EDtech Trends
from page 15
the E-rate program in 2014, which
increased the availability of broadband
funding, total E-rate subsidies for
Internet access rose 45% from $470
million to nearly $680 million from
2013 to 2015. More importantly, service providers dramatically increased
the bandwidth they give schools for
their broadband budgets. As a result,
the median cost of Internet access
declined 50% from $22 per Mbps
(Megabytes per second) in 2013 to
$11 per Mbps in 2015.
Over 21 million students
continue to be left behind.
Despite the progress being made,
23% of school districts are still not
meeting the minimum FCC Internet access goal, leaving 21.3 million
students without the connectivity
needed for digital learning. Those
left behind are not disproportionately
rural or poor; the E-rate program
has effectively leveled the playing
field. Instead three main roadblocks
are preventing these students from
obtaining the connectivity they need:
access to fiber, the affordability
of broadband, and, in some cases,
16 essentials | winter 2016
school district budgets. The
data show the impact of these
factors on connectivity:
• FIBER: School districts without fiber
are 15% less likely to meet the FCC’s
minimum connectivity goals.
• AFFORDABILITY: For school
districts meeting the 100 kbps per student goal, the average cost per Mbps
is $5.07, while those that don’t pay
$12.33, more than double.
• BUDGETS: The average Internet
access budget per student in school
districts meeting the goal is $4.93
annually, the average annual budget f