On June 27, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a final ruling that upholds the constitutionality of the Universal Service Fund (USF) — which means the E-Rate program remains fully intact. In a 6-3 decision in FCC vs. Consumers' Research, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the FCC's authority to manage the Universal Service Fund (the funding engine behind E-Rate) is fully constitutional. This ruling protects billions of dollars in annual funding that schools and libraries rely on for internet access, internal connections, and network upgrades.

In our last blog post, we reviewed the recent court cases related to E-Rate funding and addressed some of the questions raised regarding the Trump administration’s policies. Today we’ll focus on the March hearing before the Supreme Court on the Consumers’ Research case and how that relates to the future of the E-Rate program.

We often get asked about the eligibility of certain services and equipment under E-Rate. Find out whether these commonly asked about items are eligible or ineligible.

Here’s the latest news about the recent final Report and Order making hotspots eligible for E-Rate funding in FY2025, which was approved at the FCC’s Open Meeting on July 18th.

A three-part initiative focused on addressing cybersecurity attacks on schools and libraries and expanding the E-Rate program to ensure great connectivity for students, school staff, and library patrons.