As highlighted in the Modification Effect, the more rules that must be applied to an E-rate funding request, the longer it takes for USAC to issue a funding decision. Priority One applications that do not require any modifications receive funding decisions the fastest; those applications that are funded, but with modifications (e.g. cost allocations or other reductions), take longer; and applications that are denied altogether take the longest.
Looking at the average Priority One funding requests from FY2008 to FY2012:
- Funded requests that did not require modification by USAC were released on July 31 (1.0 months)
- Funded requests that required modification by USAC were released on September 21 (2.8 months)
- Denied requests were released on October 21 (3.7 months)
In summary, applications with accurate funding requests that do not require cost allocations and other changes receive decisions about 3 or 4 times faster than other funding requests.
