Applying for E-Rate discounts for a given funding year requires two steps.

First, during the Administrative Window you will prepare your EPC profile with updates to your member schools and the data that will be used on the FCC Form 471 to calculate E-Rate discounts.

Second, during the Form 471 Filing Window you will file an FCC Form 471 to provide USAC with information about the products and services you are requesting, the service provider who will provide those items and their associated costs, and the entities that will receive those items. The form will calculate the discount for which you are eligible based on the information you provided during the Administrative Window.

E-Rate funding commitments are made by the funding year. Each funding year runs from July 1 through the following June 30.

USAC refers to the funding year as the year in which services will begin (e.g. FY2019 is July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020).

The application process starts the year before the funding year.