Use It or Lose It! 20% Increase for Funding Year 2020 Category 2 E-rate Applications

Guest Author:

Dan Leister, E-rate Manager

Cisco U.S. Public Sector

On December 19, 2019, the FCC released an Order which provides applicants with the multipliers which should be used to calculate Category Two budgets for FY2020.  The multipliers include an adjustment for inflation as well as a 20% increase as specified by December 3’s C2 reform Report and Order.

What this means for your schools and libraries

Schools and libraries will get additional funding in FY 2020, the multipliers are as follows:

Schools: $195.63 per student

Libraries with IMLS Locale Codes 11, 12, 21: $6.52 per square foot

Libraries with all other IMLS Locale Codes: $3.00 per square foot

Entities at the Funding Floor: $11,998.43 per site.

Funding year 2020 window is now open

The window opened on January 15, 2020 and closes March 25, 2020, running for 70 days. E-rate program rules require that competitive bids be open for a minimum of 28 calendar days. Please note:

The last date that a competitive bid may be started in any given Funding Year is 28 days before the Form 471 window closes

For Funding Year 2020, this means that applicants will have until February 26, 2020 to file Forms 470 and still have the required 28 days for competitive bidding

The FY2020 Form 471 window timeline closely follows FY2019’s window, which ran 70 days from January 16, 2018 to March 27, 2018.

Actions you can take today

Cisco E-rate experts are available to guide you through this process. Go to erate_inquiries@external.cisco.com if you would like assistance

Listen to this 8 minute video where John Harrington, Funds for Learning CEO, explains how the 20% multiplier works and how to take advantage of it

Listen to the full webcast with John Harrington, titled Maximize your E-rate dollars! Learn about recent changes and how they affect your district.

See the official FCC public notice.