Universal Service Administrative Company

Fund size and administrative cost projections for the third quarter of calendar year 2022 (3Q2022). USAC projects a consolidated budget of $61.60 million for 3Q2022.

For the first time in its history, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) expanded beyond administering the four universal service programs: E-Rate, High Cost (Connect America Fund), Lifeline, and Rural Health Care. In 2021, USAC rose to the challenge and successfully administered four Federal Communications Commission initiatives, collectively known as the Congressional Response Programs.

The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) will utilize a new process to confirm existing subscribers’ Lifeline program eligibility if there is reason to believe that a subscriber is no longer eligible for their Lifeline service. USAC will reach out to the subscriber and direct them to the National Verifier to verify their eligibility through a continued eligibility application. The National Verifier supports the continued eligibility process by streamlining, automating, and tracking subscriber outreach and response, a process that was previously manual and ad hoc in nature.

The Lifeline National Eligibility Verifier (NV) data from Q4 2021 is now available on the Lifeline Program Data webpage. During the fourth quarter of 2021, the NV received 4,379,229 applications. Of the applications received, 49% were qualified automatically, and 7% were qualified through manual documentation review. Of the applications submitted, 1,927,028 applications were determined to be “Not Qualified” because they did not meet the program criteria and were not resolved by the applicant within 45 days. For more program data, including participation rates and disbursements, visit

The purpose of this toolkit is to provide consumer advocates with resources to help educate consumers about the Lifeline program and how to apply. To encourage and assist consumer outreach, USAC has created resources in this toolkit that organizations can use instead of creating outreach from scratch. Consumer advocacy groups, social service agencies, and other organizations that support low-income consumers are welcome to print and distribute any or all of the toolkit’s resources in their communities.

The total projected collected interstate and international end-user revenue base to be used in determining the contribution factor for the Universal Service support mechanisms for 2Q2022 is $8,751,403,396.

Program highlights for 2021 include:

Service providers who plan to participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) could submit