Report: 24.5M US students gain access to 'sufficient' school Internet

Dive Brief:

EducationSuperHighway's “2015 State of the States” report finds that 77% of 6,781 school districts now have Internet speeds of 100 kbps per student, meeting the FCC’s definition of a speed “sufficient” for digital learning.
Despite the progress, 21 million American K-12 students still lack adequate Internet access, yet the FCC’s goal for 2018 is to double the current 100 kbps rate in all districts — a goal that just 9% of districts currently meet, according to EdSurge.
To help alleviate the problem, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have donated $20 million dollars to EducationSuperHighway. Zuckerberg previously donated $3 million to the nonprofit in 2013.

Dive Insight:

The 2015 State of the States report shows progress, but there’s still more that can be done, especially to keep schools on track to meet the FCC’s ambitious national goals. Money is the primary factor preventing schools from connectivity, the report says, and those districts currently meeting the 100 kbps goal are spending an average of twice the amount per student than districts that have yet to do so. This backs up a recent Consortium of Networked Schools (CoSN) report that outlined the same hurdle.

The FCC's E-rate program can cover about 70% of costs, according to EducationSuperHighway estimates, and EdSurge reports that more than half of the districts in 28 states are utilizing those funds. An online toolkit was recently launched by Common Sense Media and SETDA in order to help states apply for some of the $9 billion dollars of federal subsidies offered by the E-Rate program.

Costs vary wildly from state-to-state for the same basic level of service, the report notes. Monthly connection costs for a speed of 100 kbps range from $504-$3,625, and that range is even wider for higher speeds.

EducationSuperHighway CEO Evan Marwell encourages districts to negotiate in order to secure the lowest possible cost, and to also join forces with neighboring districts to form consortiums for greater bargaining power.