Schools and Libraries News Brief - SPECIAL EDITION

December 3, 2009

FUNDING YEAR 2010 APPLICATION WINDOW OPENS TODAY

This Special Edition of the SL News Brief is to alert you that the Funding Year 2010 (FY2010) application window opened at NOON EST today, Thursday, December 3 and to give you some helpful tips for filing applications. The application filing window will close at 11:59 PM EST on Thursday, February 11, 2010.

FY2010 begins July 1, 2010 and ends June 30, 2011.

Program forms have not changed from last year. If you applied for FY2009 funding, Forms 470 and 471 should be familiar to you.

For FY2010, pay special attention to your Internal Connections requests. The Two-in-Five Rule for Internal Connections mandates that applicants can only receive Internal Connections in two out of every five funding years. The Two-in-Five tool on our website will help you determine which entities are eligible to receive funding for eligible Internal Connections for FY2010.

We also encourage you to explore USAC’s website and to review previous News Briefs for important "do’s and don’ts" in addition to the helpful tips below.

Helpful Tips

File Early – We encourage applicants to file and certify Forms 470 and 471 and Item 21 attachments early in the window. Early filing allows applicants time to:

• Correct errors and avoid delays later during application review
• Meet Program deadlines
• File a new form if Program rules do not allow corrections to an existing form

File Online – USAC encourages applicants to file and certify Forms 470 and 471 online.

You may download and print copies of Schools and Libraries News Briefs on USAC’s website. You may subscribe to or unsubscribe from the news brief. For program information, please visit the Schools and Libraries area of the USAC website, submit a question, or call toll-free at 1-888-203-8100.