FY2025 E-Rate: The year in public filings.
FY2025 was the third E-Rate funding year under the FCC's modernized Category 2 budget framework. This recap summarizes the public USAC commitment record: total committed dollars, the Category 1 vs Category 2 split, average discount rates, and how applicants broke down by entity type (schools, districts, libraries, consortia).
FY2025 commitment totals are not yet available in this snapshot. Once USAC publishes the wave-one commitment data, this recap refreshes automatically against the public record.
Average discount rates
The discount matrix sets per-applicant discount rates between 20% and 90% based on National School Lunch Program eligibility and urban / rural status. The averages below are weighted across every Form 471 in the funding year, so a heavier mix of high-NSLP districts pushes the average up.
Applicants by entity type
Distinct applicant entities that received at least one FY2025 commitment, grouped by the entity type recorded in USAC's public entity dataset. Districts typically aggregate filings on behalf of member schools, so district counts and school counts should not be summed.
| Entity type | Applicants |
|---|---|
| Schools | 13,046 |
| School districts | 7,835 |
| Libraries | 2,437 |
| Nif | 549 |
| Consortia | 282 |
What FY2025 means in context
FY2025 sits inside the third five-year cycle of the modernized Category 2 budget framework that the FCC adopted in 2019. That framework set per-student and per-square-foot budgets that reset every five years, with floor amounts for very small applicants. The cycle's effect on commitment patterns is structural: districts tend to bunch Category 2 spending in the first or last year of their five-year window, which shows up in the C1 / C2 split above.
The funding cap for FY2025 is set by the FCC and indexed to inflation; final totals reflect what USAC actually committed, not what applicants requested. Demand has exceeded the cap in past years, but rollover from prior funding years has historically been sufficient to fund all eligible Category 1 requests at the applicant's discount rate.
For the deeper data slice and downloadable tables, see the per-year hub at /funding-year/2025. For how the underlying mechanics work, the discount-matrix and Category 2 budget guides are the most useful next reads.
By state
Per-state recaps for the largest jurisdictions by enrollment:
Common questions
- Where does this data come from?
- Every figure on this page is derived from publicly available USAC commitment data on opendata.usac.org. ERateSignal indexes the public record and surfaces totals; it does not add private estimates or unpublished projections.
- Why might totals change after a funding year closes?
- USAC continues to issue post-commitment changes, late funding decisions, and appeal outcomes after the initial funding wave. Annual recap totals shift as those updates publish. We refresh this page nightly against the public record.
- How do FY2025 totals compare to prior years?
- Compare against the prior-year recaps and the per-year hub at /funding-year/2025. Year-over-year shifts in the Category 1 / Category 2 mix typically reflect timing of C2 budget cycles more than program-level policy changes.
- Is this an official USAC report?
- No. ERateSignal is not affiliated with USAC, the FCC, or the U.S. Government. This recap is independent analysis of the publicly published commitment record.
Watch FY2026 filings as they certify.
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Form 470 alerts →Totals shown reflect commitments published by USAC at opendata.usac.org. Numbers may shift as USAC issues post-commitment changes, late funding decisions, or appeals. ERateSignal makes no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, or timeliness — verify all information directly with USAC or the E-Rate Productivity Center (EPC) before making business decisions. ERateSignal is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by USAC, the FCC, or the U.S. Government.