2023 Report on School Connectivity

The past decade has been marked by unprecendented challenges and opportunites for digital transformation in K-12 education. Today, the broadband landscape continues to thrive for education and the impact is inspiring. 74 percent of all districts are now meeting or exceeding the Federal Communications Commission’s recommended bandwidth goal of 1 Megabit per second per student, an increase of 57.4 percent since 2020. Prices continue to decrease, making upgrades more affordable. The median cost per megabit across all schools has continued to drop to just $1.01. Nationally, the price per megabit that school districts are paying for access varies greatly. On the high end, districts in Alaska pay a median $203.39 per megabit while in Utah, districts pay as low as $0.29 per megabit. This variance can be explained, in part, to the lack of competitive fiber-to-the-premises and fiber transport options