FY 2024 Form 471 Filing Window Dates Announced

December 18, 2023

Attached: E-rate Timeline FY 2024

Form 471 Window:  January 17 – March 27
Last Date to Update EPC Profiles:  January 15
Eligible Services List Adopted *

We have the dates!  USAC has just announced the FY 2024 Form 471 application window dates will be January 17 – March 27, with January 15 being the last day that you can update EPC profiles within the Admin Window.  Attached is a graphic to help you keep track of the FY 2024 milestone dates and here’s what you should be doing and by when:

Updating EPC Profiles – The period before the Form 471 window opens when schools and libraries are required to update their enrollment and NSLP (or CEP%) data each year to recalculate their E-rate discounts and make sure their EPC profiles are up to date is called the Admin Window.  The Admin Window deadline for FY 2024 is Monday, January 15.  Please see:  https://e-ratepa.org/?p=35212 for information on updating this data.

Updating Category 2 Enrollment Data – Applicants’ Category 2 Budgets are set in the first year in which a school or libraries applies for C2 within the “cycle” with the current cycle running FY 2021 – FY 2025.  If an applicant has received C2 funding in FY 2021,  FY 2022, or FY 2023 they can use their enrollment (schools) or square footage (libraries) data for the remainder of the 5-year C2 budget cycle, or if enrollment (or square footage for libraries) increases, they may update their data during the Admin Window by Monday, January 15 and request a Category 2 Replacement Budget with USAC to obtain a higher Category 2 budget.  See https://e-ratepa.org/?p=35212 for information related to updating this data and seeking a C2 Replacement Budget for FY 2024.

Form 470s – If you haven’t yet posted your Form 470 for services that must be competitively bid for FY 2024, you still have a few weeks to do so.  Although the Form 471 deadline is March 27, and therefore the last possible date to file the Form 470 is technically February 27, applicants – especially public schools — should have your 470’s released ASAP (no later than the first week in January) so you can take the contracts to your February board meeting(s) for approval.  Do not wait until February to begin your competitive bidding process!

PEPPM Mini-Bids – If you intend to use the PEPPM Mini-bid system as the procurement vehicle for your FY 2024 equipment purchases, the PEPPM Mini-Bid Guide is available at:  https://e-ratepa.org/?page_id=6121.  Be sure to always download/use the most recent Vendor list (Attachment C) when sending out your mini-bids to vendors as vendor contact information and reseller lists sometimes change.

Category 2 Budgets – To see what your remaining C2 budget is for FY 2024 – FY 2025, use USAC’s C2 Budget Data Tool at: https://opendata.usac.org/E-rate/E-Rate-C2-Budget-Tool-FY2021-/8z69-hkn7.  Simply enter your entity’s name in the filter on the right side of the page.

Form 471s – Although the Form 471 deadline is March 27, 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 way to ensure you’ll be in the first group of applications reviewed.

* Eligible Services List Adopted – The FCC has just approved the FY 2024 ESL, with the addition of school bus Wi-Fi being the only significant change to the list (hot spot lending program was not included).  I will send details of this new bus Wi-Fi eligibility in a separate message today.

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

And finally, from my family to yours, we wish you a healthy, wonderful holiday season!

— Julie

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