E-Rate applications, funding years, EPC, filing window….what does it all mean; better yet, how do I keep it all straight? Well, you’ve come to the right place for some answers. Here I’ll discuss for you two of these questions and I’ll follow up soon with another post to address the others.

Funding years and filing windows are topics that go together but should have a short explanation independently of each other. Let’s start with funding years. When E-Rate first started in 1998 there were no funding years, there were cycles. So Cycle 1 covered July 1, 1998 through June 30, 1999. USAC continued this format for many years before finally simplifying it to “Funding Year”. The funding year corresponds to the first date of covered service – so FY2015 begins July 1st of 2015 and so on; much simpler to track. E-Rate funding years correspond to the school calendar year. Unfortunately for school districts this gets muddied as many of you refer to fiscal years, not school calendar years. Thus E-Rate FY2015 is likely for you to be fiscal 2016. Are you confused? We can help – we’ve mastered keeping it all straight so you don’t have to.

The E-Rate “filing window” is the application, review, funding commitment corresponding to the funding year that it covers. Now for the confusing part…the filing window now opens on or about July 1st of the previous year and closes on or about March 26th of the year for which you are requesting E-Rate support. So, if you are making application for E-rate support for FY2020, then you could file your initial form 470 on or after July 1st of 2019. Are you lost yet? We have the road map to get you on course.

So in a nutshell, you are filing for E-Rate against services that begin in the following school year. If you require an official RFP (request for proposal) or you are going to apply for funding for fiber transport services such as dark fiber or self-provisioned fiber, you should start the filing process as soon as possible. Otherwise your process should begin sometime in the early fall. There are very strict rules to abide by when filing for E-Rate support, so its best practice to consult with a professional who handles nothing but E-Rate and stays current with all of the E-Rate changes. Let us help you be successful!