As part of its ongoing Emergency Connectivity Fund Program, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced $2.5 million in funding aimed at providing digital services for students nationwide.
According to a press release, this latest round of funding will benefit roughly 8,000 students, including those in Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, North Dakota, and Texas. In order to support students, the funding will go to approximately 15 schools, one library, and one consortium.
“Today’s funding round is another step in providing students the online access they need to connect with their teachers and keep up with schoolwork,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “This program is an important tool in our ongoing work to close the Homework Gap.”
As part of its funding process, the ECP had three application windows that schools and libraries could apply under. This latest round of funding will go towards applications from all three filing windows.
ECP funding can be used to support off-campus learning to ensure students across the country have the necessary support to keep up with their education. The FCC reports that to date, the program has provided support to approximately 11,000 schools, 1,000 libraries, and 100 consortia. In total, through the ECP the FCC has provided nearly 13 million connected devices and more than eight million broadband connections.
