January 2008 — News

Print this article | Email this article

Click here to receive your FREE subscription to T.H.E. Journal

Are You an Average E-rate Applicant?

Think you have it tough filing a E-rate funding requests for a half dozen sites? In the 2007 E-rate funding year, one applicant made requests for 1,519 sites! This according to a new report from Funds For Learning released at the FETC 2008 conference in Orlando, FL Thursday. The report, "The Average E-rate Applicant," compiled data from nearly 23,000 applicants over the course of the year to generate a picture of typical E-rate behavior.

According to Funds For Learning, which provides guidance services for E-rate applicants, on average applicants made 5.4 funding requests last year for an average of 6.1 sites. Of the nearly 23,000 applicants studied, only 3,143 made only a single funding request, while 11,366 applicants made requests for a single site. The largest number of funding requests from a single applicant was 422.

So what did applicants request funding for? It breaks down like this:

Telecommunications Services

  • Total applicants: 21,496
  • Total Requests: 75,006
  • Average Requested Amount: $64,726

Internet Access

  • Total applicants: 13,472
  • Total Requests: 23,123
  • Average Requested Amount: $27,226

Internal Connections

  • Total applicants: 4,053
  • Total Requests: 16,906
  • Average Requested Amount: $427,099

Basic Maintenance

  • Total applicants: 3,928
  • Total Requests: 9,312
  • Average Requested Amount: $66,630

Overall, according to the report, the average discount rate through the program was 81.1 percent. Further information about the report and about E-rate is available at the links below.

Read More:

READ MORE DAILY NEWS


About the author: David Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's online education technology publications, including THE Journal and Campus Technology. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com.

Proposals for articles and tips for news stories, as well as questions and comments about this publication, should be submitted to David Nagel, executive editor, at dnagel@1105media.com.

Cite this Site

Dave Nagel, "Are You an Average E-rate Applicant?," T.H.E. Journal, 1/25/2008, http://www.thejournal.com/articles/21909

copy text (above) for proper citation

Enter the Greenlight Essay Contest

Students: Tell us how your school can use technology to protect the environment. Win a 30-seat computer lab! Sponsored by PC Mall Gov, HP, InFocus and T.H.E. Journal
www.pcmallgov.com/
greenlightcontest