The Schools and Libraries Division of the Universal Service Administrative Company announced Feb. 10 that it has released another $320 million worth of E-rate funding commitments to 2,400 applicants, bringing the total committed so far in the 1998 funding year to more than $1 billion. With this wave, the SLD said, 70 percent of applicants will have received funding commitments.
"We've rounded third and we're headed for home," said SLD President Kate Moore, adding that the SLD expects to finish the commitment process by the end of February.
In Wave 8, the average funding commitment was for $133,000, three times the average of the first seven waves. The wave, the SLD said, includes dozens of substantial awards to large school districts, library systems, and statewide consortia, ranging from $1 million to $6 million each.
