Education Rate, more commonly known as E-Rate, is a Federal program that provides schools, libraries, and consortia funding for two types of categories of services: Category 1 (Internet Access) and Category 2 (Internal Connections, Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections and MIBS).
For schools, this amount of funding is dependent on how many students your school has as well as how many of your students are eligible for free and reduced lunch. The more students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch, the more money your organization is entitled to. These discounts range from 20% to 90% for Category 1 Services and from 20% to 85% for Category 2 Internal Connections and Services. For libraries, your discounts are calculated by determining the discount of the public school district where their main branch or main administrative office is located. For more details on E-Rate discounts please see our E-Rate Discount Matrix Page.
In order to be eligible to receive E-Rate discounts, schools and libraries must meet certain eligibility criteria. In general, elementary schools, secondary schools, private schools, and religious schools are all eligible to receive discounts as long as they have an endowment less than $50 million and are not-for-profit. Public libraries and library systems are also eligible to receive discounts as long as they meet the eligibility requirements for libraries. E-Rate eligible services are broken down into two Categories: Category 1 and Category 2.
*This is a list of some of the services that are eligible under Category 1 and Category 2 services. This is not a comprehensive list, nor does the inclusion on the list guarantee approval. Please contact us for a complete copy of the current Eligible Services List.
Category 1 is internet service including, but not limited to:
Category 2 is internal connections, basic maintenance of internal connections and MIBS including, but not limited to:
Whether you are looking for a consultant or just have questions about the E-Rate program, we would love to hear from you and help in any way that we can. There is no obligation in giving us a call to see if our services would be the right fit for your organization.
We are a full-service E-Rate consulting company, and we have been helping schools and libraries with their E-Rate applications for over 20 years. We take our clients from the beginning stages of the E-Rate application process all the way through to receiving a Funding Commitment Decision Letter (FCDL) and getting the funds deposited into the school’s account.
Please reach out to us, and one of our dedicated consultants will return your message within 24 hours. Thank you.