The Federal Communications Commission today announced it is committing nearly $21 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program, which provides digital services for students in communities across the country. Today’s funding commitment supports applications from the first and third application windows, benefiting approximately 55,000 students across the country, including students in California, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Puerto Rico.
The Emergency Connectivity Program, which launched in 2021, has provided schools and libraries three different application windows for schools and libraries to apply for support. Today’s announcement will support approximately 50 schools, 5 libraries, and 3 consortia. Of the approximately $6.65 billion in funding commitments approved to date, approximately $4.14 billion is supporting applications from Window 1; $834 million from Window 2; and $1.68 billion from Window 3.
The funding can be used to support off-campus learning, such as nightly homework, to ensure students across the country have the necessary support to keep up with their education. To date, the program has provided support to approximately 11,000 schools, 1,000 libraries, and 100 consortia, and provided nearly 13 million connected devices and over 8 million broadband connections.
Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel
This program provides critical digital tools to connect students with their teachers and online homework. This latest round of funding continues our progress in working to close the Homework Gap.
