If You Missed the FY2026 Form 471 Deadline…
April 1, 2026
If you could not file your FY 2026 Form 471 application by the April 1, 2026 deadline, you may submit a Form 471 on or before Wednesday, April 15, 2026, then submit a Request for Deadline Waiver to the FCC, seeking to have your application considered as timely filed. Please know that if the FCC grants your Waiver Request, your Form 471 application will THEN go into PIA review.
Please follow these exact steps, in this exact order:
- Submit the Form 471 in EPC on or before Wednesday, April 15, 2026. The status will be ‘Filed Outside of Window.’
- Download the “Form 471 Deadline Waiver Letter” and complete the highlighted areas with your specific information. Please include a nice statement to the FCC about what this funding means to your school or library.
- Print on school or library letterhead. Sign and save as a .PDF document.
- Go to: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filings and follow the instructions on the “FCC Waiver Request Filing Instructions” document. Be sure to hit ‘Submit’ on the second page of the online form.
Note: The FCC Waiver Letter does NOT need to be submitted by April 15, 2026, but be sure to submit it as soon as you can after the Form 471 is filed. The FCC releases bulk appeal/waiver decisions on the last day of each month and if and when your waiver is approved, you will receive an e-mail from the FCC. Also, there is no requirement that they decide Form 471 deadline waiver requests within a certain amount of time, although most decisions are issued within three months of the waiver filing date.
Sincerely,
Lorrie
Lorrie Germann
Pennsylvania E-Rate Coordinator
717-576-2737 – o
lgermann@e-ratepa.org
www.e-ratepa.org