey 1,270,843 506% 3,060 425 3,485 523%
New Mexico 225,765 163% 637 109 746 173%
Nevada 426,062 1426% 727 88 815 1315%
New York 2,241,532 254% 4,588 924 5,512 264%
8State
Additional 
Students
% Change in 
Students Impact
Additional 
Schools
Additional
Libraries
Additional 
Schools 
& Libraries
% Change in 
Schools
& Libraries 
Funded
Ohio 1,741,184 866% 4,142 695 4,837 873%
Oklahoma 458,182 200% 1,086 154 1,240 134%
Oregon 495,526 496% 1,459 214 1,673 644%
Pennsylvania 1,684,486 521% 4,539 533 5,072 633%
Rhode Island 132,623 431% 374 61 435 449%
South Carolina 530,793 222% 1,032 183 1,215 249%
South Dakota 127,935 951% 723 148 871 1300%
Tennessee 899,547 536% 1,849 287 2,136 595%
Texas 4,144,033 412% 8,148 834 8,982 489%
Utah 563,912 1484% 1,032 126 1,158 1182%
Virginia 1,228,312 1051% 2,367 332 2,699 1097%
Vermont 89,635 2060% 394 185 579 2517%
Washington 966,487 635% 2,480 337 2,817 751%
Wisconsin 850,706 635% 2,777 461 3,238 1062%
West Virginia 253,463 621% 739 164 903 717%
Wyoming 87,378 2597% 369 76 445 2119%
Total 43,636,879 102,150 15,989           118,139