An analysis of FY2015 and FY2016 funding request data shows that 25% of school and library sites have fully utilized their Category 2 (C2) budget. Another 30% of sites have not used their C2 budget whatsoever. The remaining 45% of sites have used a portion of their C2 budget in FY2015 and/or FY2016 and have a balance remaining for future use.
Beginning with Funding Year 2015, all school and library sites have had the opportunity to receive funding for Category 2 on-campus computer networking goods and services (e.g. Wi-Fi and related components). These funds are limited based on a budget formula using a pre-discount cap for each site. For schools, the cap is tied to enrollment. For libraries, the cap it tied to square footage. (There is also a guaranteed minimum pre-discount amount available for small facilities.)
Based on the C2 funds committed in 2015 and requested in 2016, there is an estimated $4.02 billion in C2 projects that are available to receive E-rate discounts in FY2017, FY2018, and FY2019. The total E-rate funding associated with these potential projects is $2.86 billion, or approximately $1 billion in E-rate discounts per year.
