10/06/2026
Education Rate (E-Rate) Coordinator Jerome Browning recently joined library leaders at the Utah State Library Directors Summit to talk about a program that plays a big role in keeping Utah’s schools and libraries connected. 📶
Backed by the Universal Service Fund, the E-Rate program helps make high-speed internet more affordable by using federal funding to offset eligible connectivity costs. UEN acts as a statewide consortium, helping schools, libraries, and Head Start programs access better pricing while handling much of the paperwork and coordination that comes with the program.
The E-Rate program delivers a high, measurable return on investment. For every $1 spent on eligible connectivity, the state pays 32 cents while E-Rate covers 68 cents, which generates a 214% return on investment. The program effectively more than triples the state’s purchasing power for eligible connectivity. In FY2026 alone, UEN’s E-Rate team filed 323 applications totaling more than $17.3 million.
Most students, educators, and library patrons will never see the work behind reliable internet—and that’s part of the point. E-Rate helps schools and libraries stay connected without having to navigate the process on their own.
Read more about the impact of E-Rate here: https://www.uen.org/news/article.php?id=1738
