Cisco : The E-rate filing window is open! Here are our top 10 tips for success.

Just a few short months ago, students arrived at school with new pencils or backpacks or shoes, and were greeted by smiling teachers and principals, shiny desks and lockers-and, in many cases, exciting new technology that promises to transform the way teachers teach and students learn. For many schools, this new technology was made possible in part through funding from E-rate, the program created to help bring affordable access to schools and libraries across the U.S. Since it began in 1996, E-rate has helped more than 100,000 schools and libraries connect to the Internet. Nearly $4 billion is available in the program for Funding Year 2018, though the number of schools who apply for their share of E-rate funding is on the decline; applications have decreased by 29 percent since 2015.

Have you begun the E-rate filing process? Schools have from January 11 to March 22, 2018, to submit their FCC Form 471 applications, and these tips from E-rate pros may help you take some of the guesswork out of the application process.

Here are just a few important things to keep in mind:

You can also visit www.cisco.com/go/erate for a lot more information, including success stories from schools who've used E-rate, like Wayne Highland School District in Pennsylvania and El Centro Elementary School District in California. These schools deployed new wireless technology and increased network capacity with funding support from E-rate.

So many schools have made progress thanks in part to E-rate, but we still have work to do to help other schools address high technology costs, a lack of capacity, and challenging reliability as they act to transform their own learning environments. The E-rate program is strong and E-rate funding can help. No school should miss this opportunity!

Get all the E-rate tips here.

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