As part of its work to close the Homework Gap, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has allocated nearly $21 million in funding for the Emergency Connectivity Program (ECP).
The funding will support approximately 50 schools, five libraries, and three consortia. Additionally, the funding will benefit roughly 55,000 students across the country; including students in California, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Puerto Rico.
“This program provides critical digital tools to connect students with their teachers and online homework,” said FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel. “This latest round of funding continues our progress in working 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 the first and third 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.
