Eratetest

The Federal E-rate Program provides discounts to schools and libraries of up to 90% to help bring internet connectivity into the classroom to support digital learning. Many schools and libraries, however, underutilize this important program.

HOW MUCH BANDWIDTH DOES YOUR DISTRICT NEED?

We recommend a minimum of a 25Mbps connection.

School Size	100Kbps	1Mbps
Under 100	25Mbps	25Mbps
100	25Mbps	100Mbps
250	25Mbps	250Mbps
500	50Mbps	500Mbps
1,000	100Mbps	1Gbps
2,500	250Mbps	2.5Gbps
5,000	500Mbps	5Gbps
10,000	1Gbps	10Gbps

There are several factors that you should consider when determining the amount of bandwidth needed including the maximum number of devices on-line at any given time, the intensity of use, peak use, use of cloud-based platforms such as Google Docs or Microsoft Office 365, and so on.

“>When looking at the table above, the column labeled “100Kbps” represents the low range and will likely be adequate for teachers, staff, and students to use email, surf the web, and stream some content. In this range it is likely that teachers will complain of ‘slow’ internet during peak use times especially if they are trying to stream content from the Internet, and entire classrooms will sometimes have difficulty all accessing the same site at the same time.

Most of these problems disappear when you increase the bandwidth coming into the district or school. As such, NCCE encourages District’s to work towards the higher end of the range if they are a “one-to-one” district or have several “one-to-one” schools. Likewise, Districts or schools that rely heavily on digital learning tools hosted in the cloud will have more success with higher bandwidth.

Of course, other factors influence how ‘fast’ your Internet appears including age and performance of user devices such as laptops, age and performance of network hardware, WAN infrastructure and so forth. If you are at the top of the bandwidth recommendations and are still experiencing issues, consider bringing in a specialist to evaluate your entire system.

Does your district have:

Scalable Infrastructure such as fiber-based Internet?

WiFi available to every student?

A written replacement cycle for core technology?

1 mbps of bandwidth per student?...

(The minimum recommended to support digital learning)

... or even 100 kbps of bandwidth per student?

(The minimum recommended by the FCC)

Funds are available through the Federal E-rate Program to bring this technology to your district but navigating the application process can
be complicated.

We’re here to help.

Schedule a free consultation

NCCE’s E-Rate Program

NCCE’s E-Rate Team is led by Eric Chambers, MA. An E-Rate ‘veteran’ with over 15 years of experience in the program.
He can help you navigate the complex, ever-changing program rules to ensure your applications are funded every time.

A non-profit organization, NCCE puts purpose before profit helping schools and libraries around the region maximize their participation in this important Federal program. Each year NCCE’s E-rate Program:

Supports 40+ School Districts and Libraries in the Pacific Northwest.

Generates more than $10,000,000 in new revenue for participating schools.

Impacts over 100,000 students.

E-Rate funding occurs in one of two categories:

Category one:

Funds basic access to the internet and WAN services, including fiber, microwave, DSL, self-provisioning and more.

• Discounts range from 20% to 90%.

• No budget formula - reimbursement is based on actual costs.

Category two:

Funds hardware necessary to bring connectivity to the classroom, including routers, switches, cabling, access points, installation, and management services.

• Discounts range from 20% to 85%.

• Uses a budget formula of $150/student over a 5 year period.

Does NCCE provide training on E-Rate?

Yes! NCCE offers short (1-2 hour) trainings on a variety of E-Rate related topics, customizable to your group or organization.

How much does the NCCE charge for their E-Rate Services?

NCCE offers competitive rates. Given the full- service nature of our program, our customers can expect to spend just a few short hours each year supporting E-Rate.

Our rates are fair: unlike some services that charge a percentage of what you receive back, NCCE charges a flat rate per school with no hidden fees, and no billing “surprises.”

Can NCCE help my district if we need support for just one component of the E-Rate program?

Yes! While we believe our full-service rate program offers the best value for our customers we can provide hourly support to help with specific program components.

We’re already working with a consultant for the current “E-Rate Year.” If we sign up with NCCE will we have to work with two consultants until the current year has ended?

No. If you join NCCE’s E-Rate program we will transfer all pending applications and processes to the NCCE and finish the work on your behalf for no additional charge.

How do I know if NCCE’s E-Rate services are right for my district?

We would love to talk about how we can work together to your school has access to the infrastructure and supports to ensure higher levels of student and educator success through the use of 21st Century technology!

Does NCCE provide support for Service Providers?

No. NCCE’s E-rate program only supports School Districts and Libraries but if you are a service provider we are happy to refer you to other consultants who would be happy to work with you, as a provider.