The FCC has committed almost $7 million from the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) program. The funding will support about 50,000 students across the country with a focus on California, Colorado, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
The funding, which is from the third of three application windows, will support about 110 schools and school districts, nine libraries and library systems and a consortium. The program pays for broadband devices and connectivity for use outside school and is administered by school and libraries.
The ECF was launched in 2021 as part of The American Rescue Plan Act. It is an effort to help students and off-site learners deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. So far the ECF has awarded approximately $6.95 billion in funding. The end to the program’s award budget of $7.17 billion is near.
Approximately $4.14 billion has been awarded from window 1, $834 million from window 2 and $1.98 billion from window 3. The funded is providing support to about 18 million students, 11,220 schools, 1,050 libraries and 120 consortia. It also has provided almost 13 million connected devices and more than 8 million broadband connections, according to the FCC.
“Now that Labor Day has come and gone and schools are back in session, students everywhere need access to broadband connections and digital tools to succeed. That’s why we’re pleased to announce another round of funding to help close the Homework Gap for students headed back to class,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a press release about the FCC ECF award.
Late last month, the ECF program committed $68 million for 110,000 students primarily in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Indiana, Washington, Arizona and New Mexico. This latest funding will go to 184 schools and school districts, 13 libraries and library systems and two consortia.
