The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced more than $1.7 million in funding for the Emergency Connectivity Program (ECP), which helps schools and libraries provide digital services for unserved or underserved students nationwide.
The latest round of funding will benefit roughly 5,000 students from 15 schools and two libraries, including students in California, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, and New York.
“Closing the Homework Gap means we need to connect all our students to digital tools for communicating with teachers and schools,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “Today’s funding round is another important step toward reaching that goal.”
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.
