Back-to-School E-rate Update – Sept 2025

September 24, 2025

Happy September, E-raters!  I hope everyone had a great summer and your back-to-school transition went smoothly.  This time of year is filled with lots of E-rate activity, as you’re wrapping up FY 2024, implementing FY 2025, and preparing to bid/apply for FY 2026.  Please take a few minutes to review these updates to ensure that your filings are on-track. 

  • Important – Timing of FY 2026 PEPPM Mini-Bids:  If you intend to use the PEPPM Mini-bid system as the procurement vehicle for your FY 2026 Category 2 equipment purchases, NOTE THAT YOU CANNOT RELEASE A PEPPM MINI-BID TO VENDORS UNTIL AT LEAST JANUARY 2, 2026.  The reason is that the current PEPPM contract expires at the end of 2025 and the next contract will not become available for use until January 2, 2026.  Thus, no mini-bids can be issued to (what will be) the newly awarded vendors until at least that date.  The Form 471 filing deadline is expected to be mid-late March, which means that, assuming your PEPPM procurement is conducted in early January, your C2 contracts will have to go to your school boards in late January or February.  
  • Need an Extension for FY 2024 Equipment Installation?  September 30, 2025 is the deadline to receive and install your FY 2024 equipment.  If you cannot have the equipment purchased AND installed by this date, you should submit a Form 500 in EPC now to receive a 1-year extension (through Sept 30, 2026).  Important:  All requests must be made before the September 30, 2025 deadline.   Note:  Don’t confuse this with FY 2025 equipment purchases (you already have until September 30, 2026 to purchase and install that equipment).
  • Cybersecurity Pilot – The CPP Form 471 application window closed September 15, 2025, but to date, no publicly available data has been released on those applications.  We expect some data will be released in the coming month or two.  Also, the PIA review procedures have been approved by the FCC, which clears the way for USAC to begin reviewing CPP applications. 
  • FY 2024 BEAR Reimbursement Filings for Recurring Services:  Applicants who did not receive discounted vendor bills for FY 2024 recurring services must submit their BEARs by October 28, 2025, or request a one-time extension by this date.  The Form 472 BEAR Filing Guide is available at:  https://e-ratepa.org/?p=36027 and a list of FRNs that have had no FY 2024 disbursements for recurring services is available at:  FY-2024-BEARs-Due-as-of-Sept-22.xlsx.
  • New USAC BPO Vendor – USAC has awarded a 5-year contract for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services to Ernst & Young (EY), beginning January 1, 2026.  The contract is inclusive of PIA pre and post commitment application processing, as well as invoicing review and processing.  I ask that everyone be patient next spring during the transition from the previous BPO vendor to EY, who, I think, is going to be an outstanding BPO provider.
  • FY 2025 Administrative Window – The “Administrative Window” is the period before the 471 application window, during which time schools update their enrollment and NSLP (or CEP%) data in each school’s EPC profile and provide new Category 2 enrollment data (if you are applying for C2 in FY 2026), libraries update their square footage (if it changed and if they will be applying for C2 in FY 2026), and applicants ensure that all of their schools and library buildings are listed in their EPC profiles and that each school or library’s type and subtypes are accurate.  The administrative window will open Wednesday, October 15, 2025 and will close shortly before the FY2026 application filing window opens in early 2026 (early January).  After the Admin Window closes, applicant profiles will be locked, and you will not be able to make changes to your profile information.  In mid-December we will send to the listserve a spreadsheet from PDE that provides the enrollment, NSLP (or CEP%) data along with a guide that will walk you through the process for updating each school’s EPC profile. 
  • Register Now for Fall E-rate Training – Registration for the Fall 2025 PA E-rate trainings is now open!  Trainings workshops will consist of the annual veterans’ workshop, beginners’ training, and C1/C2 eligibility and Form 470 bidding training.  If you are new or newish to E-rate, please be sure to attend these trainings so you are prepared to begin FY 2026.  Register now at – https://e-ratepa.org/?page_id=745.
  • School Bus Wi-Fi and Off-Campus Hotspot Eligibility to Be Rescinded – On September 30, the FCC is slated to vote to rescind both School Bus Wi-Fi and Off-Campus Hot Spot E-rate eligibility.  USAC has not been actively reviewing these FY 2025 applications.  When these measures pass, the FCC will direct USAC to deny pending FY 2025 funding requests related to these services.  In FY 2025, PA schools and libraries requested $1,285,297.70 in Off-Campus Hotspot funding and $239,648.36 in School Bus Wi-Fi Funding.
  • Status of FY 2025 Funding Commitments:  As of September 24, 92% of PA funding requests have been decided.  PIA continues to actively review applications so if your application has not yet been decided, be checking your e-mail for PIA inquiries.  If you need assistance with understanding the PIA review process or where to find the PIA reviewer’s questions, please see: PIA-Review-Guide-FY-2025.pdf.  If you need assistance with responding to a PIA inquiry, please e-mail me.  If you have an application still pending and have not received any PIA inquiries, or it’s been 30+ days since your last PIA correspondence, please send me your Entity Name, BEN, 471 #, and last date of PIA correspondence (not including Wi-Fi- hotspots or school bus Wi-Fi FRNs). 

Reminders:

  • File Your FY 2025 Form 486:  The next step after receiving a FCDL (funding commitment decision letter) is to file the Form 486. It’s a very easy form to submit and I strongly encourage you to file it on the day you receive the FCDL so you don’t forget.  Two reminders:  Check the ‘Early Filing Box’ if filing the 486 before July 31, and be careful not to be “click happy” on the CIPA certifications.  Full instructions on the Form 486 can be found at: Form-486-Filing-Guide-FY-2025.pdf.  I’ll send out a 486 reminder in a few weeks with the list of applicants that haven’t yet filed.
  • Label and Inventory Category 2 Equipment:  If you applied for Category 2 discounts this year, don’t forget to label the equipment before it’s installed, and add the equipment to your asset inventory.  For more details on these requirements, in addition to other C2-related issues, please review the Category 2 Purchasing Guide, available at: Equipment-Purchasing-Guide-FY-2025.pdf. 
  • Request Discounted Bills:  Be sure to tell your vendors if you want to receive discounted bills where the vendor then seeks reimbursement.  If you prefer to pay your vendor invoices in full and then submit the Form 472 BEAR to seek reimbursement, that’s your option, but you must stick with one invoicing method or the other for the entire funding year for each FRN.
  • Changing EPC Account Administrators/Adding New EPC Users:  Summer often brings staffing changes and it’s important that the new staff get set up in EPC so they are prepared to file E-rate forms as soon as they’re due.  Hints:  Only AA’s can create new EPC user accounts and assign User ‘permissions.’  Only AAs can transfer their AA ‘credentials’ to another existing EPC User.  If the AA is the new staff member and the previous AA is no longer with the school or library, contact CSC at 888-203-8100 and they will set up a new EPC AA account (only CSC can do this).  For a complete guide on how to add/remove EPC users, or change AAs, see: EPC-How-To-Guide-as-of-Nov-2024.pdf.  Also, if you need any new E-rate contacts added to the PA E-rate Listserve, please e-mail me their contact information.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at jtschell@comcast.net.

— Julie

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

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