Hello folks and welcome to the wonderful and sometimes confusing world of E-Rate funding and how to maximize it. What I would like to start with is the most commonly asked question by my clients; what is eligible? Let’s start with Category 1. Fund-able CAT 1 services are basically digital transmission and internet access. You can fund your monthly cost for your direct internet whether it moves over fiber or cable as well as lines running out from your main internet to other buildings. If you’re getting a new service you can also fund the installation. Category 2 is a different animal and can sometimes be tricky. I like to define CAT 2 eligible equipment as anything used to move data. Examples are routers, switches and access points. You may be saying “huh?”, but that’s why we’re here. We make sure that you get credit for everything that is fundable and steer you away from that which is not. You might be amazed by what you’re missing out on.

Now we get to the second most asked question; how much do I get back? Let’s start with CAT 1. Your CAT 1 percentage can range from 20-90% depending on how many free/reduced lunch students you have; the higher the percentage of free/reduced eligible students to your student population, the larger your reimbursement. You can use the tool we offer to determine this or better yet, ask us. It’s what we do!  CAT 2 is a little different. Your percentage ranges from 20-85% and is calculated the same, but you have a fixed budget. Your CAT 2 pre-discount budget is calculated by multiplying your student count by a fixed dollar amount (currently $159.66 to be exact) and each separate entity in your district has its own budget. If the building has its own entity number in the portal, it has its own budget. This is something we can help you with as well. I will finish by touching on something that is often misunderstood by my clients. Your CAT 2 budget is pre-discount dollars. If you have a $100,000 budget you can get reimbursed on purchases up to that amount. For example; if your reimbursement percentage is 50% you would get up to $50,000 back on full price purchases. You have five years to spend your CAT2 money and unfortunately it only gets renewed every five years. You don’t get a new one every year.

Hopefully this information gives you a good idea of how it all works. Yes, it’s complicated, but as I said before; we can help. E-Rate is all we do and our main goals are making you happy and getting you every dollar you’re entitled to. My best advice is “ use it or lose it!”.