E-rate, in plain English.
What consultants charge, the money schools and libraries leave unclaimed, and what Washington is changing. Every figure sourced.
What is E-rate? A plain-English guide for schools and libraries
The federal program that pays 20% to 90% of your internet and network bill, how the money flows, and why the paperwork is the hard part.
What E-rate consultants charge, from the contracts the Senate reviewed
Flat fees of $5,000 to $15,000, percentage deals of 6% to 10% of funding, and one three-year contract near $800,000.
The $3.26 billion schools and libraries left unspent
A third of the 2021 to 2025 equipment budget expired unused. Applicants who filed alone left far more behind.
Your 2026 to 2030 equipment budget, explained
How the five-year Category Two budget is calculated, what it covers, and how to avoid losing it.
Approved but never claimed: how E-rate money lapses after it is awarded
Getting approved is not the finish line. $215 million approved for 2024 was never paid out before its deadline.
The E-rate year, form by form
From the bid request in the fall to the invoice after the year ends: every step, every clock.
Inside the Senate's "Cost of Connection" report
Three findings, four recommendations to the FCC, and the question the Committee wants E-rate's supporters to answer.
What the FCC's E-rate review could change
Consultant registration, a ban on percentage fees, and an open question about the program's future.
35,000 eligible schools and libraries did not apply for 2026
Most public schools are covered. Most private schools and thousands of libraries are not.
One bid: why a fifth of E-rate contracts had no competition
9,877 funded 2025 requests drew a single bid. That is where price checks pay off.