FCC opens review of E-Rate broadband subsidies for schools, libraries
FCC review of E-Rate puts school and library broadband discounts at risk, threatening higher bills and slower internet in rural and low-income districts.
The FCC has opened a formal review of E-Rate, the federal subsidy that helps schools and libraries pay for broadband, and any pullback could hit rural and low-income districts first, where the discount can cover 20% to 90% of eligible costs. For classrooms already strained by aging devices and fragile Wi-Fi, that could mean slower internet, delayed laptop use and more students unable to finish homework after the bell rings.
E-Rate is the FCC’s Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support Program, part of the Universal Service Fund and administered day to day by the Universal Service Administrative Company under FCC oversight. The program has underwritten school and library connectivity for nearly 30 years, and it spends about $2.5 billion a year, though annual subsidy is closer to $3 billion.
The Supreme Court upheld the Universal Service Fund’s funding mechanism in FCC v. Consumers’ Research in 2025. The ruling preserved the financing structure that supports E-Rate.
Brendan Carr, who once called for ending E-Rate before Donald Trump chose him for the post, launched the latest review on June 3, 2026, citing concerns about excessive student screen time and whether the money is being used for educational purposes. On June 25, 2026, the FCC formally began reviewing whether the program should be reduced, narrowed or even sunset.
That prospect has drawn swift resistance from schools and libraries groups that depend on the subsidy to keep monthly internet bills manageable. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and allied organizations have vowed to fight any effort to terminate or limit the program, while education and library advocates argue that digital access and cybersecurity still require steady federal support.
The debate has also exposed a split inside the Trump administration’s broader tech policy orbit. Adam Cassady Roth, assistant secretary at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, welcomed the FCC’s proposal, saying it could better protect children and curb excessive screen time in schools.
The commission has already trimmed parts of E-Rate that expanded during the COVID emergency, including school bus Wi-Fi and off-campus hotspot funding, on the grounds that those uses exceeded its statutory authority.
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