FY 2020 Form 471 Filing Window Dates Announced

December 21, 2019

Attached: Timeline 2018-2020

Attached: Annual Application Process Chart 2020

Form 471 Window:  January 15 – March 25

We have the dates!  USAC has just announced the FY 2020 window dates and thus, your E-rate timetable can be set.  Attached are two graphics to help you keep track of the dates the funding year (one shows Funding Years 2018 – 2020 and the other shows an overview of just Funding Year 2020), and here’s what you should be doing and by when:

Administrative Window – USAC has not announced the exact deadline for the Admin Window, but it typically is 2 days before the Form 471 window opens, thus making the deadline most likely January 13. Therefore, from now until January 13, public and nonpublic schools should go into their EPC profiles to update their enrollment/NSLP data and obtain E-rate entity numbers for any new schools or non-instructional facilities.  Likewise, if libraries have any changes to their square footage or library buildings, they should make those changes by January 13 as well.  After this date, the EPC profile data will be locked down and cannot be edited.  The Guide to Updating EPC Profiles and draft enrollment/NSLP data is available at: https://e-ratepa.org/?p=32075.

Form 470s – If you haven’t yet posted your Form 470 for services that must be competitively bid for FY 2020, you still have some time to do so, although not much.  Although the Form 471 deadline is March 25, and therefore the last possible date to file the Form 470 is February 26, applicants – especially public schools — should have your 470’s released as soon as you return from the holiday break so you can take the contracts to your February board meeting(s) for approval.

Form 471s – Although the Form 471 deadline is March 25, I encourage everyone to file as early as possible in the Form 471 window.  For contracts that have already been signed, MTM services where vendors have been selected, or multi-year contracts signed in previous years, filing when the window opens is a great idea to be at the top of the list when they review applications.

If you have any questions about the window filing dates, please let me know.

And finally, to my big E-rate family, I hope your holidays are warm, safe and absolutely wonderful!

— Julie

Julie Tritt Schell
Pennsylvania E-rate Coordinator
717-730-7133 – o
jtschell@comcast.net
www.e-ratepa.org