ITS E-rate Email Archive
FY2016 Funding Update
December 21, 2016
Over the past couple of months, I’ve heard from many of you that still haven’t received Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) for FY2016. This is not just an issue in our state, but is nationwide. Here in Georgia, we have 855 funding requests still pending for 2016. Late last week the State E-rate Coordinators’ Alliance (SECA) had a conference call with the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) and USAC management to review this issue. I wanted to share some important points from the call:
USAC staff acknowledged the concerns and frustrations of applicants with the slow pace of 2016 funding commitments. One of the major causes of delays in funding has been with the processing of applications in the new EPC portal. USAC is making needed system fixes to help speed up the processing of applications. Additionally, in some situations, PIA reviewers may start to reach out to applicants outside of EPC to speed up the process.
The good news is that funding commitments have increased in recent weeks and with the expected benefits from upcoming system improvements, USAC expects to process a majority of the remaining applications by the end of January. USAC will likely provide more information to applicants on the status of pending applications in the coming weeks. While not discussed on the call, it is important to know that any delay in getting your funding is not related to the overall amount of E-rate funds available. There are sufficient funds available to fund all service requests and at all discount bands for FY2016.
It is very important to continue to respond promptly to any PIA inquiries or requests. Some of these requests will come over the holidays so please keep monitoring your application status in EPC and your email.
Looking to 2017 - the FY2017 application filing window will open no earlier than February 2, 2017 and close no earlier than March 31, 2017. There will be a period of time prior to the window opening when applicants will be able to update their entity enrollment numbers and NSLP data in their EPC profiles. Please see the attached News Brief for an overview of how discount data updates will work for FY2017. Also, USAC officials indicated they don’t foresee any major changes to the FY2017 Form 471.
I hope the above information is helpful and that many of your pending applications will be funded relatively soon. As always, please contact us at GaE-rate@usg.edu if you have any questions.
Happy Holidays!
Candice Hall: 706-583-2106 | Candice.Hall@usg.edu
Ga E-rate Team: 844-423-7283 | GaE-rate@usg.edu