E-Rate at a Crossroads: What Schools Need to Know

E-Rate helps schools and libraries pay for the internet service and network infrastructure that students and staff use every day.

When that infrastructure works, few people think about it. Teachers open digital resources, students take online assessments, families receive school messages, and staff access student information systems. Everyone expects the connection to be available.

Behind that routine access are significant costs for internet service, routers, switches, wireless access points, cabling, maintenance, and upgrades. For nearly three decades, E-Rate has helped schools and libraries manage those expenses. The Federal Communications Commission is now conducting a broad review of the program that could change how that support is provided.

The FCC has not decided to end E-Rate, and no final changes have been adopted. However, the agency is asking fundamental questions about the program’s future. That makes the current public comment period important for the people who understand how school networks are used and what they cost.

What E-Rate Does

E-Rate is the common name for the Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support Program. The FCC oversees the program, while the Universal Service Administrative Company manages its day-to-day administration.

Eligible K–12 schools, school districts, libraries, and consortia can receive discounts ranging from 20% to 90% on approved services. Discount levels are based largely on economic need and whether an applicant serves an urban or rural community. Schools and libraries are still responsible for part of the cost.

USAC divides eligible support into two main categories:

• Category One covers connectivity to schools and libraries, including internet access and data transmission services.
• Category Two covers connectivity within buildings, including eligible routers, switches, wireless access points, cabling, maintenance, and managed internal broadband services.

E-Rate does not pay for every technology a school uses. Student laptops and instructional software, for example, are generally outside the program. E-Rate supports the network those devices and programs need in order to function.

Being Connected Is Not the Same as Being Finished

The FCC is asking whether E-Rate has largely fulfilled its original mission now that broadband is widely available in schools and libraries. Availability, however, does not settle the questions of cost, capacity, or reliability.

School networks carry much more traffic than they did when E-Rate began in the 1990s. One-to-one devices, cloud-based platforms, online assessments, accessibility tools, video, family communication, and administrative systems all depend on them. A school may have an internet connection and still lack the bandwidth or internal infrastructure needed to serve every classroom reliably.

Those needs also change. Enrollment shifts, more devices come online, equipment reaches the end of its useful life, and new instructional and security demands emerge. Connectivity is not a one-time purchase.

If E-Rate support is reduced, the bill does not go away. More of it moves to state and local budgets. Districts may then have to weigh network costs against staffing, transportation, facilities, instructional programs, and other priorities. Schools in communities with few providers or limited local revenue may have even fewer options.

What the FCC Is Considering

The FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking asks whether E-Rate should be narrowed, restructured, limited, or potentially sunset. It also seeks public input on several related issues:

• Whether support should be targeted more narrowly to rural or higher-need communities
• Whether the services and equipment eligible for discounts should change
• Whether the current method for calculating discounts remains appropriate
• Whether concerns about screen time and parental involvement should affect E-Rate policy
• Whether the FCC should change its interpretation of the Children’s Internet Protection Act
• How program oversight, competitive bidding, and administration could be improved

These are questions, not settled policies. Comments from school districts, libraries, educators, families, and community members will become part of the record the FCC reviews before deciding what comes next.

E-Rate and Digital Safety

Although E-Rate is primarily a connectivity program, it also intersects with student internet safety. Schools receiving certain types of E-Rate support must comply with the Children’s Internet Protection Act. That includes maintaining an internet safety policy and using technology protection measures to block or filter specific categories of visual content.

CoSN’s CIRCUITS brief, Closing the Digital Safety Gap: E-Rate and the Evolution of School Filtering, explains why school-managed networks and devices can provide protections that personal devices using cellular service do not. Districts can apply filtering, monitoring, and local policy across the systems they manage.

Filtering is only one part of internet safety. No filter will catch every risk, and a technical tool cannot replace digital citizenship, adult supervision, clear expectations, family communication, or a response when students try to bypass safeguards. Beyond federal requirements, decisions about what content to block remain local and may differ by community, grade level, and school board policy.

Two CoSN Podcasts About E-Rate

The CoSN Podcast, produced and distributed in partnership with edCircuit, recently examined E-Rate from two perspectives:

• Why E-Rate Still Matters: The Case for Action explains the FCC review, why widespread broadband access does not eliminate affordability concerns, and how local voices can participate in the proceeding.
• Closing the Digital Safety Gap: E-Rate and the Evolution of School Filtering examines CIPA, school filtering, managed devices, personal cellular access, and the need for a layered approach to digital safety.

The episodes offer a useful introduction to both the policy debate and the safety responsibilities connected to school networks.

What School Leaders Can Do Now

Initial comments are due October 13, 2026. Reply comments are due November 12, 2026. Initial comments allow individuals and organizations to share their experiences and recommendations. Reply comments allow participants to respond to issues raised during the initial comment period.

A comment does not have to be long to be useful. School and district leaders can explain:

• Their E-Rate discount and the costs it helps cover
• Which instructional and operational systems depend on reliable connectivity
• How many internet providers serve their community and whether affordable alternatives exist
• What network upgrades will be needed over the next several years
• Which local programs or services could be affected if more connectivity costs shift to the district
• How the district addresses filtering, accessibility, student safety, and concerns about screen time

FCC comments become part of the public record. Submissions should not include confidential information about students, staff, security systems, or network configurations.

Take Action

• Visit the Save Our E-Rate campaign
• Contact elected officials through CoSN’s Action Center
• Submit comments through the FCC

The fact that most schools are connected today is evidence of progress. It does not answer how they will afford the bandwidth, equipment, and maintenance they will need tomorrow.

Before the FCC makes decisions about E-Rate’s future, school and library leaders have an opportunity to explain what the program supports in their communities and what proposed changes could mean for their budgets, classrooms, and students. Those local experiences should be part of the record.

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